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