Star Tribune
City border battle pits ‘rural lifestyle’ against push for development
Baldwin Township is a small but growing community in central Minnesota that, according to its website, has retained its “rural identity” as home to a little more than 7,000 residents.
It’s also home to a decades-long debate over boundaries, growth, sewers and taxes. Baldwin Township aspires to be a city, amid fears it might otherwise lose a third of its land to the neighboring city of Princeton.
Officials on both sides of the border have accused the others of misinformation. Princeton officials say the city won’t annex the township land, but Baldwin officials accuse the city of making covert efforts to do so in court. Meanwhile, Princeton officials accuse Baldwin Township officials of misleading residents about the true effects of annexation or incorporation as an independent city.
Baldwin Township Board Supervisor Jay Swanson said making the township into its own city will protect the residents’ way of life: houses on several-acre lots, open nature and neighbors barely in view.
“They want to see the rural character maintained,” Swanson said.
But Princeton Mayor Thom Walker questioned that. He said Baldwin’s reliance on septic tanks poses a threat to the city’s underground water supply. For property owners in the annexation area, Walker said they could see increased property values as Princeton allows for higher-density buildings and has a sewer system.
“We think that this is a legitimate spot for the city boundaries to end,” Walker said, of the land the city could possibly acquire.
Princeton has annexed some township land in the past, but those were smaller parcels and the changes were requested by property owners. In 2021, the city studied the larger annexation idea, and at a meeting at the time, Walker said: “If Baldwin Township was truly wanting to be Baldwin City, they wouldn’t have parked all of their businesses right on our doorsteps. There is a reason why they are there because it’s cheaper and they wanted to be connected to the City of Princeton.”
An administrative law judge is weighing Baldwin Township’s request to incorporate as a city, and if so, what its boundaries should be.
The public comment period ended in late March, and the city and township must make their final comments by April 19, with the ruling to follow within 90 days, according to Office of Administrative Hearings spokesperson Kendra Schmit.
Baldwin or Princeton?
Baldwin Township has had incorporation discussions and fears over annexation, according to Swanson, for as long as the 15 years he has been a town board supervisor.
The annexation anxiety has real consequences for the township, Swanson said. Losing a third of the township and the revenue that comes with it could make it harder to pay back loans. The area in question includes Baldwin’s business district and local park, as well as around 900 homes and 2,500 people.
Baldwin Fire Chief and Town Board Supervisor Scott Case said annexation would shrink the township tax base and hurt services.
“All that tax money, which we have based our budgets on for the whole township, would go to the City of Princeton,” said Case, who also noted township residents might pay higher property taxes if they become part of Princeton.
Princeton’s push to bring more land into the city, meanwhile, is motivated by the effort to increase opportunities for development and ease risks associated with Baldwin Township’s septic tanks, according to the mayor.
Walker said Baldwin’s rural design stifles development near the city’s southern border because property owners can’t build higher-density buildings like apartments.
The rural reliance on septic tanks also worries Princeton officials concerned about leaks affecting the city’s underground water supply. If the city absorbs parts of Baldwin Township, properties currently using septic tanks would be added to the Princeton sewer system on an “as requested and as needed” basis, according to Walker.
While Walker agreed residents may see an increase in their taxes, he added Baldwin residents should also expect increased taxes if the township becomes its own city.
Princeton City Administrator Michele McPherson said cities have to offer more services than townships in areas like snow plowing and street maintenance to abide by state laws, which increase costs on residents.
Elizabeth Wefel, a lawyer with the firm Flaherty & Hood and annexation lobbyist for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, said the judge will consider the township’s available housing and projected growth while weighing the request to incorporate as a city. Other factors like environmental risks, sewer services, intended land use and local government setup will also play a role in the decision, Wefel added.
Baldwin Township officials say Princeton has misled the public about its annexation goals by simultaneously saying there were no plans for annexation in public while calling for annexation in court.
“Why are we playing games here? I really don’t understand what’s going on,” Swanson, of the township board, said.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Princeton says the township officials have stirred up concerns.
