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The Franconia Township Annual Meeting was the quietest one in recent memory.  12 township citizens attended the meeting, which lasted just 40 minutes.  Sonny Sparby was re-elected as a township supervisor for another three-year term, receiving 16 of the 18 votes cast.  The township residents approved a levy of $740,000 for 2023, which is the same amount as the 2022 levy.  Angela Dahlstrom recently resigned as town clerk.  Township treasurer Karen Anderson will add the clerk position to her township responsibilities, and Chuck Fitzer will be the deputy clerk.

The main topic discussed at the meeting was the status of the new town hall project.  Expansion at the current town hall site is not feasible.  The land the current town hall sits on was split in half by a Highway 95 re-route years ago, making the land on the other side of Highway 95 unusable for expansion.  The town purchased land for the new hall years ago along Pleasant Valley Road, slightly north of the Pleasant Valley Orchard.  Town supervisors mentioned that they had gotten a couple of bids to build the new town hall, but both bidders said they needed a site plan in order to give a better bid.  Town supervisors said they had recently engaged a firm to develop a site plan.  Once the site plan is complete, they will re-engage with the original bidders to get bids that more accurately reflect the cost of the new town hall.

Some potential sources of funds have been identified for the town hall, including a government grant, potential sales of township land, and $50,000 per year from the township levy being designated for the town hall.  Other sources of funding will need to be in place in order for the project to move forward.  There is no specific date set for construction, but it will likely be sometime in the next few years.

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