Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present: Supervisors Mike McCullen and Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Stefanie Williamson, Tracy Riley, Angie Anderson, Jody Mattson, Clay Heller, Jr., and Jim Bredesen.

Approve Ground Rules: Glen read the ground rules for the meeting: Citizens must raise their hand to speak; No interruptions; If a speaker asks a question of another person, they can answer but speaker holds the floor; Maintain respect and decorum.

RESOLUTION TO RESCIND RESOLUTION OF APRIL 3, 2024 (APPOINTING STEFANIE WILLIAMSON TO TAKE BOARD MEETING MINUTES) AND TO RESTORE ALL RIGHTS AND DUTIES TO THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED CLERK OF WILMA TOWNSHIP. Supervisor McCullen presented and read this resolution, which said, “BE IT RESOLVED that the resolution of April 3 be rescinded and the duly democratically elected Clerk of Wilma Township have all his constitutional duties and responsibilities and rights restored, including keeping and posting and retaining the records of all town board meetings.” Mike moved to approve the resolution. Alden at first seconded the motion, and said he felt that the Clerk spoke up too much and argued with the Supervisors and was the focus of several arguments. If the Clerk would agree to simply take the meeting records and not argue with the Supervisors, he said that he would second the motion. Glen said that he and Alden passed their resolution in April based on consultation with MAT Attorney Steve Fenske who said the board has the authority to appoint a different record keeper. Paul said he would only take the records and would follow meeting ground rules and not speak without the permission of the Chair. Glen said Paul posted on the website that the June record would be found on the Duxbury MN Uncensored page without the authorization of the board. Paul said Glen had said he could not post the June record on the township site without board permission and he believed that the voters needed to know where to find the record. Glen moved that with these stipulations, that Paul again be authorized to take and post the records of the meetings. Alden seconded. Passed. Patrice said that the Treasurer and the Clerk have the same rights as any voters to speak and express opinions during board meetings. She said that when Paul has to sign all of the claims that it distracts him and conflicts with his need to record the minutes, and that he can sign them after the business meeting, since the Supervisors are the ones who approve the claims.

Clerk’s Record of June Board Meeting: Paul read the Clerk’s record of the June Board meeting. Patrice corrected the total claims amount: $2.206.17

Stefanie Record: Glen asked Stefanie to read her version of the June 5 meeting. Glen moved to approve; Alden seconded, Mike abstained.

Road Report: Alden gave his report for July. He said that Doug Witta reported a beaver problem on the Pete Anderson Road. Angie said these are on private property and the responsibility of the landowner. Alden put two loads of gravel on Langseth Lane. He wants to start the ditching projects but it has been too wet.

Crooked Lake Road: Mike and Jason Palme and Jeff Shute attended the county commissioners’ meeting on July 2 and spoke with them about their plan to make a parking area at the lake access about one mile down. He said they no longer intend to build a landing but only widen the road to allow cars to park.

Little Tamarack Lake Landing: Mike talked with Greg Beck about the poor condition of the landing, cars parking in deep puddles. He said if they want to develop a landing they should repair this one. Greg said they need to find out who owns the land. Mike said they could do a cooperative venture with the county providing the gravel and Wilma grading it. Mike moved that Wilma Township partner with Pine County to improve the landing on Little Tamarack Lake Road, with the county providing the gravel and Wilma grading it. Glen seconded. Passed.

2022 Winter Storm Damage Reimbursement: Payment was made on 3 February 2024 in the amount of $8,484.34 (75% of the total amount of $11,312.45). Patrice deposited it in the General Fund. Alden said to leave it there for now.

OLD BUSINESS: PNP Reimbursement for Presidential Primary: Kelly Schroeder said that some towns have received their funds, but so far Wilma has not.

Plow display. Alden moved that we purchase gray paint and repaint the plow. Long discussion with some advocating for leaving it safety yellow and others painting it grader/school bus yellow, the original color. Glen seconded Alden’s motion. Passed. Paul said he does not want the job. Stefanie and Angie said they would do it. Paul said that Steve Fenske said that a spouse or partner of a Supervisor can’t be paid for work as it is a conflict of interest unless both other Supervisors approve. Paul said if they do it as a contractor that they will need insurance. Whoever paints the plow will need to be hired as an employee, with Social Security and Medicare taken out. Patrice will get larger letters and have Duxbury on the top and Wilma Township Established 1907 in larger letters below.

NEW BUSINESS:

Election Judge Training:

July 1: Online Regular Election Judge training can begin. Email elections@co.pine.mn.us to sign up.

