Homer Township Board Regular Meeting Minutes

May 11, 2026 at 5:30 pm

Location: Homer Town Hall


Board Members in Attendance: Chairman Harlan Larsen, Supervisor Gordy Nagle, Supervisor Adam Carlson, Treasurer Kim Skappel, Clerk Charlotte Roraff.

Absent: None


Meeting was called to order by H. Larsen at 5:30pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.


Prior meeting minutes were read by C. Roraff. G. Nagle made a motion to accept the minutes as read. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


Meeting agenda was reviewed. G. Nagle made a motion to accept the meeting agenda. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


Public comments started. JoAn Moham, Skip Ellings, Amy Welch, Rick Keen, David Ritter, and Connie Jensen all made comments.


G. Nagle brought forward the topic to consider purchasing some laptops for the board members to use for Township business. This was a topic discussed at the recent MN Association of Townships training he had attended and he thought it was worth discussing. Brief discussion was had regarding also looking into WiFi for the Townhall and the need for development of an IT Policy regarding any laptops or technology. G. Nagle will gather some pricing on laptop options to bring to the next meeting. C. Roraff will reach out to MN Association of Townships to get an IT Policy example to bring to the next meeting. No motions were made for further actions and the topic will be revisited at the June meeting.


C. Roraff brought forward the topic of having a Township Hall Rental/Use policy. This was another topic discussed at the recent MN Association of Townships training. A policy example from MN Association of Townships was presented to the Supervisors for review and discussion. Specific discussion was had around the request for use of the Town Hall for the upcoming Homer Township Heritage Day on June 27th. A. Carlson indicated it would be helpful to have guidance on the level of liability insurance the Township should be requiring for Town Hall use and G. Nagle indicated he would like to see a simpler version of a use agreement and waiver. C. Roraff will gather some additional recommendations from the MN Association of Townships to bring to the June meeting. A. Carlson made a motion to allow use of Homer Town Hall for the Homer Township Heritage Day on June 27th. G. Nagle seconded it. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried. G. Nagle will arrange to get a Town Hall key to JoAn Moham so the group can do cleaning and set up prior to the event.


C. Roraff received an email from a company out of Virginia asking for various Township information on purchase orders. She felt it was an odd request to come from another state and it did not list a local resident as the requester of the information. She forwarded the email to the MN Association of Townships to ask if they knew anything about this company. One of the attorneys replied to indicate this email is being received by townships across the state. The attorney indicated the Township must decide whether to respond, what information to give and any charges. He is aware of many townships choosing not to respond as the company appears to have no connection to any of the townships it is requesting information from. Brief discussion was had. G. Nagle made a motion to not respond to the request as it appears to not be a valid request. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


A. Carlson presented information on the land disturbance permit he’s seeking to build a pole barn on his property on Cedar Ridge Drive. He has worked with soil and water on what should be included on his request. He wanted to present it to the Township first to address any concerns before he submitted it to the County. He requested the Township write a letter of support so he can include it with his submission. A. Carlson indicated he would be abstaining from this board decision. Discussion was had regarding the location, slope and erosion mitigation plans. G. Nagle made a motion to support the approval of the land disturbance permit. H. Larsen seconded. Vote taken, 2 in favor, A. Carlson abstained. Motion carried. 


C. Roraff gave the supervisors an updated draft of the Ridgeway Fire Department agreement for review. Changes to the draft included removing the advisory board language, adding language specifying a 2 year term of the agreement and adding language specifying the amount and due dates of payments. Brief discussion was had. G. Nagle made a motion to approve the updated draft of the agreement with the changes presented. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried. C. Roraff will send the draft to Pleasant Hill Township for their review and signature. Once received back, Homer Township would counter sign.


C. Roraff presented the Supervisors with the petition she received from Skip Ellings. The petition is to close the cartway between Homer Town Hall and the maintenance building from Madison Street to Homer Avenue on Block 15 in Homer Township. Brief discussion was had. C. Roraff will forward a copy of the petition to the Township Attorney since this topic has been brought up to the attorney from the prior month’s meeting and the next steps can be outlined at the next board meeting. A road hearing date will be set at the next regular board meeting.


A. Carlson indicated he would work to get a couple of estimates on adding a lower railing and raising the upper railing on the Town Hall. 


H. Larsen had the following road report:


G. Nagle reported the bid packet for sealcoating was adjusted to only collect bids for Little Trout, Husman and Stone Roller on this round. All contractors who requested a bid packet are aware of the smaller scope of the project for this year.


K. Skappel indicated we received a letter from Milestone stating they are implementing a surcharge. Our recent invoices from them do not include a surcharge.


Pickwick Fire Chief Zimmerman gave a brief update. At their most recent Pickwick Fire Department board meeting, they discussed the questions proposed by Homer Township Attorney memo and their board has decided to formally withdraw their request to come under Homer Township at this time. Their board noted concerns with legal costs and questions they don’t feel in the position to fully answer at this time. Pork chop dinner went well. Very busy month with 22 calls including an electric vehicle fire call.


K. Skappel stated she calculated the first quarter payment due for Minnesota Paid Leave. It totaled $81.00 to cover the 5 board members plus 3 drivers. Employers are allowed to charge the employee up to half the amount, but it would take additional payroll time each month. She recommended the board pass a motion to have the full amount covered by the Township on behalf of the employee. G. Nagle made a motion the Township cover the full amount of Minnesota Paid Leave amounts for its employees. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


A. Carlson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. G. Nagle seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:37pm.


Respectfully Submitted,

Charlotte Roraff

Homer Township Clerk