Lutsen Township Board Meeting Minutes
May 19, 2026
Lutsen Town Hall
Present: Sharon Hexum-Platzer, Dale Sundstrom, Ginny Storlie, Carl Frienser, Chris Homyak, Steve Duclos, Tabitha Blanchard, Brandon Gillespie, Samantha Mcquatters-Spangle
Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Chairperson, C Friesner at 7:00 pm.
Approval of Agenda: C Friesner made a motion to approve the May agenda with additional new line items and one old business item put back on the docket, C Homyak seconded. Motion passed.
Approval of April Meeting Minutes: C Friesner made a motion to approve, C Homyak seconded with the spelling correction of the last name Friesner. Motion passed.
Commissioner’s Report: (Ginny Storlie)
Clerk’s Report: S. Mcquatters-Spangle Deputy Clerk: S. Hexum-Platzer
Correspondence: 8 calls, 3 forwarded; City of Grand Marais Weekly Update, WTIP contact updates, talked with fire chief about details for minutes; 2026 Multifamily Consolidated RFP/2027 HTC Round 1, April newsletter for the Superior National Forest, Notice of Public Hearings: 2026 Housing and Community Development Action Plan; forwarded, OSA Weekly Update, Cities/Townships/Counties Focus Group for North Shore Roadway Network Resilience Study; forwarded, Northspan: Community Action Engagement Sessions, Road improvement projects planned to improve safety and access of forest infrastructure, AAAA Newsletter, May Update, MAT Board of Directors appoints John Upton to District 10 position, Superior National Forest: Emergency Road Closures; forwarded, Cities/Townships/Counties Focus Group for North Shore Roadway Network Resilience Study on May 1, 2026 | Road Meeting Report, Recreation tips as fishing opener kicks off the season, Rural Capacity Program Newsletter, Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program 2026, Registration: MAT's Town Law Review, Electronic Waste Collection Event for Cook County, Arrowhead Cooperative Heating Equipment Replacement Opportunity, Notification: Planning Commission - 13 May 2026 (one Lutsen property on agenda), Required Local Weed Inspector Training; forwarded, Half-Staff Alert - May 15, 2026; forwarded, CCHE End of May Events Newsletter, St. Louis County Sustainability - News & Updates
A. Talked with Cartway petitioner and Attorney for final payments
B. Corresponded with Tabitha about personal oven
C. Mowing bid request posted
D. LBAE meeting prep, set up and minutes (submitted)
E. Fire truck contract forwarded and filed
F. Scanned and filed 2024 documents/backed up
G. Reviewed and updated employee roster
Treasurer’s Report; Ashley VanDoren: As of April 30,2026;
North Shore Federal Credit Union-Checking $172,276.07; General Building Fund-savings $22,588.92, General Money Market $86,765.25 totaling $281,630.24; CD investments;
o 29 Month CD at Grand Marais State bank-$109,215.38 at 4.5%
Matures 6/2/26
Fire truck fund
o 24 Month CD at Grand Marais State Bank- $10,249.18 at 4.0%
Matures 10/22/27 (Vehicle Refurbish/Maint)
o 24 Month CD at Grand Marais State Banke- $10,249.18 at 4.0%
Matures 10/22/27 (Equipment Replacement)
o 7 Month CD at Grand Marais State Bank- $35,000 at 4.0%
Building fund/ Matures 8/27/26
o 7 Month CD at Grand Marais State Bank- $100,000 at 4.0%
General/Fire Fund/ Matures 8/27/26
o 7 Month CD at Grand Marais State Bank- $112,817.63 at 4.0%
Truck Fund/ Matures 8/27/26
o 13 Month CD at Grand Marais State Bank- $105,074.59
Truck Fund/ Matures 4/27/27
Total funds including CD investments $764,236.20
Year to Date Receipts $81,215.90; Year to Date Disbursements $101,769.35.
2026 General town Budget $63,200.00, 2026 Fire District Budget $290,395.00 for a total budget of $353,595.00.
2026 General town Levy $40,000.00, 2026 Fire District Levy $275,000.00 for a total 2026 Levy of $315,000.00.
C Friesner made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. C Homyak seconded. Motion passed
Signatures were given to bank documents to finalize access to the new treasurer Dale Sunstrom
Review and Approval of Claims:
· Clerk S. Mcquatters-Spangle provided the invoiced May Claims. Details; 20 claims for a
total of $5,104.24, This included $776.50 to action fire protection for services to all extinguishers and mobile services, reimbursement to fire crew for drone training, CPR training and gas when doing mutual aid for the Two Harbors fire over the weekend.
C Freisner made a motion to approve claims, C Homyak seconded. Motion passed.
· Clerk provided May 2026 payroll; 4 claims totaling $2,562.40
C Friesner made a motion to approved payroll. C Homyak seconded. Motion passed
· Claims approval and Payroll distributions were signed by Supervisors; copies are on file
in the town office.
