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. 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 unanimously.
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 unanimously.
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 unanimously.
Mike made a motion to approve the wages as listed on the agenda dated April 3, 2024, Alden seconded the motion, it passed unanimously.
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 unanimously. 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 unanimously.
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 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.
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 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.
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 unanimously.
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.
Unapproved minutes
Submitted by Stefanie Willaimson _______________________Date_______________
Chair Glen Williamson____________________________________Date_______________