WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, JUNE 5, 2013

          Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m., with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Also present were Supervisors Mike McCullen and Gary Vink, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Road Manager Mark Pallow and Eldon and Marg Schmedeke.

Paul read the report of the May meeting; Gary moved to approve and Mike seconded.  Approved.

OLD BUSINESS:  FEMA Hazard Mitigation Project, Mayfield Road.  We have until the end of the month to complete it.  Mike took the FEMA file to work with Mark on how to bill the work and to explain what the proposal included and what needs to be done to build up the side of the road at the culvert on Mayfield Road with rip-rap and gravel.  FEMA will not allow Mark to do the work as a township employee, but only as a contractor. We have already paid for the gravel, so it is only Mark’s contract labor and the machine and the rip-rap we need a new bill for.

Schmedeke Lane Extension Committee:  Eldon said he was not notified that the board was going to inspect the Schmedeke Lane extension, and he feels he should have been told.  Paul said he did send Eldon a copy of the May meeting record that said the spring road inspection would be May 22, and the meeting time.  The board didn’t have a special meeting on Schmedeke Lane but only checked it as part of inspecting all the township roads.  Eldon said he pretty much agrees with the board’s observations about the extension, although the county didn’t use pit-run gravel but just dug it out of the bank.  Mike said that is what pit-run gravel is, and the board was impressed with the bed the county engineers laid on the road.  The board  recommends that 6” of class five gravel be put over the pit-run before the town  will accept the road.  Eldon said that the County had proposed to make the road the full length of two 40’s, but it is short of that. CountyCommissioner Steve Chaffee told Glen that the county absolutely will not take down the hill, so if that is a final condition of the committee Eldon is heading, we will not be taking over the road.  The board will not act until Eldon gives his final report of the minimum standards the road must meet before the town will take over the extension as a township road, because they do not want to have to do anything further on the road once it becomes a township road, beyond regular maintenance.  The biggest reservation the board has is the culvert that is supported with logs laid across it and is vulnerable to collapse.   Both the board and Eldon say this culvert is unacceptable as it is now.

Road Report:  Mark graded Little Tamarack Lake Road, but it has been very wet. The road is holding up pretty good.  Mike said the Duxbury Fire Dept. wants to put a load of class 5 gravel over the water tank they buried next to the fire hall.  He moved that that the fire dept. be allowed to put a load of class 5 gravel and spread it over the tank; Gary seconded.  Passed.  The ordinance signs are ready to put up as soon as the County can do it.

Town Park:  Greg Beck sent a letter claiming that the county owns the north half of the 36.5 acre Wilma Park.  He says they want to sell it, and we can buy it from the county.  Wilma acquired the park in 1953 from the State and applied for a conditional use deed, but the conveyance deed only shows the south 16.5 acres.  Beck says the town can purchase the north 20 acres orobtain it through a conditional use deed, for specific purposes as allowed by the State.  Greg said the legislature passed a law this year that would allow all conditional use deeded land to pass to full ownership of the jurisdictions that hold them in 2015, and they can then do whatever they want with the land.  The board directed Paul to pursue this with the county auditor, to see what steps we need to take to obtain clear conditional use title to the full 36.5 acres of our park.  The board does not want to give any of it up.

Recording Ordinance:  Tamara Tricas, CountyRecorder, has retuned our road ordinance because the clerk’s notary stamp expired.  Paul said he thought he could hand-write the new date for his commission expiration; he wanted to save the town money and not buy a new stamp every two years.  Mike moved that Paul be authorized to buy a new notary stamp, and to renew it if he is re-elected in March, 2014.  Gary seconded.  Passed.

NEW BUSINESS:  Township Non-maintained Roads:  The Township Attorney with the MN Association of Townships, Kyle Hartnett, said that WilmaTownship retains the rights-of-way on all established township roads, even those that have not been used as township roads or maintained for decades.  This means that these original roads remain open to the public, even if they are now just trails or snowmobile trails, and they cannot be gated off or posted by any adjacent landowners.  Glen instructed Paul to write to James Doody, Eagle Head Road, and Eric Ternes, Mayfield Road, to ask them to remove gates blocking the old rights-of-way on their roads and tell them what the attorneys have said.