There are in-person trainings held as noted below as well. You only need to attend one course or complete online as noted on July 1st:

July 24: North Pine Government Center 9AM-11AM

July 30: North Pine Government Center 3PM-5PM or 6:30-8:30pm

Coiuri&Ruppe 15^th Annual Township Legal Seminar: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, Rutledge City Hall, 9 am – 4 pm, Free. Register at kathy@couriruppe.com

MATIT Insurance Coverage: Supervisors can review policy. Premium due by August 15, $1,993.00.

Cannabis Law Meeting: The Pine County Board of Commissioners scheduled an information meeting/discussion of the new cannabis law on June 18, 2024, at the North Pine Government Center (1602 Hwy 23 N.) in Sandstone. Glen attended and gave a report. The main focus is that township and the county cannot override state law.

Meeting of DVFD Chief Nick Mattson With Town Chairs: Nick met with the Chairs of Wilma, New Dosey and Arna, Glen Williamson, Dave Fornengo and Jan Proffit on June 6 at the Wilma Hall. Glen said that Nick said that there is new leadership in the fire department and things are moving in the right direction. Nick will schedule future meetings with the Township Chairs to report to them.

East Central Regional Development Commission: Glen gave a report on their recent meeting. He was elected as Vice Chairman and Chair of the budget committee.

Escrow Increase. Alden said he saw the new notice of our increased escrow requirement, and it doesn’t have exceptions for gravel trucks when we order gravel. Paul said it is the exact notice we had for years, with only the escrow amount changed. He asked Alden to revise the notice so it covers his concerns, and he will post and publish it. [Notice is posted on Wilmatownship.com, below:]

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Total bills for July, $8,335.85. Alden moved to approve her report and transfer $8,30000 from savings to checking. Mike seconded; all aye. Passed.

Alden moved to adjourn; Mike seconded. Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:10.

Paul Raymond, Clerk

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present: Supervisors Mike McCullen and Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Stefanie Williamson, Stan and Tracy Riley, Angie Anderson, Lori Shute, and Jim Bredesen.

Approve Ground Rules: Glen read the ground rules for the meeting: Citizens must raise their hand to speak; No interruptions; If a speaker asks question of another person, they can answer but speaker holds the floor; Maintain respect and decorum.

Clerk’s Record of May 1 Board Meeting: Glen asked Paul to read his record of the May 1 Board Meeting. All Supervisors were given copy of the Clerk’s record, with the same challenge issued for the March 6 meeting: “I challenge Glen or Alden to show me one thing in my record that is not accurate and objective and has bias or my own interpretation. Glen said the printed record is different from the record posted on the township website. Paul said the record as he read it is exactly the one on the website, but he added some information in brackets in the Supervisor’s copies for information, but that is not part of the official record. Issue tabled again.

Stefanie Record: Glen asked Stefanie to read her version of the May 1 meeting. Glen moved to approve; Alden seconded, Mike abstained. Glen refused to bring the Clerk’s record up for a vote. Glen and Alden did not show one thing in the Clerk’s record that is not accurate and objective or has bias or his own interpretation, but they still refused to vote. The board in May had said that they would table the March 6 record issue until they can review the record more thoroughly, but again, they did not point out any inaccuracies or bias. Paul said that the Clerk’s record book is the official record book that will go into the safe with 100 years of prior clerk’s records, and a future board that is more honest will have the opportunity to approve all of his records that this board refuses to approve. He said it is not honest for the board to neither correct or approve the Clerk’s records, based only on personal animosity and personal grievances.

On April 3, Glen and Alden passed a resolution written by Stefanie which said, “WHEREAS, the town of Wilma has lost all confidence in the credibility of the current Clerk to responsible [sic] record the minutes of the meeting.” Paul said that this is simply a lie. This was less than a month after the voters of Wilma Township came out in record numbers to affirm their confidence in Paul Raymond as Clerk to take responsible records of meetings and discharge all other duties of the clerk, 32 votes to 11 for Stefanie.

Road Report: Road Inspection report from May 20 was given to the board to review, but it was not read or voted on. The report is on the wilmatownship.com website. Glen said that decisions on the roads as discussed at the road inspection can be made by the road manager.

Alden gave his report for June. He graded the roads until it got too wet to grade. Beavers plugged a culvert at the Ponds on Tamarack Pine Drive. Jim Bredesen removed two beavers and Alden cleared out the culvert and plans to put a mesh wire screen over the ends anchored with key posts.

Alden wants to stick with Hopkins for gravel, with Desanius for red rock gravel, and Summerland for pit run.

Escrow Fee: Mike moved to increase the escrow requirement to $1,000; Alden seconded. All aye. The Clerk will notify the county engineers and the DNR and change the posting.

