.jpg)
Bob Berrini was elected chair of the Town of Morse board on Wednesday night.
The board first breezed through its annual re-organization meeting, approving 3.2 percent raises for supervisors and township employees.
Clerk Nick Wognum gave the board updates on efforts to involve neighborhood input to a proposed “doggie hotel” to be located north of Romberg Acres. A public meeting on this issue will be held on April 29 at 5 p.m. at the Morse Town Hall.
The next night Morse will hold a two-hour workshop on wildfire defense in coordination with St. Louis County. That meeting is set for 5 p.m. on April 30.
Three paving projects could happen this year in the Town of Morse. Supervisors were able to get Mesabi Bituminous to hold the same pricing of $91,700 from last year for Tek and Stebly roads along with a portion of Somero Road. The board asked that the work be done early in the season.
Board member Terry Soderberg said he has had several conversations with the MPCA regarding PFAS found in wells on West Shagawa Road. He said the state is still trying to determine the extent of the problem since some homes are currently unoccupied so testing hasn’t been done yet.
Wognum said he has talked with some of the impacted homeowners and offered whatever assistance the township could provide. A number have already received bottled water to drink and cook with from the MPCA.
Berrini said while the non-profit Ely Area Ambulance Service is doing better financially, the chance of getting state funding is fading fast, and even Gov. Tim Walz isn’t pushing for more than $10 million when the need has been identified to be $120 million statewide. Butch Pecha spoke from the audience, saying “Rocks and cows are coming up short.”
In other business the board:
• Heard from Gerald Tyler about his support for small scale nuclear power.
• Named the Ely Echo as the township’s official newspaper.
• Increased the pay for election judges to $20 an hour.
• Increased the pay for supervisors and township employees by the 3.2 percent rate of inflation.
• Approved an application for a seasonal on sale liquor license from Shagawalleye LLC, doing business as Lake View Lodge.
• Approved a proposal from Leslie Rosedahl for a new township website.
• W ill h ave t he c lerk submit bills to the DNR for expenses related to the purchase of parcels on the Taconite Trail.
• Heard from Soderberg on the Ely area lodging tax. He said Stony River doesn’t want to be part of the joint lodging tax board. Soderberg said Lake County is also not willing to pay more than $120,000 for their share but the board said no and that they should get the three percent charged in Fall Lake township.
• Set the next meeting for 4 p.m. on May 15.
