During their recent meeting, the Sherburne County Association of Townships (SCAT) heard from their attorney about Sick and Safe Leave and Baldwin’s efforts towards becoming a city.

Attorney Update

Mike Couri of Couri and Ruppe gave an update from his office. Couri and Ruppe are the attorneys for most of the Sherburne County townships. 

The attorneys’ office will be hosting their annual spring short course, which seeks to educate town supervisors about relevant topics. This year, the short course will cover Earned Sick and Safe Time, the new law for employers that went into effect state wide this year. 

Baldwin Township recently had their incorporation meeting, which is a step along the road to becoming a city. The City of Princeton opposed the township at the hearing. The results of the ruling will be available sometime in July. Couri was under the impression that things went very well for the township, and if things move forward in the direction Baldwin hopes it will, Baldwin could be incorporated into a city by November of this year. If this is the case, every seat on the town board (or, rather, the newly formed city council) would be up for election in November. 

MAT Update

Steve Fenske of the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) gave an update on MAT happenings for the month in place of the normal representative, Tammy Carlson.

He noted that township day at the capitol didn’t have the turnout that MAT wanted this year, and they were hoping to move the event up earlier in the year for 2025 so more township representatives would be available to attend. 

Supervisor Bruce Aubol of Big Lake Township asked Fenske whether there was any movement regarding the speed signage issue at the state level, to which Fenske reported there was not. 

The road sign issue has been a hot topic among the townships in Sherburne County, as a new law put into place ten years ago at the state level finally came into effect recently. This law would force townships to place speed signs as designated by the state. The main issue is that many roads that are currently marked at 30 mph would jump up to 35 mph or possibly 50 mph in certain areas, about which some residents and township supervisors have voiced numerous concerns over the past year or so.

Fenske did note that the speed sign discussion was still brought up on a regular basis. He reminded the assembled supervisors that they can post any speed they wish on their roads, it just may not be enforceable if a speeder decided to fight their ticket in court (although, it’s somewhat of a gray area, so this is not certain.) Fenske said the representatives at MAT would continue to push this topic at the state legislature. 

County Updates

Dan Weber, Assistant County Administrator, gave the update for Sherburne County. 

He noted that the lease is up for the County Fair this year, and so the county is looking into options for the fair moving forward. 

Diane Arnold, long-time Sherburne County Auditor, and Bruce Price, Veterans Services Officer, both announced their upcoming retirements. In honor of Arnold’s many years of service, July 9 will be named “Diane Arnold Day” in the county. Both vacated positions will be filled with appointed representatives for the time being.