WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, WEDNESDAY JUNE 1, 2016

WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, WEDNESDAY JUNE 1, 2016

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present, Supervisor Gary Vink, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Road Manager Mark Pallow, and Grader Operator Alden Shute and Eldon Schmedeke.

Paul read the record of the May 4th board meeting. Gary moved to approve; Glen seconded.

ROAD REPORT: Alden gave the report; all roads have been graded, but so far no gravel has been applied. Alden wants to shape up the roads before gravel; he had to go back to some roads, Eagle Head, North and South Duncan Roads, and River Cabin Road. Alden said Mike wants McCullen Drive maintained all the way to the end by Zanoskos. Alden said he needs a load of pit-run gravel at the end for a turnaround. Glen moved; Gary seconded; approved. Mark said going up the hill on Tamarack Pine Drive the grader is pulling up big rocks and it needs a load of class 5 gravel. Glen moved; Gary seconded. Gary said the board already had authorized the Road Manager to use his judgment on where we need or don’t need gravel so we don’t have to vote on every load. Alden said the Supervisors authorized gravel on South Duncan Road at the wet spot, but if he applies any gravel there it will dam the swamp and make the water problem worse. Mark said we need Hopkins to dig a ditch there, but no gravel will be applied until it’s fixed.

Glen said that as of May 26, all county roads and ditches are open for class 1 and class 2 ATV use. He said townships can enact their own restrictions, but by law, if we don’t have a ditch ATV’s can use township roads.

Glen said both Mark and Alden are doing a fantastic job with the roads, and we have had no complaints.

Road Inspection Record Corrections: Paul made an error on the Road Inspection Report. The gravel he had on the Vink Road was actually authorized for Eagle Head Road: 4-5 loads of pit-run at the beginning, topped by two loads of class-5 gravel. The culvert at the end of Eagle Head road (not Vink road) needs to be replaced with a 30′ x 16” culvert. Eagle Head needs two loads of pit-run at the end. Paul will do the corrections and send the amended report to Glen for the web-site.

Road Inspection Pay: Glen said the pay for the Road Manager and grader operator for the road inspection meeting is $15/hour.

Township road rights-of-way: At the road inspection meeting, the board discussed brushing the full lengths of formerly used township roads like the Mayfield Road or Tamarack Pine Drive. Three years ago we got a decision from MAT Attorney Kyle Hartnett that township roads that were legally established many years ago, but have fallen into disuse, still remain public rights-of-way and private property owners cannot gate them off.  We had told him that many township roads used to be much longer, but over the years we stopped maintaining the entire roads. We had two cases (end of Eagle Head Road/Tamarack Pine Drive and Mayfield Road/end of Crooked Lake Road) where property owners gated off the non-maintained part of these roads by their land. We got a new decision from MAT Attorney Kent Sulem: Any road established by road order that has never been formally vacated remains a public-access township right-of-way. If no maintenance has been done for 25 years, the township cannot expend any money or work on the road without authorization by the voters at a Town Meeting. He said that for liability, the board can pass a resolution closing the road and post it Road Closed, and barricade the road. Glen said we should table this issue for now.

Schmedeke Lane and Extension: Eldon said he had put stakes on the road so that when the county brings more gravel they will know where to put it. He said someone stole his good stakes, but left the bad ones. Mark and Alden said they did not remove or steal any stakes. Paul needs to contact Mark LeBrun and Steve Chaffee to see if the county has made a decision on giving us more money for the extension. Eldon said Paul got it wrong again about what he has been requesting regarding the original Schmedeke Lane. He is not asking to make the road 66′ wide. It’s fine as it is as a 28′ wide road, although the culvert is only 28′ long, so the road almost covers the culvert. Eldon said he has repeatedly requested that the township acquire the easement on both sides of the road to a full 66′ width. Gary said if the township tries to acquire the land on the west that belongs to the Jensens we will need hearings. Alden asked how this would benefit the township.

OLD BUSINESS: Wilma Township WIFI: Report on WIFI Committee by Glen. He said Penny Simonson from ECRDC said they have approved our project and they want to purchase the equipment instead of having us do it. Glen will research sources and prices for the equipment, and contractors who can install it on our pole. His deadline is June 30. Eldon said Dell Grove Township is putting up a cell-phone tower, and he has been on the board’s case for many years to get a tower out here. Glen said we have the tower at Eagle Head, but telephone companies don’t think it’s profitable to put up repeaters there.

Stair Railing for Back Steps: Project completed by Mike.

Township Pressure Washer: Paul bought a Sun Joe SPX3000 2030 PSI Pressure Washer for $118, plus a 2-year Square Trade Warranty for $9.74. The board said to have Alden test it out to see if it is enough pressure to clean the grader. He did and said it was adequate for our needs. Paul used it to pressure-wash the town hall and it looks newly painted. Glen moved to purchase the pressure-washer; Gary seconded.

NEW BUSINESS: Summer Short Courses Mn Assn. Of Townships: Five board members going; Thursday, June 30, in Carlton. Registration starts at 1:30 so Glen said we can plan to leave at noon. Glen said that Kyle Johnson, District 7 MAT Director, said every town board that attends the short course will receive a copy of the gravel and maintenance guide.

Township Records: Mike told Paul he has found some good fire-proof safes for reasonable prices. Alden said that the Pine County Historical Museum is willing to microfilm all our records for a permanent record that they would store. They would be willing to store our books themselves, if we wanted. He said Gary Koland said they can do one or two books at a time, but they are too busy right now.

Sentence-to-Serve Work: We submitted a request for the Pine County Jail Sentence to Serve Program to paint the town hall. The existing paint is still good, but some trim needs painting which Paul could do. We could change the request to sanding and poly-ing the town hall floors. Paul said STS did this a few years ago. Gary and Patrice said it was a lot longer than a few years; it was before they were on the board. Patrice said polyurethane is very expensive. On ebay it is $102 for two gallons, which would cover our floor. Paul said he has waxed the floors, but it doesn’t coat. Mark said we need a buffer.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Patrice gave the Treasurer’s Report (attached). Claims totalled $1,557.60. Glen moved to approve the report, and to pay all the claims, and to transfer $1,000 from savings to checking. Gary seconded.

Gary moved to adjourn; Glen seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Paul Raymond, Clerk _____________________________

Attested to by Glen Williamson, Chair_____________________________