WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, OCTOBER 7, 2015

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present were Supervisor Gary Vink, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Road Manager Mark Pallow, Assistant Grader Operator Alden Shute, Bill Peno, Barbara Smith, Lisa Sisterman, and Tom Crotty.

Paul read the record of the September meeting; Gary moved to approve; Glen seconded.

OLD BUSINESS/ROAD REPORT: Schmedeke Lane Extension Update: Alden gave a report on progress of road. The work is almost completed except for spreading the gravel a little more. They were able to dump and spread enough gravel straighten out the curve in the road and to gravel Eldon’s two approaches. Glen said we can now claim the extension as a township road for road tax on the County Highway Department report due November 15, an added ¼ mile, plus we can bill the County for the work, up to $10,000. We spent more than that on the road, including all the labor and inspections, but it is a beautiful road.

Vink Road Gravel Issue: Glen said he has never had so many calls and letters from constituents regarding road issues. The Board sent a letter to Barb Smith about moving gravel from the Vink Road onto her driveway. Barb attended the meeting and read a response to the board, stating that the new gravel we put on the road wasn’t spread out and there was a two foot drop-off leaving the road entering her driveway. Barb said she did not take any of our road gravel but used her own gravel to make a smooth transition from her driveway to the road to be able to enter her driveway. Barb said that the grader did come out after her complaint, and gravel was spread out better, but she also would like a letter of apology. Glen said we should have phrased the letter to her more diplomatically, and we need a new procedure to address concerns like this. Glen apologized for the board and said our letter never should have said she took road gravel without some proof or confirmation. Gary said he has contacted the utility locators to find out where their lines are so we can install a culvert at the beginning of the road where it is flooded. Gary moved that a culvert be installed there if it is needed. Glen seconded. Vink Road is one of the roads that will be brushed this winter. Alden said in many road rights-of-way the brush is too large for a hydro ax, and wondered if we could ask landowners to cut down small trees in the rights-of-way. Gary said the right-of-way is whatever we maintain; we don’t necessarily have to make the road 33′ wide.

Eagle Head Road: Gary located one culvert but couldn’t unplug it. At the next culvert he removed the screen Danforth Township had put in and cleaned out the culvert and replaced the screen. We need to bill Danforth for: 10/4/2015 ¼ hour, for culvert, $4.50; and 10/6 1 hour, to locate culvert, $15, total $19.50. Plus Alden graded Eagle Head and Crooked Lake Roads, 2.5 hours @ $100/hour, $250, Danforth’s half: $125. Total billing so far: $144.50.

South Duncan Road: Loren Kratzke said that a culvert was damaged in the attempt to create a drainage ditch on the west side: “The repair severely damaged one culvert to the point that no water can pass through it and pushed so much dirt and grass in front of another culvert that it is nearly plugged.  The Road itself has been washed out almost a third of the way across in the area of the damaged culvert. Immediate attention to this damage would be appreciated because, if the road washes out any further, we may not be able to access our property.” Mark and Alden ditched the South Duncan Road and replaced the culvert. Gary said it took one hour to ditch the landing ($150) and 3.5 hours labor ($126), total $276, to be deducted from Park Falls Hardwood Escrow Account. Patrice said we do not have any escrow from Park Falls. Gary said they had complained to Greg Beck that we were holding their escrow.

North Duncan Road: On the North Duncan Road before the swamp Mark back-hoed and and ditched on the east side. Bill Peno said there is an apron on Thiry’s land that prevents water run-off. Gary said Hopkins went back and ditched the road.