· Cash Control for May 2026 presented and matches with treasurers
Fire and EMS Chief’s Report: (Steve Duclos)
· 1 fire calls for the last month; 5 EMS calls
· Training:
o Diabetes medical emergencies
o Cleaned out trucks
o Drone piolet training and testing passed
o Ladder training
Supervisors’ Report:
C Friesner:
D Johnson: N/A
C Homyak:
Old Business:
· Lutsen Township emergency shelter; Plumbing and heating assessment was done with an estimated quote of less then the budgeted $15,000 to set up two overhead heaters and propane to the required areas. C Friesner made a motion to approve the work to set up plumbing needs for the short-term emergency shelter. C Homyak seconded. Motion passed. C Friesner will oversea the work is done and start assessments on electrical needs.
· Citizen request for installation of personal convection oven at town hall kitchen; draft was completed and send to Tabitha to review with a security deposit and request to lock and unplugged when not in use to prevent damages of personal property and logistics with preplanning rentals and usage. Tabitha presented a counter to the board and requested discussion about continued placement in the townhall kitchen and a need to better define and wording in the lease as it doesn’t fit the needs of either party along with better communication about any concerns of citizen comments. Supervisor Friesner requested Tabitha to come to the next meeting to talk to the town board when all supervisors are present.
· Grandview Park: Pavillion assessment at the Grandview park and a possible quote or plan of action from Boreal Enterprises throughout the summer. The wooden posts are placed directly on the concrete slab and there a risk with constant direct exposure to snow and moisture.
· Drone update; grants, fundings and outreach: (Sharon Hexum-Platzer)
We received the first grant money out of the five applied to; $4000 from the Cook County Community Fund/Boreal Waters.
Fire Fighter Safety Grant will be the last in this current round to be applied to between May 4 through May 7, 2026; this grant requires specifics such as history of department and the number of calls responded to which 60% of were medical calls. The second round of grants will begin after May of this year for the remaining two contracted years. T-mobile grant which was the largest grant applied for should be decided by the end of May 2026.
Lloyd K Johnson grant applied for has a meeting set up with fire chief Duclos in May; the grant amount for $15,000. Both fire chief Duclos and supervisor Friesner attended the interview with positive notes and will hear back at a later date on final selection of the grant.
The next round of grants will be applied to year two and three of the contract in the same amount of $25,500. Supervisor Homyak suggested looking into possibly taking any of the fund received that is not to be paid out until year two and three be placed into a CD; contract will be reviewed to see if that is a possibility. Sharon advised sending out a second letter lo lodge and resort owners in request for a donation for the drone that have not responded to the first and just double check the actual owners of the lodges and resorts.
Supervisor Homyak presented 4 new grant opportunities along with another added from Sharon Hexum-Platzer and the supervisors requested that Sharon be appointed grant writer on behalf of Lutsen township for additional funding to go to the other contracted years of payment for the drone.
Anyone who would like to donation to this life saving cause please write your check out to Lutsen Township and put “drone” in the memo and send to P.O. Box 151 Lutsen, MN 55612
· Search and rescue truck contract: Fire chief Duclos presented the contract from Rosenbauer for the new search and rescue truck as well as the specific schematic blueprint. Using Source Well to bid out each individual piece the township will not need to do a sealed bidding process as Source Well has already done the process while acquiring each piece. The new quote is slightly higher than previously stated with the full total being $408,668. Rosenbauer will need the signed contract by May 20, 2026 to move forward with the building of the truck at the quoted price and payment will not be required until completion at an estimated 605 days from initial start.
o Chris Homyak went before the commissioner’s board and requested a county loan; after requested time for the county to research specific terms it was agreed upon to approve a 50/50 loan to Lutsen township to help purchase of search and rescue truck for Lutsen fire.
o It was advised that the discount amount from Rosenbauer if the chassis is paid up front would be less than if we skipped the discount and place the total amount in a CD until payment.
o Payment will be once the truck is delivered with a quoted estimated time frame of 605 days from being ordered however it is expected to be delivered sooner then the full quoted time. Discussion to be held over the next handful of meetings on how the remaining funds sound be raised, used or invested in the meantime.
New Business:
· Website: advised to review to be ADA compliant such as details of used pictures and review of main set up such as how it is navigated and where minutes and agendas are found.
· Mowing bid: one mowing bid was submitted from Borel Enterprises. C Friesner made a motion to accept the mowing bid as presented. C Homyak seconded. Motion passed.
· Gitchi Gami bike trail: Discussion over funding and how to process is looking over the next few years. It was requested as a possibility to have Lutsen township act as a financial
Donations: Boreal Waters Community Foundation, Sharon Hexum-Platzer(Northwind), Loise Stevens; C Friesner made a motion to accept the donations, C Homyak seconded. Motion passed and resolution 2026-5 signed and on file in the townhall office.
Citizen Comments:
· Request to the fire department to help set up the tent for the church yard sale on June 20, 2026 in Lutsen. To also help bring another loaned out 16x20 tent from Pete Spencer to be set up at the church yard sale. This yard sale helps North Point and Care Partner and is a great community event; public encouraged to come!
Adjournment: C Friesner made a motion to adjourn; seconded by L Cooper. Motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 8:48pm
Respectfully Submitted, S Mcquatters-Spangle; Townhall Clerk Carl Friesner; Chairperson