Author: Minutes Recorder

Wednesday June 6, 2024, Wilma Township Minutes

Minutes Recorder Board Minutes

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. In attendance: Supervisor Mike McCullen, Supervisor/Road Manager Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Angie Anderson, Stefanie Williamson, Tracy Riley, Lori Shute, and Jim Bredeson.

Paul Raymond read his notes from the May 1, 2024, meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Paul provided a written copy of his notes to the board.

Stefanie Williamson read the meeting minutes of the Board of Supervisors Meeting from May 1, 2024. Alden made a motion to approve the minutes, Glen seconded the motion and Mike abstained.

Glen addressed the actions of the Clerk as being not directed by the board. Glen stated that “the board did not direct Paul to post minutes online as the Board had voted to have Stefanie do it.”  The Borad then declined to bring a vote for Paul’s record of the meeting of May 1, 2024.

The board did not direct Paul to letter the plow blade in front of the Town Hall. Alden said this had never been voted on and that the record was supposed to be corrected, and it never was. Patrice said “The Board voted to paint it silver or gray, and I just want to say that when we put the letters on it should say Duxbury on the top and Wilma Township Est. date underneath”

Road Inspection: A hard copy of the road inspection meeting was given to the board for their review. 

Road Report: There is some grading to be done but currently it is too wet to grade. There is an issue on Tamarack Pine Drive, that culvert is plugged up. They had it open, but the beaver did plug it again. Jim Bredeson got two beavers. We will have another two beaver bounty to pay him. The second time the culvert turned out real good meaning the culvert is empty. Alden wants to get three or four T poles to create a semi-circle around the culvert and get some concrete mesh to block that culvert. Mike and Alden had some conversation about the road.

Alden stated that the escrow fee is not enough, he recommends that the escrow amounts be raised. Glen recommends that the amount be $1000.00, and Alden agreed. Mike made a motion for $1000.00 down payment for any loggers that come in through these roads. Alden seconded the motion, it passed unanimously.

 Fuss lane needs ditching, Mink Farm Road needs a couple of loads, and the board will leave these decisions up to the road manager.  

March 6, record: Paul had challenged Glen and Alden to show his record to be inaccurate or bias. Glen produced the document given to himself and Alden, and pointed out that the document provided was not the same document as was posted online for the March 6, 2024, meeting. Alden received the same document as Glen. Both documents included information that was not posted on wilmatownship.com as the meeting minutes of March 6, 2024. Glen determined that Paul had two different records for the same meeting. One that was posted online and a different record as a hard copy.

Aspire Inc as Webmaster: Glen observed that Paul has put online that Glen has snuck through the township website renewal for Aspire Inc. That it was not voted on and that Glen is making a killing. Glen referred to the record online and from 2012 to current there are only a few references to Aspire or the website.  In October of 2022 Paul says that “it was brought up to cause pain and anger in Glen like Paul felt about Bob Sundstrom brought donuts to the Pine County Township Meeting. And in 2017 Gary made motion to renew Aspire to do the website.”  Alden agreed that he has never observed a vote for website, and before he was a supervisor he was at the meetings for 7 years. Glen brought this up because he does not want it posted that he snuck it in and that Aspire Inc. was paid $400.00 per year, with the work required to maintain the website this is not a killing. Glen wants to defend this slander and libel for the record.

Also, for the record. The Board needs to get another webmaster.  The only reason Aspire is still doing the website is because when Glen said he resigned the board had not found someone else to do it.  Glen recommends Townweb.com. because you need a company that is professional.  

Glen made a motion that Wilma Township transfer to Townweb.com or daymarkdesigns.com or another professional web designer.  There was no second and there was no vote.

Alden made a motion to research a webmaster.  There was no second, there was no vote.

Old Business: Paul requested that the Board consider paying for reflectors on Crooked Lake Road to warn drivers of the steep drop off. After some discussion, there was no motion and there was no vote.

New Business: Paul has requested that the wooden picnic tables need stain for preservation. Patrice and Mike discussed the use of the picnic tables at the fire department pancake breakfast. It was determined that the picnic tables are only used for the fire department pancake breakfast, and it is a fire department issue.

Fire Department Pancake Breakfast: Report given by Patrice. It was $2,000.00 dollars less than two years ago. She did not have the time to subtract the cost of supplies, but the total taken in was $5,500.00. It was $7,000. Something 2 years ago.