Bill Peno and Tom Crotty both requested that the Board complete the North Duncan Road north of Thiry’s so that it is passable by vehicles other than four-wheelers. Bill says we recorded the road as a four-rod road all the way to Ox Creek. Bill said he’s been dealing with township maintenance of this road for 45 years, all the while paying township taxes. When Bill was seriously injured at his cabin two years ago the ambulance and sheriff would not drive down the road and had to walk to his cabin. He had to be medevacked to the hospital. Bill said the road has a good base, but grass has grown over the base and the road is very rutted past Thiry’s. Bill said two years ago Glen had said, “Let’s get it done!” yet very little has been done. There has been no ditching and the apron built up on Thiry’s land has blocked drainage. Bill said he had been assured he could attend the road inspection this May, but he was never notified. He also said he has never had a fire number for first responders. Glen said Bill needs to contact the county about that. Bill said the last time a gravel truck tried to dump gravel on the road by his land they got stuck and refused to dump the gravel. He said it is impassable now. Gary said Hopkins gravel put 50 loads of gravel on North Duncan Road and the Board spent $7,000 on the road in the last 5 years. Bill said no way could they have dumped 50 loads, but any work benefited property owners before his land. Mark said it would cost $20,000 to build up the road to Ox Creek to make it passable, all for one landowner, and there is no way a gravel truck can get in there without getting stuck. Bill said it is ½ mile from Ox Creek to Thiry’s, and maybe gravel could be dumped and bulldozed in.

Gary moved that the entire board inspect the road along with the two road managers. Glen seconded this and said he couldn’t do this until after the second week of November. He will set a date at the November 4^th Board Meeting, and any work may not start until next July. We may be able to do some ditching this fall. Mark said they could bring a back hoe in. Bill said any work needs to start with ditching the east side and removing the apron and pushing the gravel into the ruts. Glen moved that the road committee (Mark, Alden and Gary) be authorized to find out the cost to rent a excavator or backhoe and if they can do this under $1,000 that they be authorized to do the work before the November meeting. Gary seconded. Alden said they should get a wide cad cat with a 6” blade to go in there and do the ditching.

Lost River Road: Mark and Gary have gone back and repaired all the damage the grader did at the curve and replaced the sod. Glen got four letters from residents on or near Lost River Road saying that they had no complaints about our road maintenance on Lost River, nor do they have problems with horses or ATV’s using the road. Following a complaint, the Board had sent a letter to a constituent with horses that asked them to “be respectful of township dirt roads when they are soft.” We got a very angry letter in response, stating, “If someone could have taken the time to go investigate claims that my horses have damaged this road it could have saved a letter sent wrongfully to me.” They were also very upset that their name was published on the public website. Glen said he immediately went online and replaced their name with “a constituent” and said we do owe this person a formal apology from the board. Paul apologized for printing their name and said he thought no one ever looked at our website. The board authorized Paul to send a formal apology and tell them of our resolution to thoroughly investigate complaints before acting in the future.

NEW BUSNESS: Duxbury VFD Annual Fee: Glen moved that we pay our annual fee to the fire department $4,000. Gary seconded.

Automark Maintenance: The Auditors’ office wants all Automark machines returned to the courthouse for preliminary maintenance. Patrice will bring it down. It can be left there until next year’s elections.

Town Hall and Fire Hall Valuation Survey: The MN Association of Township Agency wants to schedule a survey or our halls to accurately determine the value for coverage. Paul will meet with them.

County Township Officers’ Meeting: Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m. Hinckley American Legion. Paul can’t attend, but Glen will come down for the meeting, and Patrice may attend.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Patrice gave the Treasurer’s Report (attached), and claims were presented. Total claims $11,905.48. Gary moved to approve her report, to transfer $12,000 from savings to checking, and to pay all the claims. Glen seconded. Gary moved to adjourn; Glen seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Paul Raymond, Clerk

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Attested to by: Glen Williamson, Chair

WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING,    SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

          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, Assistant Grader Operator Alden Shute, and Pat Story.

Paul read the record of the August meeting; Gary moved to approve; Mike seconded.

OLD BUSINESS:  Schmedeke Lane Extention:  Duane Glienke has repaired the culvert and put rip-rap to reinforce it.  Alden flagged where the gravel will go.  Alden suggested that they put 3” of coarser sand and gravel to build up a bed, and top it with another 3” of Class 5 gravel.  The board decided to lay the whole road with Class 5 since there is such a solid rock base.  Mike said he has been to the road four times and Eldon Schmedeke has been to his house three.  Eldon wants the entire $10,000 budget for the extension to be spent only on the extension.  Glen said that has always been the plan.  Mark said the buildup has to start at the bottom of the hill in order to make the transition smooth.  The budget allows for 37 18-ton loads of gravel, which should be enough to build up the road to the full width.  Eldon also has two approaches that he wants graveled, and Alden said they would do that.  All expenses related to the extension will be billed to the county, including the Supervisor’s time, up to our $10,000 budget.