Summer Short Course:  Thursday, June 27, at the Black Bear Casino.  We have to pre-register.  Glen will drive, and Paul, Patrice, and Gary will be going.

Attorney Legal Seminar:  Our Township Attorney, Robert Ruppe’s law firm is hosting another free legal seminar.  They have two dates in Albertville, June 13 or Sept. 7, and one in Cotton, October 5.  Both Mike and Paul have attended these seminars, and Mike said they have good information and we should send a representative.  The attorney will give us legal help free during the seminar; last year he read and reviewed our new road ordinance and made some helpful adjustments and recommendations.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims:  Patrice gave the Treasurer’s Report (attached).  Bills were presented:

Mn. Township Agency (Comprehensive Plan)  $ 1,605.00

M-R Sign Company                                                707.08

Pine CountyAssessor (Special Assessments)                   375.00

The Evergreen                                                           10.13

Patrice Winfield (expenses)                                       16.40

Paul Raymond (expenses)                                       155.27

Glen Williamson (expenses)                                      38.42

ECE                                                                          67.03

Ace Hardware                                                             6.99

Mike McCullen                                                        124.67

Mark Pallow                                                           326.69

Glen Williamson                                                     151.45

Gary Vink                                                               252.57

Paul Raymond                                                        197.63

Patrice Winfield                                                        93.28

Total Bills                                 $      4,130.61

Mike moved to approve the report, pay  the claims, and to transfer $4,000 from savings into checking.  Gary seconded.  Gary moved that the meeting be adjourned.  Mike seconded.  Meeting adjourned 9 p.m.

—Paul Raymond, Clerk

WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING,   MAY 1, 2013 

          Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Also present were Supervisors Gary Vink and Mike McCullen, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Road Manager Mark Pallow, and Duane Glienke, Rod Williams, and Tom Harris.

Paul read the record of the April meeting.  He made one correction:  the township acquired the park land from the state, not the county.  Mike moved to approve the report; Gary seconded.

OLD BUSINESS:  Fire Hall Repairs:  Gary explained the problems the supervisors have with the repair job on the fire hall.  The man-door knob is reversed, and there is a gap between the new wall on the west side and the foundation timber, wide enough for snow to have come through this winter.  The meeting moved to the fire hall to inspect the repairs and show Rod the problems that need correcting.  Gary had inserted fiberglass insulation into the gap at the bottom of the wall on the southwest side.  Rob said he will come back with caulking and sealant and seal the gaps, and will reverse the door knob.  Gary also said he had to clean up a lot of nails.  Gary said he was ill with the flu and excused himself from the meeting.

Inside, Rob showed the board cad computer drawings of a project he is currently working on, and said if we use this lumber yard they will provide similar drawings and blueprints for us.  Glen said there has been some talk about getting a modular building; we could specify our requirements and dimensions.  Mike said he is very opposed to this; he would like a stick-built building constructed by a local contractor.  Rob said if we contracted each job separately, like the slab or the septic, we may get under the threshold where we would have to use sealed bidding. Patrice said this would violate the law; the contractor has to be responsible for all the subcontractors and include them in his bid.  Mike asked if the board could appoint a separate building committee that could meet without coming under the open meeting laws, even if he and Glen were on the committee.  Paul said this is a definite violation and could lead to a lot of problems.  We can still have meetings with 5 days notice, counting the posting and meeting dates.  Glen told Rob we would keep him posted on developments, and when  they will open the project to bidding he can put in a bid.  Rob offered his apologies for the deficiencies in the fire hall job.

