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Houston County Township Officers Association holds 61st annual meeting

September 19, 2022 by Charlene Corson Selbee Leave a Comment

The Houston County Township Officers Association elected their 2023 officers at the association’s 61st Annual Meeting. Front row left to right: Treasurer Arlyn Pohlman, President Richard Markos, Secretary Richard Nelson. Back row left to right: Jim Solum, John Beckman, Vice-President Gene Tessmer, Member-at Large Larry Gaustad, Mike Patterson.
Photo by Charlene Corson Selbee

The Houston County Township Officers Association held its 61st annual meeting and fellowship dinner on Wednesday, September 14, at the Four Seasons Community Center, Caledonia.

Over 70 township officers and their guests from the 17 townships, all five Houston County Department Heads, Houston County Commissioners, State Representative Greg Davids, State Senator Jeremy Miller, and Rex Edge, District 1 Director, Minnesota Association of Townships, attended the event.

Mike Patterson led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance, after which a moment of silence was held for township officers who have passed away – Dale Omodt, Janie Sheffer, Dick Snow, and Tom Knutson. John Beckman gave the Invocation.

The minutes from the 2021 annual meeting and the treasurer’s report were approved as presented.

President Richard Markos shared some interesting numbers with attendees:

•Houston County has 882 miles of roads. Four hundred fifty miles of those roads are township roads.

•An estimated 20,000 people live in Houston County. Of those, 8,200 live in townships.

•In Minnesota, there are roughly 1900 townships in the state. Houston county has 17 townships.

•In the State of Minnesota, there are 9,000 township officers. Houston county has 85 township officers.

•Houston County is one of 87 counties in Minnesota.

•There are over 60,000 miles of township roads in Minnesota.

•One million people live in townships, with .02% living in Houston County.

“We may be small by comparison, but our issues, concerns, and needs should not go unnoticed,” theorized Markos.

The current board of directors agreed to serve another term, and there were no nominations from the floor. Officers are President Richard Markos, Vice President Gene Tessmer, Secretary Richard Nelson, and Treasurer Arlyn Pohlman. Directors representing Houston County are John Beckman, Richard Nelson, Richard Markos, Jon Welda, Jim Solum, Mike Patterson, Gene Tessmer, Arlyn Pohlman, and Member-at-Large Larry Gaustad.

Rex Edge, District 1 Director, Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT), thanked the township officers for volunteering their time and all they do. He noted, “Our lobbying efforts are working up there. We are getting some stuff taken care of.”

MAT is pushing broadband the “last mile,” and it has been an easier sell since the pandemic. “Companies want to bring it into Caledonia, but what about the townships where there is one house every half-mile or so where it is not as profitable.”

County Commission Chairman Greg Myhre thanked everyone for serving on the township boards and appreciated working with everyone over the years. He noted that the county is working on the preliminary levy and will be tough this year with the increase in prices. “Please bear with us; we will get through it this year.”

Houston County staff presented a brief overview of their department’s work over the past year and the projects scheduled for 2023. If there are any questions, staff encouraged township officers to contact them.

Environmental Services Director/Zoning Administrator Martin Herrick and Program Director Jeannine Clancy with TKA updated officers on the Comprehensive Land Use planning process that is in the early stages. Herrick invited the audience to attend the county tour on Tuesday, September 20, which is part of the planning process. In addition, Clancy encouraged attendees to take the online survey. Currently, around 200 surveys have been completed. She is hoping to have three to four times that many completed by the middle of October.

Senator Jeremy Miller said, “In this last session, the Senate prioritized two main issues, tax relief, and public safety.” First, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill that eliminated Social Security taxes and lowered income taxes. Regarding public safety, the Senate passed a bill that does two things, it gets tough on crime and provides more funding for police officers.

Markos recognized the event sponsors Bruening Rock Products, Nodine Culvert, Scott Construction, VanGundy Excavating LLP, and Rosie’s Catering of Brownsville.

President Markos emphasized, “The townships are the core of government in Minnesota.”

Filed Under: Government, News Tagged With: Houston


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Contact Your Legislators

Governor - TIM WALZ
Office of the Governor
130 State Capital
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

800-657-3717 | 651-201-3400
mn.gov/governor/

U.S. Representative - JIM HAGEDORN
District 1
hagedorn.house.gov

U.S. Senator - AMY KLOBUCHAR
www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public
507-288-5321 | 888-224-9043

U.S. Senator - TINA SMITH
www.smith.senate.gov
507-288-2003

State Representative - GREG DAVIDS
District 28B
651-296-9278
rep.greg.davids@house.mn

State Senator - JEREMY MILLER
District 28
651-296-5649
sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn

Government this week

Monday, April 17

•Caledonia School Board, High School Room A154, 6 p.m.

•Kingsland School Board, Elementary Conference Room, 6 p.m.

•Preston City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Rushford-Peterson School Board, Forum Room, 6 p.m.

•Spring Grove School Board, Media Center, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, April 18

•Houston County Commissioners, Workshop Meeting, Courthouse, 9 a.m.

•LeRoy School Board, ITV Board Room, 6 p.m.

•Mabel-Canton School Board, Media Center, 6 p.m.

•Spring Grove City Council, Community Building, 6 p.m.

•Grand Meadow School Board, Choir Room, 7 p.m.

•Rushford Village City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 19

•La Crescent-Hokah School Board, High School, 6 p.m.

Thursday, April 20

•Fillmore County Planning & Zoning, Courthouse, 7 p.m.

Monday, April 24

•La Crescent City Council, City Hall, 5:30 p.m.

•Caledonia City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Spring Valley City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Rushford City Council, City Hall, 6:30 p.m.

•Chatfield City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

*Schedule subject to change.

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