River Cabin Road Weeds:  Glen received a complaint from Doug Biron :  “The weeds on River Cabin Road are taller than my truck! Last time I went there a hummer was going out as I was coming in and we both had to move into the tall weeds on the shoulder. Can we get the weeds cut down before there’s an accident?  I know the township funds are small but we pay taxes too. Doug”  Gary and Mark inspected the road and said the weed problem is not as bad as described, but that the Board had voted at our road inspection to hire a brush-rig or hydro-ax operator to brush all our township roads after the roads have frozen up.  Paul will respond to Doug with this information.

Lost River Road:   Mark has already dumped and spread the two loads of Class 5 gravel that the board authorized.  Pat said he wished they had put pit-run gravel down; the last thing the road needs is more clay.  Gary said the Class 5 we use is a balance of gravel, sand and aggregate, and we use this on all our roads.

Pat had photos of damage done to the road at the curve, where the grader dug out the bank and piled up big divots of grass, so that the landowners can’t mow up to the road like they like to.  Pat asked what our specifications were for township roads.  Gary said we go by the same specs as the county, including a 2% crown down the center of the road for drainage.  Pat said the crown that Leighton Quinn had built up was graded flat by Wilma Township in 2013, plus at the entrance to the Markville Road the grader damaged the road.  Mike said we will repair the damage at the curve and move the gravel and  grass back and smooth it out; the grass may take awhile to grow back. Glen also said Mark and Alden will do their best to return the road to its original condition.

Horse Damage, Lost River:   Last month Mike directed Paul to write a letter to a constituent who lives just west of Lost River and respectfully ask that they respect the integrity of our township roads and not ride when there has been rain and the road is soft. The letter was sent.  Gary said it should have included a reminder them that state law states that any damage to township roads can be billed to the person who damaged them.  Paul said if they re-offend, we can send a harsher letter.  Pat said the owners of the land east of the Taylors bring up horses, plus residents on Lost River Road bring up horse trailers, so we won’t know who is doing the damage unless we see them.  Glen said that we have a wonderful community, but we have had nuisance issues in the past and have always had good results from writing respectful, non-threatening letters.

Vink Road:  Gary said the Smiths removed gravel from the Vink Road and spread it on their driveway.  Glen directed Paul to write to Barbara Smith and tell her that it is illegal to remove gravel from a township road and to include the citation that damages to township roads can be billed to the person who damaged them.

North Duncan Road:  Glen has had several calls from Bill Peno.  He said he will tell him to attend a township meeting to have his concerns addressed.

Closed Meeting:  Glen adjourned the meeting and the Board left the building to discuss personnel issues.  Meeting called back to order when the Board returned.

NEW BUSINESS:  Wilma Fall Fest:  Glen and Toni won’t be able to host the Fall Fest.  Patrice said she also will be too busy.  Paul will not be available.  Glen moved to cancel Fall Fest for 2015; Mike seconded.  Paul will email Stephanie Hanson and the Procrastinators.

Propane Pre-buy:  Federated is offering a pre-buy at $1.199/gallon, or we can lock in a rate of $1.29/gallon without the pre-buy.  Patrice said we used to order 1,000 gallons, but lately we pre-bought 1,200 gallons and only used that up once.  Mike moved to purchase 1,200 gallons of pre-buy propane.  We still have a balance of $396 from last year.  Gary seconded.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims:  Patrice gave the Treasurer’s Report (attached).  Claims totaling $8,638.59 were presented.  Gary moved to approve Patrice’s report, to pay all the claims, and to transfer $9,000 from savings to checking.  Mike seconded.

Gary moved to adjourn the meeting; Mike seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

Paul Raymond, Clerk

 

 

 

 

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Attested:  Glen Willaimson, Chair.