NOTICE
OF ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP ELECTION
· Tuesday,
March 09, 2010
·
Rochester Townhall
4111 11th
Avenue S.W.
· Polls
open from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
· Election
of Supervisor for 3 year term
Brian
Mueller
running unopposed
· Election
of Clerk/Treasurer for 2 year term
Gary
Swenson running unopposed
·
NOTICE
OF ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP ANNUAL MEETING
·
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
·
Rochester, Town Hall
4111
11th Avenue, S.W.
· 8:00
PM Annual Meeting
·
AGENDA
1.
Clerk – Calls the meeting to order
2.
Results of Election
3.
Elect Meeting Moderator
4.
Approval of agenda
5.
Approval of the minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting
6.
Clerks report of 2009 financial information
7.
Audit Report and presentation of proposed budget for 2011
8. Set
levy for 2011
9. Set
gopher bounty
10. Report
from Deputy Valerie Coe
11.
Report from Steve Belau,
Battalion Chief
from the Rochester Fire Department
12. Review
of Roadwork
a.
Rochester/Cascade Joint Powers Program
b. New
Equipment
13.
Planning and Zoning
a.
Residential Development
b.
Annexation
c.
County Land Use Plan Revision
14.
Stormwater Management
15.
Township Picnic & Recognition Dinner
16. Other
Business –
17. Date &
time of next years meeting
In case
of bad weather, the election and annual meeting will be held on Tuesday
March,
23, 2010 at the same time and place as listed above.
Sign in sheet for members and if they are
interested in any standing committees.
2010
Rochester Township Annual Newsletter
While it may be debatable how far our national and
local economies have recovered or how fast they will recover, Rochester
Township continues to provide your services in the most cost-effective
way we can. Our proposed budget for the year 2011 is $710,311.
If you want to have an actual voice in how your tax
money is spent as well as learn about it then plan to attend the Annual
Meeting.
Regulations, regulations, regulations everywhere!
If you have ever wondered why there are so many Township do’s and
don’t’s applied to you as citizens and property owners, one answer lies
in the fact that townships are at the bottom of the governmental chain
of command. As such, we are required to abide by all appropriate
Federal, State and County Laws. These laws, however important to our
safety and well-being, can be accompanied by hundreds of pages of
regulations. Your Town Board works to comply with its legal
obligations and works to help and inform you of your responsibilities.
One of the newer areas of regulations is associated
with an issue that is critical to all Americans – protecting our water
supply. Last year we referenced our multi –paged SWPPP (Storm Water
Pollution Protection Program) mandated by Federal and State government.
This year our Program was audited by the MPCA. During our discussions
TWO ISSUES came to light that you need to know about:
1.
If you live in a more recent subdivision that has a storm water
retention pond, you as homeowners are responsible for monitoring and
maintenance of the pond, probably through a homeowner’s association.
Testing for siltation is recommended every five years to make sure that
the pond still collects and holds storm water.
2.
Recent State studies of storm water runoff from chemicals in
coal tar-based asphalt sealants indicate they are a health hazard
resulting in a partial ban on their use. The ban is expected to be
extended and presumably Lowe’s and Home Depot no longer sell them.
Therefore, your Town Board strongly recommends that you do not use coal
tar-based sealants on your driveways.
While we are on the subject of health and safety,
we have a unanimous request from the Town Board members. Night-time
joggers and dog-walkers, Please, Please wear some type of reflective
clothing. You may not realize how frightening it is to unexpectedly
pick you up in our headlights.
Those Township roads you walk and drive on are
maintained with pride and perseverance by Cascade and Rochester’s
full-time road staff of Lenny Laures, Mike Reiland and Chris Lien plus
part-timers Ron Heglund and Michael Reinartz. The Staff is also
responsible for maintaining all of our vehicles and equipment. Proof of
their prowess is the great trade-in value we received for the 2000 truck
that is being replaced this year. Our major road project this past year
was completion of the paving of Meadow Crossing Road in cooperation with
the developer of the former Mayo property.
Not to sound like a broken record, but---the County
Land Use Plan revision is still ongoing and we are still trying to
monitor and comment on a document that can profoundly affect the future
of our township.
Our Planning and Zoning Ordinances need updating to
add a series of County and Township changes that have been made in the
last couple of years. One such issue that still needs to be addressed
is regulation of driveway headwalls. The procedure will be to notify
all Township residents of a public hearing by our Planning Commission to
discuss each of the proposed changes. Recommendations will then be made
to the Town Board for formal adoption of the new ordinances.
Odds and ends – Everyone seems to enjoy our Annual
Township Picnic so we plan to hold it again this year. The Olmsted
County Association of Townships annual bus trip to the Capitol in St.
Paul will be Monday, March 8, 2010. Our planning cooperative, TCPA,
seems to be working out well since they moved into our Town Hall.
Whenever we seem to get bogged down in the “work”
of local government, something happens to restore our faith in the
“spirit” of local government. For me this year it was the Annual
Meeting of the Minnesota Association of Townships which was held in
Rochester. Because the meeting was local, I was able to attend for the
first time in many years. The participants’ overwhelming patriotism and
enthusiasm for democracy as practiced in the townships restored my
energy for what we do.
Come and exercise the privilege of participating in
local government by voting and attending Annual Meeting. Set an example
for your children.
For the Rochester Town Board,
Brenda
Dicken, Supervisor 289 – 0920
Jeff Orth,
Supervisor and outgoing Chair 254 - 6358
Gary
Donovan, Supervisor 282 – 5715
Doug
Butler, Supervisor and incoming Chair 288 – 6958
Brian
Mueller, Supervisor 252 – 8078
Gary
Swenson, Clerk/Treasurer 289 - 5671
Web Site – www.rochester-township.com
Go To >>>>
Proposed 2011
Budget