Cannabis Law Meeting: The County Board is having a meeting to discuss Mary Jane on June 18, 2024, at 10:00am at the North Pine Government Center in Sandstone.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims:  Total bills are $2206.17, and Patrice will transfer $2200.00. Mike made a motion to pay said bills and transfer said amount. Glen called for a vote, there was no vote.

Mike made a motion to adjourn the meeting; it was seconded by Alden. Passed unanimously. Chairman Glen adjourned the meeting at 9:00pm

Submitted by Stefanie Williamson__________________________________Date__________________

Chair Glen Williamson_____________________________________________Date__________________

Wednesday May 1, 2024, Wilma Township

Minutes Recorder Board Minutes

The minutes as requested by the Board of Supervisors:

Chairman Glen Williamson started the meeting at 7:45 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. In attendance: Supervisor Mike McCullen, Supervisor/Road Manager Alden Shute, Treasure Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Angie Anderson, Stefanie Williamson, Tracy Riley, Stan Riley, Lori Shute, Zach Hanson, Kim Felton, Jodie Mattson, Nick Mattson, Janet Egan, Kathleen Ackerman, Clayton Heller, Jason Williams, Ben Glocke, and Jim Bredeson.

 Glen then went over the ground rules of the meeting: Citizens must raise their hands to speak. No interruptions, you can ask questions of another person and they can answer but the speaker holds the floor. Maintain respect and decorum.

Stefanie Williamson Taking Record: Paul Raymond produced a report that indicated it is a conflict of interest for Stefanie Williamson to be paid for taking the meeting record. He supplied documents to the board to support this. Stefanie agreed to continue taking the record without compensation. If it is determined that there is no conflict of interest and $100.00 per meeting minute is paid to Stefanie Williamson, she will donate that money to the Duxbury Volunteer Fire Department.

Paul Raymond presented documents to Glen Williamson and Alden Shute his record of the March 6, 2024, meeting and a copy of Stefanie Williamsons record, and challenged them to point out the inaccuracies. Glen made a motion to table the issue until next month. Alden seconded the motion and Mike voted no. Carried 2 to 1.

Stefanie Williamson read the record of the Town Board of Supervisors Meeting from April 3, 2024.

Paul Raymond objected to the term unanimous for two motions in which Mike McCullen did not vote, and the term “admitted” was asked to be changed to “said”. Paul wanted Kim Felton’s statement to have quotes and her name added to it.

Alden made a motion to accept the minutes with the corrections discussed. Glen seconded the motion. Carried by 2 votes. Mike abstained from the vote.

Alden Shute Road Report: “I got all the roads graded. I have gone through some things on the roads. Little Tamarack when you talk about projects, Little Tamarack on that first 1/8th mile in is nothing but rock. I would like to get a good coat of gravel over that, otherwise at the 1/8th mile I don’t even put the blade down. Eagle Head we will need to figure out that culvert issue, somewhere along line, we have beaver problems. Heller Drive, the corduroy is starting to come through that first swamp there. Rather than just put gravel over it we may start putting pit run over some of that stuff. River Cabin Road, just past Jim Otters, to the cul-de-sac the gravel is pretty much sunk into the clay, Its getting very bad down there. I would like to dig it out and put rock down and fresh gravel over that. North Duncan there is going to be a logging project. It is regulation is going to be to close the roads but there are still some culverts that we are going to have to cover up a little bit better. But it won’t be able to be a winter sale but there still will have to be some improvements made on the road. Crooked Lake will get a small parking lot where the access is, one mile in, for people to put their kayaks in. They will put a culvert in at no cost to the township.”

Alden made a motion to pay Jim Bredesen $25.00 per beaver for 4 beavers so $100.00. Mike seconded the motion, passed unanimously. Jim said he would donate the money to the fire department.

Clay Heller asked about the beavers on Heller Road. Alden explained that the road was taken care of and there was no flooding on the road. Clay Heller also had concerns about the pit run being used on his road. He will go along on the road inspection and look at it with the board.

Township Day At The Capital: Our town was advocating for cell service because we have such terrible cell service in our town. The rest of his report is in the agenda dated May 1, 2024. Not included in the agenda report, “MnDOT is now considering now allowing a cell repeater on the tower at Eagle Head. So that is a huge thing.” Paul said.

