Homer Township Board Regular Meeting Minutes

April 14, 2025 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. H. Larsen made a motion to accept the meeting agenda. G. Nagle seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


Public comments started. Scott Roraff, Paul Bissen, Skip Ellings, Joe Neumann, Anna Driscoll and Mike Busch made comments.


C. Roraff requested the supervisors confirm the designated posting and publication sites for Homer Township. Designated posting sites are Homer Townhall and Homer Township website. Designated official publication legal newspaper is the Winona Post. G. Nagle made a motion to confirm the posting sites as Homer Townhall and Homer Township website. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried. G. Nagle made a motion to confirm the Winona Post as the legal publication newspaper for all Township required publication notices. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried.


A. Carlson discussed doing some clean up and cleaning out of the maintenance building for spring. He asked if the truck and grader would get washed soon and H. Larsen indicated the grader was washed and the plow truck will be washed and serviced soon if weather holds and it’s not used. The grader will be serviced soon as well. C. Roraff asked if A. Carlson is needing help with clean up and G. Nagle offered to help so they will coordinate some clean up days.


G. Nagle would like to get bids on lawn care at Townhall for the summer. Mowing would include the sidehill in the back. C. Roraff requested whoever gets the job is asked to make sure sidewalks and steps are swept or blown off after mowing. She said last year during the primary election in August she had to sweep everything before the polls opened to ensure no one slipped on grass clippings. G. Nagle will gather quotes and bring them to next month’s meeting. Joe Neumann offered to check the lawn before the next meeting to see if it needs to be mowed.


G. Nagle said he was contacted by a township resident asking if Homer Township has lawn maintenance requirements. He wasn’t aware of anything at the township level, but wanted to verify with the rest of the board. No one was aware of any requirements at the township level. G. Nagle will get back to the resident and let her know the township does not have any lawn maintenance requirements.


C. Roraff said she received an email from the Minnesota DNR asking if the Township has any knowledge or record of the old quarry road off of County Road 9 and if this was ever considered a Township road. H. Larsen indicated this was never considered a Township road and was never maintained by the Township. He said it was the quarry’s road and maintained by the quarry.


C. Roraff received an email and G. Nagle received a phone call regarding a property on Old Homer Road. The property is currently being used as a vacation rental and the person emailing/calling is buying this property and wants to continue to use it as a vacation rental. They are wondering if the Township regulates vacation rentals in any way. The board confirmed no regulations at the Township level, only at the County level. C. Roraff will reply to the email she received to let the buyer know there are no Township regulations.


Township Supervisors reviewed hard copies of the updated Fire Department Contract presented by Pickwick Fire Department. Discussion was had regarding clarification of the dates on the contract and how that matches up with the levied amount approved at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Fire levy is voted on at the Annual Meeting during odd years, therefore the amount levied at the 2025 Annual Meeting won’t take effect until 2026 and 2027. Additional discussion was had about direct billing the fire department can do to homeowners. The fire department answered supervisor questions and also indicated they were ultimately able to get payment from the insurance company for their costs from the Black Horse fire. Updates will need to be made to the contract to correct the dates of the contract and correct the amounts to the updated amounts for 2026 and 2027.


H. Larsen had the following to report regarding Homer Township Roads:


One rock bid was received and reviewed by the Supervisors. Quote from Milestone Materials was $12.55 per ton delivered. Pick up price was between $9.50 and $10.00 per ton depending on material type and quarry location. Discussion was had. G. Nagle made a motion to accept the bid from Milestone Materials. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Motion carried. 


G. Nagle indicated he misunderstood and didn’t realize he wasn’t clear about what documents were needed from Pickwick Fire Department for review by the Township Attorney. Additionally, the Pickwick Fire Department still needed to talk to their board in order to get approval to send the documents. He will get clarification from the Township Attorney on the exact documents needed and will have the attorney email the fire department the list of documents.


Pickwick Fire Department Chief, Adam Zimmerman, gave a brief update from the fire department. Chicken que fundraiser date has changed to May 17th, hosted at the Pickwick Fire Station. Ongoing raffle at Twin Bluffs has been going well.


K. Skappel indicated ARPA reporting has been completed for the year.


G. Nagle made a motion to adjourn the meeting. A. Carlson seconded. Vote taken, 3 in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:15pm.


Respectfully Submitted,

Charlotte Roraff

Homer Township Clerk