Town Park:  Cathy Clemmer researched the history of our park in Section 8.  She says that in 1953 the township applied for a deed to the south half of the park land, 16.45 acres, but she can find no record of applying for a deed to the north 20.  She said we can apply to the state now for a deed to the whole park.  There is no disputing that the town was awarded 36.5 acres.  Cathy said it is trust land, restricted to park and recreation, and the township cannot sell or trade off any part of it.  The new deed could specify town hall site as well as park, in case we do build there.  Paul said he went through all the township files and could find no meeting records prior to 1987.  He contacted Becky Niedzielski since she and Donna Filler had researched the files to see if they could be scanned to ask if she remembered seeing any meeting records before then.  She could not remember, but did not take any records out of the hall.  Paul said if he had ever seen old meeting minute books, he would have read some of them since his family has lived in Wilma continuously since 1927, and he has no memory of seeing any records.  Mike said he would ask his mother and Roz Hanula to see if they remember seeing old town meeting records.  Mike said other things have disappeared from the township property.  We do have the large financial ledger books.

Mike explained to Duane Glienke that the board understands that he does not want to sacrifice or lose any land, but if the town were able to trade off part of the park land in exchange for part of the strip of land Duane holds between the store and the fire hall, we talked about making an offer.  Duane said he does not want to sell any part of his land to the township because he does not want his taxes to be raised by building a new town hall.  He said we have a good hall now.

Grader repair:  Mark said RDO will be done with the grader this week, and if we pay them, they will deliver it.  The total bill came to $16,198, much less than the estimate.  They fixed the engine and replaced all the filters and the hydraulics and everything needed.

Snowfall:  In the big snowfall we had in late April, Mark made the decision to hire Mike’s truck to plow township roads and drives.  Mike said it was too heavy and deep for his truck but they drove a path for cars, until Mark hired ArnaTownship’s grader and operator to plow the drives.  Glen said he made a good decision.

NEW BUSINESS:  Road Inspection:   Mike moved to set the road inspection for Wednesday, May 22, 10 a.m. at the hall.  He will drive his truck; Mike said we may need two vehicles.  He said that he hasn’t gone on earlier inspections to save the township money, but feels he should go this time.

Pancake Breakfast:  Glen moved that the Duxbury Volunteer Fire Dept. be allowed to use the hall on Sunday, May 26, for their pancake breakfast.  Mike seconded.  Passed.

Mowing and maintenance:  Mike said it makes sense to have the road manager be in charge of plowing the township parking lot, and also for maintenance duties like mowing the lawns or shoveling snow.  He moved that Mark’s job description be broadened to Road and Building Manager.  Glen seconded.  Passed.  Mike said Mark can hire someone to shovel the ram, mow and to prepare the hall for meetings, etc.    Mike said Mark is required at board meetings to give the road and grader reports, and he should be paid, at least for one hour.  He moved that Mark be paid labor rate for one hour for board meetings; Glen seconded.  Passed.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims:  Patrice gave the Treasurer’s Report (attached).  Bills were presented:

Glen Williamson (mileage)                          $            72.32

RDO Equipment                                                 16,198.57

Federated Coop                                                        17.69

RDO Equipment                                                    710.67

Security Life (dental)                                              426.48

Mn. Assn. Townships (short course)                               200.00

ECE                                                                         69.95

Mike McCullen (plowing/truck)                             350.00

Paul Raymond (expenses)                                        19.00

Patrice Winfield (expenses)                                      46.31

Pine CountyCourier                                                16.76

Joe Vink                                                                 100.00

Paul Raymond                                                       359.24

Mark Pallow                                                            265.96

Mike McCullen                                                       155.14

Joe Vink                                                                   13.85

Gary Vink                                                               108.05

Patrice Winfield                                                         196.70

Glen Williamson                                                     217.02

Toni Williamson                                                       92.35

Total bills                      $       19.636.06

Mike moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report, to pay all the claims, and to transfer $20,000.00 from savings into checking.  Glen seconded.  Mike moved to adjourn; Glen seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Paul Raymond, Clerk