MP09-20                                            
Maine Prairie Township Comprehensive Growth Meeting
April 23, 2009
 
Chair Loewen opened the meeting by thanking everyone for coming and introducing Chuck Marohn from Community Growth institute.   
 
Kimball Kruiser’s 4-H group served the hot dogs and chips.
 
Residents reviewed posters on the walls and filled in spaces they feel need to be reviewed by the core committee. 
 
Marohn explained the township has formed a core committee to work through the process and he gave a good history lesson on how townships got started.                                                                               
 
Marohn stressed the good qualities of the township some listed were: Financially sound, tax rate is low, infrastructure (road system) is paid by someone else and population is young families.  He also stressed that the future of the City of Kimball is tied to the township.  Marohn felt as he traveled through Kimball that it is a city under economic stress of which a lot of small towns are now. 
 
Marohn expressed concern over the bill going through the House of Representatives now which would limit growth in the townships to one dwelling for every 40 acres and the growth would be directed toward the cities where it would be under city control.  He felt this would not go anywhere this year but being that it is on the table, it will come back in the future.  The concern by many was too much government control.  Marohn felt the shift of power is changing from Rural to Urban.
 
The residents were asked to come up with strengths in the township.  They were: 1) neighbors helping neighbors, 2) The area is the most beautiful part in the state of MN and 3) Close proximity to St Cloud. 
 
The residents were asked to come up with weakness in the township.  They were: 1) Taxes are too high (even if they are low for the township, all taxes are too high with a lower income), 2) concerns that townships are becoming obsolete because the residents are being forced to go to the county for much of the permitting, 3) No specific development patterns, seems to be scattered throughout the township.
 
Marohn thanked everyone for coming and stressed the importance of the residents becoming active and are invited to the upcoming meetings.
 
 
 
 
Terre Harff
Maine Prairie Clerk