Regular Meeting, October 4, 2006

WILMA TOWN BOARD MEETING, OCTOBER 4, 2006

Chairman Gary Vink called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present were Supervisors Michael McCullen and Glenford Williamson, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, and Eldon Schmedeke, Ken Yager, George Yager, Joe Vink, Mark Pallow, and Toni Williamson.

Paul read the records of the September 6 meeting and the special open Board meeting on September 15. Mike moved to approve both minutes; Glen seconded.

OLD BUSINESS: Grader: The grader was purchased and the Board adopted a Certificate of Indebtedness to pay for it. It will be picked up today or tomorrow and will be in Little Falls Monday morning to have the wing attached. Ranger Trucking got the bid, for $1800. The first payment on the loan, $2,000, is due October 13. The grader is insured.

Duncan Road Logging: Gary said that someone is logging up off of Duncan Road. He doesn’t know what outfit is doing it, but thinks it may be Gibson Logging. We don’t have any escrow from them, and Gary will continue to check on it.

Eagle Head/Crooked Lake Roads: We haven’t heard from Danforth about their plans to control beavers and dams on this road. Jason Palme had told Gary that they were going to clean out the culvert, but nothing’s been done. Paul will write Jeff Shute about what they want to do.

Dollar Lake Road: Vathnes have widened their drive at the end of the road, and have created a trench on the west side of the township road with at least a five-foot drop. Anyone driving off that road would smash into the bank and this is a liability issue for our town. Mike has already talked with Eric Vathne, and Paul will write them a letter telling them that they need to fill in the trench, 16 feet from the center of the road.

Joe said that the county uses an end slope of 1 to 1. The letter will tell him to talk to Gary to see what needs to be done.

Election Judges: Patrice Winfield and Donna Filler will be the judges for the November election. Patrice asked if we should have four judges; Paul said we can do it with three, and an extra would be a big expense. Paul said this is the first year he has had more trained judges in the pool than he can use.

Cooperative Purchasing Agreement: Gary has the cooperative purchasing agreement from the State to get a better deal for culverts and materials. Gary said the County had said they will pay our dues, and Paul will include a letter to this effect when he sends in the application.

Scanning and Backing up Township Records: Glen said he was concerned about the safety and storage of our town records, and asked if they could all be scanned into a computer for storage. Paul said this was brought up before, but the time and expense involved if we attempted to scan and copy all the records would be prohibitive. All correspondence and meeting minutes are already computerized, but it would be a full-time job to scan every thing else. Our historical road records, and old checks and minutes are stored in the town hall, and Paul is storing most of his records in a secure building separate from his home, and all computerized records are backed up on a separate hard drive periodically.

Snowplowing Fees: Paul will post and publish the snowplowing fees for the 2006-7 season, $50 for drives, $75 for drives over 700 feet. Glen said he would pay $150 for both his drives. Gary said homeowners will need to trim trees that overhang their drives so the new grader isn’t scratched or damaged. Glen moved that Mark Pallow be appointed principal grader operator for the 2006-7 season, provided he is trained on our new grader. Mark said he has taken grader operator classes, and will be trained as he grades the roads. Mike seconded.

Kenny Peterson Road: Gravel was deposited and the cabin owners have spread it out on the first part of the road and at the culvert.

Heller Road: Gary said we need a couple of loads of gravel on the Heller Road. Joe said he could haul it.

Todd Elliot Bill: Todd made a $16 error on his bill for the Duncan Road; Paul will write him.

Township Web Site: Glen said it would be good if the town had a website with meetings and announcements and notices and all the outdoor recreation opportunities in our town. He will work up one and bring it on his laptop. He said the initial creation of the site would be under $200, and the domain would cost only about $20 per year after that.

Grace’s Lake Drainage: Mike asked if the DNR contacted the town before they drained Grace’s Lake and lowered the level several feet. They wanted to create a marsh lake to grow wild rice for ducks, but the result will be a freezing of the lake and killing the fish.

Bills :

Hopkins Gravel $ 2,900.00

Mark Pallow 779.24

Joe Vink 117.21

First National Bank (Grader Loan) 2,000.00

U.S. Treasury 350.98

MAITT Insurance (grader premium) 214.00

Jim Hess (Electronic Transfer for grader) 12,045.00

ECEnergy 33.45

Paul Raymond 69.26

Paul Raymond 253.12

Marjorie Schmedeke 101.58

Glenford Williamson 146.63

Antoinette Williamson 18.47

Mike McCullen 62.33

Gary Vink 138.53

Patrice Winfield 143.83

Total 7,328.63

Including Transfer 19,373.63

Treasurer’s Report:

Road and Bridge Fund

Receipts 65.00

Disbursements 846.63

Balance 34, 708.17

General Fund

Receipts 1,174.26

Disbursements 711.27

Balance 19,513.62

Fire Fund

Bal: 2,205.39

Park Fund

Bal: 699.30

Building Fund

Bal 6,330.13

Escrow

Receipts: 500.00

Balance: 4,836.35

Total All Funds $ 68,292.96

Glen moved to pay all the bills, and to approve the Treasurer’s Report, and to transfer $7,500 from savings to checking. Mike seconded. Mike moved to adjourn. Glen seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Paul Raymond, Clerk