Township Election Lost Ballot: Patrice spoke with Kelly Schroeder about the lost ballot, she was told to leave it unopened and hold on to it for 22 months and then throw it away.

Stefanie was directed by Kelly Shroeder to report the ballot issue so it could be investigated and find out whether there is a problem or not. So, Stefanie made a report about the ballot to the County Attorney.

Paul produced a police report dated as “closed on 3/19/2024” Stefanie made the report about the ballot to the County Attorney after the April 6, 2024, meeting. It was determined that the police report Paul produced was for a different incident.  After much discussion Paul Raymond said, “I stand corrected.”

Preliminary report on Fire Protection Resources in our area: Paul Raymond presented a written report and gave each board member a copy of it. Paul has made the report a part of the record. Paul summarized his report for the purpose of the meeting.

Based on the report produced Wilma Township will not consider a change in fire protection at this time.

Dave Fornengo, the Chair of New Dosey Township, has requested to have a meeting with Glen Williamson and the Duxbury Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief. Nick Mattson agreed to meet with Dave and Glen.

Fire Department Report by Nick Mattson, Fire Chief: The fire department will do an annual report. The report will include how many calls were EMR, how many fires, and how many responded. The fire department has updated their application process, so at duxburyfiremn.org there is a pdf of a firefighter application. The Fire Chief welcomes anyone who wants to, to fill out that application. There have been quite a few new applicants. There will also be applications available at the town hall.

Mike made a motion to put the link to the fire department website on the Wilma Township website. Glen seconded the motion. Passed.

New Business: Road Inspection will take place May 20, 2024, at 10 am, starting at the town hall.

ARPA Report April 30th the report has been completed and submitted by Paul

PNP Election Reimbursement Report: All the claims will be paid.

Stan Riley volunteered to raise the flag and not be paid. This will not be needed as Paul said he will not charge to raise and lower the flag.

Stan would like it on the record that he has denied, saying that he would not want Mike on his property.  He said that he as made this denial at every meeting that is was brought up.

Treasurers Report: The bill for the month is $4836.79 and I will transfer $5000.00 from savings to checking to cover that amount.

Alden made a motion to pay the bills and transfer the amount, Mike seconded, and it passed.

Alden made a motion to adjourn Mike seconded and the Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:10pm.

Unapproved minutes

Submitted by Stefanie Williamson_____________________________Date______________

Chair Glen Williamson _____________________________________Date_______________

Wednesday April 3, 2024, Wilma Township

Minutes Recorder Board Minutes, Board of Reorganization

Board of Supervisors Meeting

Chairman Mike McCullen called the meeting to order at 7:45. We started the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also, present Supervisor Glen Williamson, Supervisor/Road Manager Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Stefanie Williamson, Stan and Tracy Riley, Angie Anderson, Lori Shute, Todd Johnson of Arna Township, Kim Felton, and Katie Ackerman.

Board of Reorganization: Paul was sworn in at the Spring Association of Townships meeting on March 30, 2024. Mike McCullen took the oath of Office of Supervisor as sworn in by Paul Raymond. The vote of the Board of Supervisors for Chairman of the Board was taken. Mike McCullen nominated himself, Alden Shute nominated Glen Williamson for Chair, Glen seconded the motion. A unanimous vote for Glen Williamson as Chair. Mike did not vote. Glen nominated Mike for Vice Chair, a unanimous vote for Mike as Vice Chair.

Treasurer Patrice Winfield chose Northview Bank in Sandstone.  

Alden made a motion for the Board to approve the notices to be posted to the Pine County Courier, the Evergreen, and Wilmatownship.com and the bulletin board. Mike seconded the motion, and it passed.

Alden requested that the payment for 2024/2025 snowplow contracts be made by the October Town Board Meeting. Wednesday October 2, 2024. Mike made a motion to approve this Alden seconded the motion, it passed.

Last year the township donated money to Family Pathway, OSAC now know as 210 Gallery, Pine County Historical Society, and Seven County Senior Federation. It was in the amount of $75.00 apiece.  Mike made a motion to do the same as last year of $300.00. Alden seconded the motion and it passed.

Mike made a motion to approve the wages as listed on the agenda dated April 3, 2024, Alden seconded the motion, it passed.

