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NOTICE

To all Residents of Schroeder Township

The Annual Meeting of Schroeder Township will

reconvene at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, August 9, 2017,

at the Schroeder Town Hall, 124 Cramer Rd., to set the Township Tax Levy for 2018.       For more information go to Meeting Notices and Agendas, or contact the clerk, Doug Schwecke, at 218-663-7599.

The regular monthly Board of Supervisors will meet following the adjournment of the Annual Meeting.

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Final Agreement of the Birch Grove Task Force Conciliation Committee – March 27th, 2017

The values and recommendations below are the result of more than three months of fact-finding and negotiation by a committee representing all of the various interests connected to the Birch Grove Building in Tofte.  The Consensus Agreement is a carefully balanced set of recommendations to the decision makers, including the Birch Grove Community School Board, W. E. Connect Board of Directors and the the Township Boards of Tofte, Lutsen, and Schroeder.

As a community based consensus agreement, its recommendations must be accepted or rejected by the decision making entities as a complete agreement.  Any changes to the agreement can only be made if those changes receive consensus by the Birch Grove Task Force Conciliation Committee.

Community consensus agreements, like this one, provide powerful and enduring solutions to complex community problems. There is no term set on the effect of an agreement, but they typically endure until there are significant changes in circumstances. If that occurs, it is a good idea to reconvene a community conciliation process to produce a new agreement.

This agreement is fully supported by every member of the Birch Grove Task Force Conciliation Committee.  Many thanks are due to the committee members for their patience, commitment and hard work in reaching community consensus.

Community Values:

The West End Community Center, Birch Grove Community School – Public School District #4145, and W. E. Connect are vital parts of the West End Community and need to thrive while meeting the needs of the entire community.

Management of the building will continuously strive to achieve maximum return to the residents of the West End community, while maintaining efficiency, simplicity and transparency in the management of the facility.

Benefits from this agreement are for the future of the entire West End Community.

Recommendations of the Birch Grove Task Force Conciliation Committee:

Birch Grove Community School is a long term tenant of the building, operating under generally accepted tenant/landlord guidelines.

Tofte Township will operate the West End Community Center at Birch Grove by contracting for those services with Birch Grove Community Education. Examples of Youth and Senior Center programming could include:  pre-school, day care, after school care, pizza night, pickle ball, exercise room, senior lunch, community lunch, mentorships, AARP tax preparation, tennis, ice-skating, free lending library, food shelf, and so on, as deemed appropriate.

Birch Grove Community Education will act as the Tofte Township’s contracted agent for management and operation, including renting and scheduling, of the Birch Grove Building and the West End Community Center. The goal for existing programs is that they be maintained.

Birch Grove Community Education is a fiscally distinct and separate program of the Birch Grove Community School Board.  Community Education and Tofte Township will negotiate an annual contract for the operation of the West End Community Center.

Rooted in the West End of Cook County, W.E. Connect informs, connects and facilitates the rich web of resources for building a healthier, sustainable community for all generations, with West End Community Center programming that is not funded by the Township of Tofte. The role of W. E. Connect is to expand existing programs, develop new programming and provide support for the West End Community Center.

W.E. Connect will promote and maintain the Birch Grove Foundation Endowment Fund (soon to be renamed the W. E. Connect Endowment Fund) on behalf of and to the benefit of the education of children in the Townships of Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder, in keeping with original goal of the fund.

Birch Grove Community Education will create a West End Community Center advisory committee, to be appointed by Birch Grove Community Education, which will include, if possible, two representatives from W. E. Connect and one representative appointed by each Township of Lutsen, Township of Tofte and Township of Schroeder, and other community members, as Birch Grove Community Education deems appropriate.  This advisory committee will address issues of the West End Community Center as presented by Birch Grove Community Education.

Tofte Township continues to own the property and building. The per square foot cost of leasing space to tenants in the Birch Grove Building will be set by dividing the total expenses, as determined by generally accepted accounting principles, of the building, by the number of leasable square feet. Tenants will be charged for the actual square footage that they occupy. Common space (i.e. gymnasium) is available to long term tenants and included in monthly square foot charge.  Occasional tenants will be charged per scheduled use and revenue is paid to the owner. Room rental rates are set by the building manager.

Non-profit and for-profit entities are allowed as tenants in the Birch Grove Building.

Cook County will be asked to provide annual funds to the West End Community Center at a level that is a fair approximation of the funds, on a per capita basis, that Cook County provides to similar facilities in other parts of the County.

Tofte, Lutsen and Schroeder Townships will be asked to fund the Birch Grove Building for the costs of operating and maintaining the Birch Grove Building and the West End Community Center.

Additional funding for programs in the Birch Grove Campus/Complex may be approved by Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder Townships in keeping with Minnesota statutory requirements.

The Birch Grove Task Force Conciliation Committee will meet, as needed, to continue good communication and maintain cooperative relationships.

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ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

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