Shieldsville Township Supervisor Jim Melchert (left) is handed a gift by Supervisor Joe Pesta, while Supervisor Dale Kuchinka laughs (right). (Colton Kemp/southernminn.com)
Shieldsville Supervisor Jim Melchert excitedly switches his hat out with his new one from the Minnesota Association of Townships. (Colton Kemp/southernminn.com)
Shieldsville Supervisor Jim Melchert excitedly switches his hat out with his new one from the Minnesota Association of Townships. (Colton Kemp/southernminn.com)
The annual Shieldsville Township meeting on Tuesday afternoon was sparsely attended. (Colton Kemp photos/southernminn.com)
Todd Schilling became the impromptu moderator of the Shieldsville Township annual meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Next to him sits Pam Schilling.
As the Shieldsville Township annual meeting began, Supervisor Joe Pesta called to the single-digit audience for a volunteer to serve as meeting moderator.
No one volunteered, so resident Todd Schilling was assigned the role.
“What do I do?” he asked.
“You’re leading the meeting,” replied Supervisor Dale Kuchinka.
“I get to lead the meeting?” he responded with excitement. “Ah, yeah.”
As moderator of the meeting, it was up to Schilling to call for motions and move things along. At the annual township meeting, every resident of the township could chime in, make motions, second motions, ask questions, engage in discussion, and even set the tax levy.
Other than the people required to be there, six people attended. The township has a population of about 1,100.
Shieldsville Township Supervisors (from left) Jim Melchert, Joe Pesta and Dale Kuchinka sit front-and-center at the annual meeting.
Similar scenes played out in town halls throughout Rice County and across Minnesota Tuesday. Townships have a unique form of governance in which elections for township offices are held the second Tuesday in March, along with annual town meetings.
Once the meeting adjourned in Shieldsville Township, residents began voting for two town board seats. Some townships have the votes before their meeting, some after.
After Shieldsville Township Clerk Sue Ceplecha-Novak read the minutes from the last meeting, the 2021 annual report was read by Pesta. He went through each expenditure from 2021.
Rather than dipping into the equipment replacement funds, the township used ARPA funds.
“What exactly does the ARPA stand for?” asked Schilling.
“We did a lot of work with that ARPA money,” Supervisor Jim Melchert added. “We did some road work with that as well. We didn’t have to dip into our general fund as deep as we usually have to.”
After the annual report, the town roads report was read. Garbage dumping is a problem for the township, according to Pesta.
In one instance, Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas informed the township that deputies looked through the garbage and tracked the owner down. The owner had moved, leaving their garbage for the next person. The story got some laughs and multiple attendees chimed in with their own stories of found garbage.
After the fire district reports were read and approved, the attendees moved on to new business. The newspapers for legal publications and next year’s meeting date and time were set.
Then, it was on to the property tax levy. No one really knew how the system worked.
“So, basically, you’re saying if we set these levees and keep them the same, taxes stay the same as last year?” asked Pam.
Pesta confirmed.
“Do we have any recommendations from the (supervisors)?” asked Schilling. “Do you have a figure or what we did in the past?”
“I think we went up 7% last year,” Pesta responded.
After some discussion about the purpose of a levy, what the levy normally is increased by and how inflation affects it, resident Pam Schilling took the lead.
“I’m sure people don’t like their taxes to go up, but we all like to be well cared for,” she said.
She recommended an 8% increase. But another attendee said, “Let’s just do a flat 10%.”
The 10% levy was unanimously approved and divided among the township funds.
Shieldsville Township Supervisor Jim Melchert (left) is handed a gift by Supervisor Joe Pesta, while Supervisor Dale Kuchinka laughs (right). (Colton Kemp/southernminn.com)
Shieldsville Township Supervisor Jim Melchert received a plaque to honor his 18 years of service to the community.
Then, Pesta, who serves on the Rice County Fair Board, said the fairgrounds are asking townships to consider donating $500 for operating costs. The donation was approved.
The final meeting item was to say farewell to Melchert, who decided not to seek reelection.
“I’d like to thank the public for putting up with me for the last 18 years,” he said. “I enjoyed all parts of it.”
As the meeting moderator, Schilling took charge in thanking him on behalf of residents.
“Thank you for your service, your leadership being head supervisor and for taking care of the township and keeping us out of debt, keeping us on the right track,” he said.
Pesta pulled out a large gold bag and handed it to Melchert. Inside was a plaque, honoring his years of service, a cap, a pin and some cash from the state township foundation.
After the meeting, as the public’s votes were cast, Melchert shared some thoughts about his experience.
One of a few dozen votes for the Shieldsville Supervisor and Treasurer slide into the ballot box at Shieldsville Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
“It was a very enjoyable experience,” he said. “There was up and there was downs, but mostly I did enjoy it. I think everybody, if they have the opportunity to do it, should. It is a learning experience. We got to keep grassroots government here. At the state, they don’t care about our gravel and dirt roads. You just won’t hear them talk about that.”
He shared that he hopes to see more participation in “grassroots government,” both with involvement and voting turnout.
Ceplecha-Novak said there’s usually just over 20 people who vote in total.
Shieldsville Township elections and the annual meeting was held on Tuesday afternoon at Shieldsville Town Hall.