Mike made a motion to accept the ground rules as listed in the agenda dated April 3,2024, Glen added that each speaker be given 5 minutes to speak. Alden seconded the motion.

Paul Raymond read the minutes of the March 6, 2024, meeting minutes. The Chair asked for a motion to accept the minutes. Alden made note that there was never a motion to adjourn, Glen did not make the motion and Alden did not second it.

Patrice Winfield questioned why all the information was in the minute regarding the voter questioned by Paul at the election. She said it was not discussed at the last meeting. Patrice wanted to make clear what she said. “He was in the book as a registered voter at that address at that point we have no right to question him. They question him when he registers, if he registers at that address, he would have had to have the proper information to register. Once he is registered, we don’t have the right to ask for their I D or anything else.”

Stefanie referred to her email correspondence with Kelly Schroeder and read the email to the meeting. An excerpt of that is:

“I cannot speculate as to where Mr. Peterson lives or does not live, as you can see in MS.30.301 there are 13 variations to determine a residence it is not black and white. You only noted 3 of those residences as circumstances below actually. For example, item 3 you noted below, it says that without the intention of making that precinct a home, without a formal investigation there is no way to answer this question. I can tell you that Mr. Peterson was a registered voter in the precinct yesterday and did not need to register to vote and when he did register to vote he was not vouched for. His voter registration passed all the checks. His name and address matched his DVS record or social security administration and postal verification card which is not forwardable and was successfully delivered.”

There was discussion as to what can be done if there is no motion to end a meeting. Mike directed Paul to inquire to the MAT Attorney as to what to do when a meeting is not ended. There was no motion made and the board did not vote to have Paul investigate the matter. Paul volunteered to remove the time and the adjournment from the minutes.

At this time the Chair Glen Williamson, states: “As the chair I have totally lost confidence in the Clerk giving an accurate minute. In my opinion you are stuck with me for another year. The Clerk is absolutely biased in the way he puts stuff down and he puts his own interpretation constantly. His own opinion instead of reporting on the minute. So, if there is a motion to accept the minute go ahead. Mike made a motion to accept the minutes. There was no second on the motion. The motion was declined.

The Chair made a resolution to appoint Stefanie Williamson to take the Board of Supervisors minutes for Wilma Township. The resolution was submitted to the Clerk to be made a part of the record. Mike questioned the legality of this and Glen explained that this is only taking the minutes and there is no requirement in the law that the Clerk take the minutes of the meeting. Glen made a motion to accept the resolution and Alden seconded it. It passed. This change was made before the meeting no correction is needed at this time. Paul Raymond made it clear at this time that he had 34 votes in the next election and that would be all he needed to remove Glen Williamson from his seat as Supervisor.

When asked if he was directed by the board to mail out applications for absentee ballots Paul replied:

“I did not send any applications for absentee ballots to anyone unless they asked for it or requested it.

When confronted with the name of a citizen who received one without asking for one, an additional two names were mentioned. Paul then informed us that this is legal.

Stan Riley made a statement to be on the records that: “The clerk has set up and told a member of the board who he has the ability to deal with the community, that a whole year from now that they will no longer be on the board because he has been out talking to people and he has already confirmed that you will not be on this board a year from now.”

Stefanie Williamson read the minutes from the meeting on Wednesday March 6, 2024. Alden made a motion to accept the minutes as read by Stefanie Williamson, Glen seconded. Passed. This was changed before the meeting not correction is needed at this time.

Road Report: Alden Shute gave the road report. He plowed lived on roads and driveways, twice, and then did all the roads because there was too much snow left on them.

Jim Bredesen has been trapping the beaver on Eagle Head Road, he thinks he’s got them all. “I don’t think there is an agreement that we hire him, but he is just willing to do it.” Alden requested that we put a bounty on the beaver, “I think he got 4 of them. In the long run I think he will save us a lot of money. Every other outfit that has come in has charged a setup fee and then so much per beaver. I am going to recommend that if he does it again, we give him $25.00 per beaver. He told me he already took 4. We should pay for only the ones that affect the roads.”

Glen called for a motion to pay the $25.00 each for the 4 that he took. There was no second, there was no vote.

Mike suggested finding out what Jim wants for the beaver trapping. There was no motion or vote on this.

