Township Government
Townships are the original form of local government in Minnesota. Today, the term township generally refers to organized but unincorporated communities governed by a local board of supervisors and created to provide services to their residents. The board of supervisors are joined by a township clerk and a township treasurer. There are 1,790 townships across the State.
Annual Meeting: On the second Tuesday of March each year is the township annual meeting. At this meeting, the residents of the township have a direct opportunity to have a voice in how the township will be run. They do this by voting on a variety of matters on which the town board must receive elector approval, and most importantly, by directly voting on and approving the township's tax levy for the next year. (Source: Minnesota Association of Townships website)
Township Elections: At the March 2017 Workman Township meeting we changed to mail-in ballots which will come from the auditors office at the Aitkin County Courthouse. We also changed the length of election to 4 years. Our next election will be in November of 2018 which will be in sync with federal and state elections. A candidate winning election in November will take office in January.
Aitkin County Election Info - click here.
Township Responsibilities
Workman Township is responsible for providing many services to its residents. For example:
- As a township our biggest responsibility is maintenance of our township roads.
- Our township maintains the Lakeview Cemetery.
Township Geography
Workman Township is located in Aitkin County in north-central Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.6 square miles, of which 32.9 square miles is land and 2.7 square miles, or 7.68%, is water.
Area lakes and rivers include: Lakes within the township include: Big Sandy Lake, Brown Lake, Flowage Lake, Rat Lake, Sanders Lake, and Sandy River Lake. The Mississippi River flows southerly through the northwest corner of the township.
Wold Wildlife Management Area (WMA): This WMA (425 acres) is a mix of upland and lowland timber types. Tamarack, black spruce, cedar and black ash types make up the lowland areas. While the uplands are aspen, birch, and balsam fir. There are beaver ponds on west portion of the unit. Wolves, fisher, mink, bear, deer, great horned owl, raven and black-capped chickadee may use this WMA. The purpose of this WMA is to provide wintering areas for deer. Link to MN DNR.
Click on map to enlarge.
“We’re kind of proud,” said James M. Berg, chair of Workman Township. His fellow township officers and staff at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis agree he has good reason to feel that way.
