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The Town of Morse board has passed a resolution opposing the proposed sale of state lands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
The board discussed the issue at its Sept. 10 meeting and voted unanimously to oppose the DNR selling the lands to the federal government instead of doing a land swap.
The project also includes the sale of lands in the Town of Morse that would remove them from the tax roles.
Supervisor Terry Soderberg said the state lands in the Boundary Waters should benefit every school district in the state for perpetuity, not be sold off for a one-time gain.
He said other parts of the state sold off the school parcels and now it’s just northern Minnesota that is benefiting school districts.
“It’s the northern part of the state is paying for basically all of the school trust monies that go to school districts,” said Soderberg.
The board voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing the plan being pushed by the DNR and the Forest Service, including the 80,000 acres in the BWCA and the private land in the Town of Morse.
The board did approve allowing a private parcel on the east end of Shagawa Lake to be transfered to public ownership, noting the condition of the shoreline and the snowmobile trail that passes through it off of Hwy. 88.
In other business the board:
• Heard Morse received $29,871.00 in taconite aid. Berrini noted it was Sen. Tom Bakk who was able to include Morse when the taconite formula was adjusted in St. Paul years ago.
• Held off a new agreement with K2 Towers for a lease of township land by the golf course in hopes a deal can be reached between K2 and Isaac Olson of Treehouse Broadband.
• Heard from township resident Beth Chapman who reached a settlement with St. Louis County on the number of dogs allowed on her property. Chapman said she volunteered to put up a privacy fence on the east side of her property. She currently has 18 dogs and as they pass on she can’t replace them until there are 10 remaining.
• Will not provide maintenance to a cartway located off of Wolf Lake Road. The board does not maintain any other cartways in the township.
• Discussed potential paving projects for 2025 including Moss Ridge Road and Ahola Road.
• Heard from Berrini that the Ely Area Ambulance Service doesn’t need any additional funding at this time.
• Soderberg said the Ely Area Lodging Tax board will be meeting on Sept. 23 at the Morse Town Hall.
• Will advertise for bids to sell a 1992 4700 International dump truck after buying a new 2025 dump truck. The township also owns a 1998 dump truck.
