WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019
Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present: Supervisors Mike McCullen and Gary Vink, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, and Steve Menth, Cindy Kleinschmidt, and Grader Operator Alden Shute.
Paul read the record of the October board meeting. Gary moved to approve; Mike seconded.
ROAD REPORT: Carlson Timber Road Work: Alden said that Carlsons have finished with Schmedeke Lane and should get their escrow payment refunded. They had an earlier escrow for this road in 2018, but Alden said we used this up in building the road back up, which is why they paid an additional escrow. Gary moved to refund the $500 escrow; Mike seconded. Alden gave the clerk his record of work on the range line roads with Danforth and Arna townships for billing. He did routine blading on both Duncan Roads.
Eagle Head Road Culvert: Alden said there was no choice but to build up the road at the culvert on Eagle Head Road since the road is below the water level, even with the culvert draining properly. The Board had advised Alden to bring this up at the annual road inspection next May but Alden said it had to be built up now as it was under water. Summerland put 8 loads of pit run and 3 loads class5, and now it is high and dry.
Parking Lot Gravel Project: Duane Glienke said he would pay for one load to cover his part of the lot and Alden will talk with him and tell him how much he owes.
OLD BUSINESS: Supervisors or Board Members Doing Work for the Township: Mike said we need a resolution for any officer to do work for the township. We do have a resolution on file for Gary, “A Resolution Authorizing Contract with Interested Officer Under Minn. Stat. #471.88 Sub. 5. Mike moved to adopt a resolution covering all township officers in case we need to do any outside work for the township. Gary seconded. Passed.
Relationship between Wilma Township and the Contract with DVFD, Inc. Duxbury VFD Chief Mike McCullen will meet again with the Board of Supervisors of Ogema Township to finalize an agreement so our townships aren’t carrying the whole load. Mike said there are going to be some changes in the fire department that he will explain at the next meeting.
Pine County Board of Commissioners Special Meeting: Was October 29 in Pine City with some very informative University of Minnesota Extension speakers on agriculture and farming in Pine County. Paul gave out the statistics and handouts for board.
Pine County Township Officers’ Meeting: Was Saturday, October 26 at 9 am at the American Legion in Hinckley. Paul distributed a detailed report for the board. Very good meeting.
Wilma Fall Fest: Was October 19, pot-luck dinner at 6 p.m. and Procrastinators played for the whole evening until 9:30. Big turnout and fun evening. Patrice asked if we could pay the band $350 instead of $300 since they had so many people playing. Mike said that is a Fallfest Committee decision. Paul and Patrice are the committee, and both agreed that is a good idea. We will still be within the $400 budget, although there is a question if the agreed budget was $500.
NEW BUSINESS: Annual MAT Conference: Will be Friday, November 22, 4-8 p.m., and Saturday, November 23, 8 – 4 p.m. Verizon Center, Mankato. One night. Glen and Paul are not planning on attending.
2019-2020 Snowplowing: The deadline for payments to enroll for snowplowing is tonight. Patrice has many checks.
Pine County Fire Chiefs’ Meeting: Mike asked to use the hall for the meeting on November 21. Gary moved to allow it; Glen seconded.
Designate polling place for 2020. Glen moved that the board adopt a resolution naming the Wilma Town Hall as our designated polling place for all elections. Mike seconded. Glen and Paul signed the resolution.
Presidential Primary 2020: There will be a Presidential Primary Election on March 3, 2020. All expenses will be paid by the county, including judge training and mileage. Each election judge will need one hour of additional hour of training if working the PNP. We will have two in person training dates as follows: February 3, 2020 10:00am-11:00 or February 6, 2020 3:00pm-4:00 pm am at the North Pine Government Center, 1610 State Hwy 23. Patrice, Gary and Paul will get training, and Glen could also be trained as a backup.
Assessment Contract for 2021-22: Bob Brewster has given us a contract for Assessment Years 2021 and 2022. The assessment cycle starts every year on July 1. He attended the meeting to enlist our support to oppose the county takeover of our assessments. He feels there was inadequate notice and warning although there were two meetings with township officials since this was proposed. He feels that the powers of townships are being taken over by the county. He has15 years of faithful service assessing townships and has had no issues or improper work and he has brought new ideas to the assessment process. He has spent thousands of dollars and many hours on assessment training,and they want to increase this to 50 hours of classes for $1,000. He thinks that we will lose our local boards of review. Glen moved to approve the contract for the next two years after this coming year and he and Paul signed it.
County Assessment Takeover: There will be a meeting on Tuesday, November 26, 7 p.m. at the Government center in Sandstone about the county ending private assessors in the county and taking it over. The concern was inconsistent assessments and some private assessors’ work being challenged by the county. Bob Brewster wants to keep assessing for two more years. His fees are $2 less than the county charges, he says. David Minke says that at least for two years we will pay no more than we pay now. Bob wants Wilma to attend the meeting and appeal this change. Bob said we already paying taxes to the county; why should they also charge us for assessing? Mike said all interested officers should attend the meeting and asked Paul to remind him.
County Septic Adminstration: Gale Kespohl is resigning as our septic ordinance administrator as of January 1, 2020. Auditor Kelly Schroeder says, “Wilma Township does not have to have your own inspector/ordinance- you can fall under Pine County’s ordinance (which is the exact same as yours), and Pine County will administer it at no cost to the township.” Bob Brewster said he is sending out letters to all licensed inspectors to get bids for Arna Township. He said Denny Schlomka wants the job, but he works for Summerland digging and installing septic systems. Paul asked why we should spend time writing and interviewing and getting another inspector/administrator when the county will do it for free? Gale will be done January 1,2020, but there won’t be any system inspections until spring so Mike said to table it until then.
Memorial Garden in Wilma Township: A group wants to purchase some land west of Tamarack Lake for a cemetery/memorial garden for cremation ashes. Mike and Gary both checked out the land east of Tamarack Lake, and aren’t sure which parcel they have in mind but there are high ground areas.
Commemoration of the Death of Toni Williamson: Mike wanted it to be on the record our sadness and sorrow at the death of our long-time Deputy Clerk Toni Williamson, who also served as election judge and headed the FallFest committees since our first celebration. She and her contributions to our township will be missed greatly.
Closed Meeting: The Board dismissed all non-board members to discuss a personnel issue.
Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Patrice gave the treasurer’s report. Total bills for July are $2,589.77 and she wants to transfer $2,500 from savings to checking. Gary moved to approve her report and to transfer the funds; Glen seconded.
Gary moved to adjourn; Mike seconded. Meeting adjourned 9 p.m.
Report by Paul Raymond ___________________________________
Attest: Glen Williamson, Chair_______________________________