FAIRMONT–The townships of Martin County have had a busy month, with tax levy voting allowing time for debriefing amongst township and county officials.

Currently, there are 20 townships in Martin County, from Cedar in the top left to East Chain in the bottom right. They, along with all the other 1,776 townships in the state had their annual Township Day meeting on March 11.

County Commissioner, Former Township Supervisor, and Rutland Township resident Billeye Rabbe, said these meetings serve a specific purpose.

“We outline problems and priorities at our annual meeting each year,” she said. “That’s a time when the township people come and they tell us what their priorities are.”

When problems arise, townships can call special meetings for specific problems. Rabbe said a particularly pesky road necessitated this when she was on the Rutland Township board.

“We had a township road troubled with drainage for as long as I was on the board, and that was 18 years,” she said. “I called a meeting of the people that were around and owned land in that area. ‘What are we going to do?’ ‘This is what I think we should do.’ That’s what we did. We followed the path of the water, got scopes on where and how the water was draining. We fixed the problems.”

In recent years, several townships across Minnesota have incorporated as a city to avoid annexation. Rabbe said there hasn’t been any desire from any Martin County townships to follow this trend.

“We don’t have to,” she said. “There was a time when the city was trying to encroach on our township and take more land. We don’t want that, because we want that tax base to do what we need to do. We fought back a little bit, and we let them annex the Walmart area, but we didn’t want to take any more.”

In addition, Fox Lake Township Supervisor and Martin County Township Association Chairman Don Nordstrom said there’s not a whole lot that differentiates townships from towns.

“We’re elected officials,” he said. “We have three supervisors, so the vote has to pass by two to one. “We have a clerk and a treasurer. We have a budget and a levy. We do the same thing a city or county or state does.”

Rabbe said it is government in a very basic, grassroots form. There are also town restrictions townships don’t have.

“You can only have six chickens in town,” Nordstrom said. “You can have as many as you want on a farm or within licensing and feedlot rules [in townships].”

One trend Rabbe and Nordstrom have been thankful to see is younger citizens taking an interest in being on township boards. Rabbe attributes this to the vested interest people have in where their money goes, and the tight-knit community townships form.

“When I was in Cedar Township, they were having a retirement for the motor grader operator that had been there for around 30 years,” she said. “It was neat to see how many people from the township came to say thank you to that man. They all had a story.”

Each township has its own problems and unique fixtures to work on. Elm Creek township spent March 11 discussing the beginning of revitalization work for the wind generators in its area and the proceeds from them.

Overall, Nordstrom said fiber optic is the next big change sweeping across all the townships.

“That’s coming from the west, working its way east,” he said “People think that that’s going to be a valuable asset.”

In her area, Rabbe said a large solar farm is coming in the Northrop area. She said the project came together with the support of area landowners.

The next big event is March 27, when Martin County’s Township Association will hold their elections for their board and positions. Rabbe said all township officials and members of the public are welcome to attend. It will be held at Welcome Legion Hall, with supper at 6:30 and meeting at 7.

For more information on Martin County Townships, visit https://www.co.martin.mn.us/.