Jackie Lallier
Wyoming Township Reporter

The Wyoming Township Board met on February 28 when it was agreed to purchase new election machinery in order to be uniform throughout the county plus trade in the old equipment.

Costs for this change will be mostly covered by federal and state funding with very little responsibility from the county.

Mike Pophal, CPA, went over the Auditorís Report, complimenting the Board for doing a good job and having ìno loose ends.î

He noted a substantial reduction in spending and said it was unusual for a township to have Special Assessments that were in ìperfect shape.î The Audit Report was accepted by the Board.

Chairman Roger Elmore updated the Board on the consolidation effort.

On February 21 the City of Wyoming and Wyoming Township petitioned the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings, directing them to set a hearing to accept the joint resolution of the Wyoming City/ Wyoming Township annexation agreement filed December 7, 2005, and disallow the Chisago City/ Stacy annexation petitions filed January 4 & 5, 2006.

This Writ of Mandamus points out the background of the 2004 forced annexation of land to Chisago City, the hardship caused by the present Stacy/ Chisago City annexation requests and basically instead of waiting for hearings for Chisago City/ Stacy, requires the agency to proceed to approve the Wyoming annexation agreement. This writ is meant to force (mandate) a decision but it will probably be a couple of weeks before anything is heard on this matter.

Since the Board had set $30,000 to $60,000 in the budget for legal fees to handle the annexation at the time the original procedure began, it is obvious the budget will have to change to accommodate the ever increasing fees because of the Stacy/ Chisago City petitions. A proposed legal budget should be ready for the next Board meeting.

Another problem has arisen because of the annexation set back in that Fred Weck, Zoning & Building Administrator, has officially been handling the job for both Wyoming City and the Township as planned for in the original plan.

Now, since building permits, etc. are being applied for by both communities, it is felt the fees should be put in separate accounts (especially since surcharges on each permit go to the State).

However, there is a question on how to pay for Weckís time spent in both areas.

A number of suggestions were discussed but since no one knows when a final resolution will be reached, it was suggested a meeting will have to be held with Wyoming City administration to come to an interim agreement on salary for Weck.

Another annexation problem came up in that the Townshipís bulk mailing service is now expired as of this date. The Board approved a resolution to resume the service.

other matters

The Fire Department meeting will be March 9th but coverage cannot be determined until the legal problems are resolved

On a ìhappyî note, the Township Park Board met with the Wyoming Board and set the Annual Easter Egg Hunt in Sunrise Park for April 15th.

An apology is given to Paula Osterbauer for misspelling her name as election judge in the February 14th report.

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