SERVING MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY

After 53 years, Glen Nelson is calling it quits.
With one-year left on his term, Nelson is leaving the Owatonna Township Board in hopes of doing what many retirees do – spend time with his wife, Shirley, in a warmer climate during the winter.
It was a decision he didn’t make lightly.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last year or so,” said Nelson. “I told the board in September that I’d be done in October.”
Nelson said he’ll be leaving for Florida the second week in December but this time he won’t be returning the second week March – as he’s repeatedly done since starting to winter in Florida.
“I won’t have to be back in time for the township elections, ” he said.
Nelson’s successor will be David Dietz. The board appointed Dietz to the position until March when he will be required to seek a one-year term.
In his 53 years on the board, Nelson has served as chairman at least 15 times.
“Every three years, you are the chairman,” said Nelson.
In addition to his board responsibilities, at one time Nelson served as the building inspector for the township’s zoning board.
And while the township has retained its zoning board, Nelson said the board has deferred its authority to the county. At one time, construction permits were required by both the township and the county. Today, Nelson said, the township zoning board simply reviews what the county’s approved or denied.
“If we didn’t have a zoning board, the city would control a two-mile radius from the city limits,” said Nelson, adding that 80% of the city is in Owatonna Township.
Annexation tops the list of controversial issues that Nelson said he had to deal with as a member of the township board.
“At one time, the city wanted to annex 900 acres of land. We thought it was excessive, so the township board protested, “ said Nelson.
“But that would have been 45 years ago. Today, we have an annexation agreement. Since we got the annexation agreement, everything has gone well.”
Nelson said he is most proud of the work that’s been done to the Owatonna Township Hall over the years.
“When we bought the building, it was an old schoolhouse. It was drab and the hardwood buckled.”
Over the years, the township added indoor plumbing to the building, renovated the interior, put in new windows and resided and reroofed the exterior.
It still needs some work, said Nelson, adding that a couple of projects he’d hoped to get done before retiring included tuckpointing the foundation of the building and repainting the out houses.