The tale of what's happening in a small northern Minnesota township can be a lesson to any local government.
A yearslong dispute in Hillman Township, near Mora, started when the Township Board voted to abandon part of a long gravel road that serves as the only access to the Crisman family's home. The township long plowed and maintained only the first quarter-mile of the road that then led to a long-unoccupied property. When the Crisman family moved onto the property in 2017, they asked the township to maintain the entire road.
The township refused, declaring that the road, called Hornet Street, no longer legally exists. The Postal Service stopped delivering mail to the Crismans, and the Township Board chairman told the school district it would no longer have to offer bus service to the family's three daughters, all younger than age 10. The district, thankfully, kept offering bus service.
The township claimed state law requires the land to be returned to the Crismans' neighbors, over whose land the road passes. The Crismans, who were new to the area when they moved in, said their neighbor has a grudge against them. Soon a dispute that pitted the newcomers against a network of lifelong, powerful residents got more and more bitter. The Crismans sued.
A judge eventually ruled against the township, saying: "It is unreasonable and absurd to allow Defendant to deny maintenance of the latter portion of Hornet Street while maintaining the first portion, leaving the Crismans stranded while what exists of Hornet Street erodes away."
Despite pleas from many local residents to settle the issue amicably, the board members stubbornly dug in and pushed the case further, asking the judge to reconsider.
Last month, Kanabec County District Judge Stoney Hiljus refused to reconsider the earlier ruling, calling the township's arguments "disingenuous." The township hasn't yet made a formal decision about the latest ruling but has recently suggested it may push the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
The Crismans note that while they are of modest means and must pay their own legal bills, the township has outsized leverage as they get some legal services through their membership in the Minnesota Association of Townships.