Crooked Lake Road: The county wants to make a parking area at the lake access about one mile down so cars don’t need to park on the road. At the May 23 Zoning Board the Pine County Land Department explained their plans to create a public lake access point in Wilma Township.  Jason Palme attended. The Board wanted to ask the County to widen Crooked Lake Road at the culvert before the lake access because of a steep dropoff and narrow road. Per Mike, the County did not want to do this. Alden and Mike talked with Palme and they said all of the property owners and everyone except the county engineers opposed the parking lot. The project is on hold waiting for wetland reviews.

OLD BUSINESS: Plow display. Paul put lettering on the plow for the pancake breakfast, Est. 1907, WILMA TWP, DUXBURY. Patrice said she’d like the lettering to DUXBURY on top and WILMA TOWNSHIP, EST. 1907 below that. History of the Plow Display: Paul read the record from the September 6, 2023 Board Meeting: “Plow Display: Plows have been moved to the lawn before the display platform is built. Alden will place them on blocks, turn the angle plow to face the driveway, and then put down gravel inside a framework. The trees on road were trimmed. Patrice will paint ‘Town of Wilma’ on the angle plow. Mike moved that Paul get paint to put the base coat on the plow. It may need sanding for rust. Alden seconded, passed. Paul said tractor yellow with blue lettering would look good.” Alden insisted that he did not second the motion to buy paint for the plow but paint to stain the ramp.

At a later point in the same meeting this motion was made: “Town Hall Deck, Plow, and Pressure-wash Hall: Paul asked if we shouldn’t put stain and preservative on the town hall ramp; it’s been several years. Mike moved that Paul buy the supplies and stain it. He also moved that Paul pressure-wash the town hall for the spider webs and dirt. Alden seconded both; passed.”

At the October 4, 2023 board meeting: “Alden wanted the record corrected; he said he did not second a motion for Paul to paint the plow this fall; he thought we would do it next year. Paul read the record; it does not say that Alden seconded the motion to paint the plow: “Mike moved that Paul get paint to put the base coat on the plow. Alden seconded, passed. Paul said tractor yellow with blue lettering would look good.” Alden said he had said slate/silver gray would be a good color, like the county plow. No motion was made on the color, or for Paul to paint the plow once he bought the paint. Paul apologized and said he did not hear Alden say this, but no one objected when he suggested safety yellow with blue lettering. As ammended, Alden moved to accept the report; Glen seconded; passed.”

Paul read emails he sent to both Glen and Alden on 9/14/2023: “I bought the paint for the base coat (safety yellow) and for  lettering (harbor blue).  Is it ok with you to have DUXBURY VFD  on the left side and TOWN OF WILMA  on the right side?  We can’t wait for the Oct. meeting because we can’t paint when it gets much below 50 degrees, unless we get some warm October days. I already asked Mike and am asking Alden.  It’s OK with Mike.  I prepped the plows, pressure-washing all the lichens and loose rust and dirt off.  I may paint the base before Alden moves it.” Neither Glen nor Alden responded to his email, not then or ever, so he went ahead and painted the base coat safety yellow.

Patrice said at the annual town meeting in March, the people voted to have the plow painted gray. Paul said the only time anyone but the board is allowed to vote is for their levies; we allow voting on other issues at the annual meetings as a courtesy, but only the board has the authority to decide. Angie said she remembered us as voting to find out the original color and paint it that color. Paul said that the most important signs in our daily experience are road safety signs and no passing lines, always painted safety yellow. The original plow was painted safety yellow. Safety yellow draws and hold attention more than any other color and he gave the board examples. Paul said he does not care if they want to repaint it. He will remove the letters when they’re ready to paint. He did not charge for his time or for the letters. There was no motion either to buy paint or to hire someone to repaint the plow, so issue is tabled.

Duxbury VFD Pancake Breakfast: Paul said it was very successful and we fed almost the same number as in 2022. We got more contributions two years ago, but the total was 5.5 K before expenses.

NEW BUSINESS: wilmatownship.com website: Glen said he is getting weary of township business and wants to travel and enjoy his life, and will be ending his hosting of the website when the contract is up. He suggested that the town contract with townweb.com at a cost of $900 plus $500 per year and made a motion which was not seconded. Mike said Erv has said he would take over the website for much less. Alden said we should wait until we are closer to the deadline. Paul and Mike will talk with Erv. Glen said he will work with whoever we choose and will help transfer over all of the files on wilmatownshipl.com. Glen said it has been an honor to serve but it has become too frustrating and his dream of America is shattered. He said Jim Bredesen hurt his feelings. Jim demanded to know what he is talking about.

Stain and Preserve Township Picnic Tables. The town has two wooden picnic tables that are solid, but badly in need of staining and preserving. The consensus is that they are only used by the fire department, so the fire department should do this.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Total bills for June, $2,200.06. Mike moved to approve her report and transfer $2,200 from savings to checking. Alden seconded; all aye. Passed.

Alden moved to adjourn; Mike seconded. Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:00.

Paul Raymond, Clerk