“[Residents] would not have those concerns if not for the Baldwin Township supervisors sending out letters and making false claims about what would happen if they were part of the city,” Walker said.
Case, who lives in the potential annexation area, said he can only hope the judge favors keeping the Princeton-Baldwin border as is.
“The fact that we feel a sense of community of Baldwin is part of the thing that’s driving us,” Case said. “I would like [Baldwin to incorporate], but that is up to the administrative law judge, and we leave our faith in her hands.”
The University of Minnesota has postponed a scheduled Tuesday night lecture from infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci after pro-Palestinian protests that included some protesters barricading Morrill Hall the day before.
On Monday night, several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the building, which houses the Minneapolis campus’ administrative offices, as Students for a Democratic Society used tied-up patio furniture to form giant barricades blocking the building’s large front windows and its entrances. The protesters demanded the U divest from companies with ties to Israel. At least 11 of the protesters were arrested.
The university decided to postpone Fauci’s lecture set for Tuesday night because of “unexpected and complicated incidents” over the past day, university spokesman Jake Rickersaid in an email.
“Given the importance of this lecture and the unexpected and complicated incidents that occurred on campus in the past 24 hours, University officials determined it best to reschedule to ensure a great experience for attendees and our University community,” Ricker said.
All tickets for the lecture will be voided and information about the rescheduled date will be posted later, the university said in an online post about the postponement. Pre-paid parking will be automatically refunded, the university added.
Additional pro-Palestinian protests took place Tuesday afternoon at the university in front of Coffman Memorial Union. The protests prompted university officials to temporarily close down at least a dozen buildings in a Tuesday alert. Those included: Coffman Union, Weisman Museum, Hasselmo Hall, Ford Hall, Vincent Murphy Hall, Tate Lab, Morrill Hall, Northrop Auditorium, Johnston Hall, Walter Library, Smith Hall, and Kolthoff Hall. All other East Bank campus buildings were switched to keycard access only, according to the alert.
An anti-Fauci rally had also been planned by conservative group Action 4 Liberty to coincide with the lecture at the university, but that was moved after the lecture was canceled.
Star Tribune
Aunt IDs 3-year-old who was fatally shot in Minneapolis home, speaks about what happened
A close relative on Tuesday identified the 3-year-old boy who was fatally shot this week in his family’s northeast Minneapolis apartment a day earlier.
Woods said police have told the family that Jajuan got ahold of the gun and it went off.
“Someone left a loaded gun [in the home,” said Woods, who has started an online fundraiser for her sister, Charlotte Williams. “He got ahold of it thinking it was a toy.”
Woods said her nephew, who went by Junior, “loved trucks and dinosaurs. He was just so silly and goofy. He was a momma’s boy.”
Jajuan suffered a gunshot wound to the top of the head, a source with knowledge of the incident told the Star Tribune. Paramedics rushed the toddler to HCMC, where he died a short time later.
Woods said she did not know who owned the gun.
Police spokesman Trevor Folke said Tuesday evening there have been no arrests and had no update to share in the “active and ongoing investigation.”
Bergman is championing efforts to boost literacy and invest in early childhood programming, and getting there, she said, requires financial sustainability, and that may mean closings and mergers. She attended last week’s finance committee meeting — as she’s done on a regular basis — and described the mention of “opportunity” as another rosy way of avoiding hard truths.
The district is spread too thin, she said. Some schools could take more students. Yet in others, class sizes are huge and caseloads so large that educators can’t build relationships with students and families, she said.
“I just fundamentally believe, and it’s been one of the objectives of my campaign, to be someone out in the community talking about this moment, listening to reactions, and listening for the places where families could get on board with the possibility of their beloved school having to close,” she said.
A way to get there, Bergman said, is by consolidating buildings, and in turn, expanding programming — perhaps not far from the school left behind.
Callahan argues that the mere mention of closings is causing families to leave the district: “This is not something that should be talked about so flippantly,” she said.
She said she would entertain the idea only if there also are plans to stabilize and recruit students, plus answers to three questions: How much money is being saved by closing a building? How many students will be retained if the school closes? And how many new students have to enroll to keep it open?