New Business:

Lost Ballot: Paul Raymond presented an absentee ballot that he had lost. Patrice, as head judge, was given the ballot and stated there was no date on it. Patrice noted that it had not gone through the mail. Paul admitted said that it was handed to him. Patrice stated that she would not be able to check the roster to confirm that the absentee voter had indeed not voted in person. The Chair, Glen directed Paul as Clerk to inform Kelly Schroeder: According to the Clerk, “the ballot was misplaced, that was originally given to him”, there is not a date on it and he wants to count it 3 weeks after the election. Additionally, Patrice will keep the ballot and leave it unopened until directions from Kelly Schroeder as to what should happen with this ballot. There was no motion to follow up with Kelly Schroeder, there was no vote.

Spring Short Course: All 5 officers are planning to attend the Spring Short Course. Patrice will bring the check to the DECC in Duluth to pay for our officers to attend.

MAT Property Auto and Liability: The Board of Supervisors went over the insurance policy to confirm that the insurance is only covering items that are owned by the township.

Notary Stamp: The Clerk requested that a motion be made to get a new notary stamp for the Deputy Clerk. Glen asked if someone would make a motion to get the Deputy Clerk a new notary stamp. Alden requested we table the subject until such time that the Minnesota flag issue is resolved so as not to have to make another purchase in the near future.

Assessor Board of Review and Equalization: If the citizens have tax concerns, bring your concerns here to the Board of Review. Wilma Town Hall at 1:00 pm on April 15, 2024.

Township Day at the Capitol: The Clerk will attend. The information about Township Day at the Capital is on the agenda for anyone who wants to go.

Duxbury VFD Pancake Breakfast: Mike as the Fire Chief asked permission to use the Town hall on May 26, 2024, being the Sunday of Memorial Weekend for the Fire Department Pancake breakfast. Alden made a motion to allow the fire department to use the town hall for their pancake breakfast. Mike seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

ARPA reporting is due April 30th: The Clerk has not gotten the information needed to start the report as the portal just opened on April 1st. Money was transferred to the internet fund and there is still a lot of money left.

Election Fraud: Per Mikes request a police report regarding the investigation into election fraud in 2022 was obtained. The report stated that there was not enough evidence to prove fraud beyond a reasonable doubt. The case was closed on March 18, 2024.

Agenda additions:

Todd Johnson from Arna requested to be on the agenda to ask tax-related questions. Todd informed the Board that he would be handing them a “Data Request” for public data. He then asked that the Supervisors sign a document stating that they had received it. Todd asked that I (Stefanie Williamson) read the document he was handing out. I declined to read his document. Todd continued to pass out his document. The Board refused his document and at the end of five minutes asked that Todd Johnson end his remarks as the rules of our meetings require.

Stan Riley reported that the Vink’s were drinking at the town meeting and carrying firearms. Other people remarked on the smell of alcohol and reported that during the meeting drinks were made in the parking lot. “We would like to make sure that does not happen again.” Kim Felton said.

Stefanie Williamson reported that the minutes recorded for the town meeting were recorded in a way that changed the entire meaning of a motion Paul Raymond had made. The motion was:

To allow the fire department to post important notices on the township website. This was seconded by Tom and passed with a vote of 7 to 6.  Let the record reflect that this was the motion voted on by the people of the town and that is what should be followed for posted on the town website. The Clerk agreed to remove a post that does not follow this format from the town website.

After quoting statements made by Mike at the Arna Town Meeting:

During the Wilma Township meeting I made a motion to have the Fire Department information more transparent to the township. That was voted down. Based on Mikes statements at the Arna Town Board meeting.

It is the duty of this Board of Supervisors to ensure that the fire protection they are contracting is effective and the best that it can be.

I am asking that someone on the board make a motion: and the motion should read.

To investigate other resources for fire protection and EMR services for Wilma Township. We need all pertinent information by the next meeting of the Wilma Township Board of Supervisors. Wednesday May 1, 2024. The Clerk to send an email to the Wilma Town Board that includes who was contacted and the status of the report by April 24, 2024. And a full report be made to the Board at the meeting on May 1, 2024. Glen made such motion, Alden seconded and passed.

Angie Anderson stated that she knows people who would like to join the fire department but were not able to find enough information on the fire department website to do so.

Treasurers report and claims: Total bills $4605.35 and I will transfer $4600.00 from savings to checking. Alden made a motion to pay said bills and make the transfer. Mike seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Alden made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Glen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. At 9:20pm.