WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF REORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019

WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF REORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISORS’ MEETING, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019

Wilma Township Board of Supervisor – From left to right, Paul Raymond, Clerk; Gary Vink, Supervisor; Mike McCullen, Supervisor and Glen Williamson, Chair. Not in photo, but present, Patrice Winfield, Treasurer.

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, Grader Operator Alden Shute.

BOARD OF REORGANIZATION: Elected Supervisor Glen Williamson and Treasurer Patrice Winfield were sworn to a three year and two year term by Clerk Paul Raymond. Mike nominated Glen to serve as Chairman; Gary seconded. Passed. Mike moved that Gary be assistant Chair; Glen seconded; passed. Treasurer Patrice designated Northview as our bank of deposit. Mike moved that The Evergreen and Pine County Courier and the Town Hall and the township website be our notice-posting and publishing places. Mike moved that the wages and salaries for 2019 as voted and approved by the townspeople at the March 11th Annual Town Meeting be adopted. Chairman $105/meeting (over three hours, $22.50/hour); Supervisors, $100/meeting (over three hours additional $18.00/hour); Clerk and Treasurer $100/meeting. Special reports and paperwork $16/hour. Election judges $16/hour (including head judge). Grader Operator $25/hour for grading and plowing; $20 hour for inspections and reports; Assistant Grader Operator, $20; General labor $16/hour; Major mechanical work, $30/hour; Mechanic Assistant, $16/hour; Annual Meeting Moderator, $75/meeting; Out of town meetings, $150/full day; $100/half day. Mileage at Federal rate, now $.58/mile. Gary seconded; passed.

Notice-posting: Glen moved to keep posting notices in the Pine County Courier, the Evergreen, and wilmatownship.com. Mike seconded.

Monthly Board Meetings: Glen moved that we meet the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in 2019/2020. Gary seconded. Township Donations: Requests from OSAC, Family Pathways, Pine County Historical Association and Seven County Senior Federation for continued contracts. At 2018’s annual meeting, a total of $300 for all requests was approved by the voters for 10 years. Mike moved to give $75 apiece to each of them; Glen seconded. Passed.

Snowplowing 2019/2020: Mike moved that we keep our private drive snowplowing rates for the 2019-2020 season the same as last year: $75; Drives over 700′, $100; 1,000′ to ½ mile: $175/season; over ½ mile, $350. Glen seconded; passed.

APRIL BOARD MEETING: Paul read the record of the March 6 Board meeting. Gary moved to approve; Mike seconded.

ROAD REPORT: Alden reported that he plowed Little Tamarack Lake Road because it gets blocked with snow. He will not plow driveways any more since they are so soft. He will start grading roads as when they dry out, maybe even this week. He had a flat tire on the grader and had to make two trips to Glen’s Tire in Mora to replace the broken valve stem. Deep Rock had to order a stem for the valve. Alden fixed the hydraulic hose.

Snowplowing/Branches: Two people have overhanging branches that interfere with the grader, Paul Raymond and Tom Ackerman. They will need to be trimmed before next years snow season. Paul will notify Ackermans.

Grader Hall Furnace: Even though the burners were replaced when Federated repaired the heater in the grader hall and unblocked the birds’ nests, the furnace stopped working again. Alden will call Federated, and he asked Mike to move the fire department brush rig so the furnace workers can access the furnace. Mike will.

Grader Hall Drain: Alden asked if the fire department can blow out the drain on the floor. Gary said last time they had to blow it out from the outside first and then from the inside. Mike said they will take care of it. Gary said we need to shovel out all the mud and sand so it doesn’t wash right back down the drain. Alden said he can get a better drain cover that doesn’t allow so much dirt and debris to get in.

Grader Hall Parking Lot/Driveway: Alden said he’d like to try crushed red-rock gravel to lay down in the driveway instead of the crushed rock we put down before. It is about half the cost. He said he needs to cut down the whole driveway 2 – 3”and shape it so it can drain and put a small ditch for drainage. Glen said we will inspect the success of the red-rock on McCullen Drive at the May road inspection and can decide if it will work on the parking lot and driveway.

OLD BUSINESS: Pine County Township Officers Mtg: Was Saturday, March 23 in Hinckley. Report by Paul given to board and it is posted on the Pine County Township Officers website.

DSL Internet: Patrice contacted CenturyLink to order a phone line to the town hall and that was installed. Today she was able to order DSL internet for the town hall which will be installed next week. We have to pay the business rate, which will total about $60 per month, half what we pay now. She will cancel the phone once the internet is hooked up, and she will cancel our Viasat account. Glen said the antenna going north stopped working, although it does have power. He wants to go up to see if the wire became unconnected and may need help from the fire department. Patrice said we should not repair it if it only reaches one township resident. Paul said the board already agreed to put up the antennas to reach whoever they reach, and after all that we paid, not to fix the wire doesn’t make sense. Until Alden got his own internet, he was able to use the township internet, as does the Duxbury Store. The modem costs $99 but they will give it to us for free. We have to sign a two-year contract.

State Election for Representative: The election for Jason Rarick’s house seat was held March 19. Patrice, Glen and Paul were judges. Nathan Nelson won, but not Wilma Township.

NEW BUSINESS: Board of Appeal/Equalization: For voters to appeal 2020 property tax assessments, Monday, April 8, 2019, 1 p.m. County Assessor Lorri L. Houtsma and Wilma Assessor Bob Brewster will attend. We need two supervisors, and both Gary and Glen are certified. Mike said he might not make it.

Spring MAT Short Course: Is Friday, April 5 at the DECC in Duluth. Glen will drive and pick up Paul and Patrice at 7 a.m. Gary said he can’t go.

Culverts: Land and Cabins has a new price list for culverts. Alden given the price list and Mike said he can order whatever he needs.

CTAS Backup: Paul’s CTAS program will not allow him to backup to a flash drive. He has tried three, including a brand new one. He has sent his error log to the State Auditor and their I.T. department is trying to figure it out, but if they can’t fix it Paul would like to use Patrice’s backup so he can load CTAS onto his laptop. Paul’s books are caught up and match Patrice’s. Glen moved that if Paul can’t get his program fixed, that he be allowed to use Patrices’s backup for his laptop. Mike seconded. Passed.

Mail Ballot Voting: Auditor Kelly Schroeder is suggesting that townships with polling places switch to mail-in ballots. This does not require a town meeting; the board can pass a resolution to switch Wilma from public voting to mail-ballot voting. We can’t do it only for some elections and not others, but Kelly had said that they are trying to have mail balloting for everyone if we ever have special primaries and elections like we did in March. Her letter and a sample resolution was given to the board. Advantages are lower costs, but Gary said the whole point of democracy is for us to publicly vote at a polling place. Mike agreed, that constitutionally we should have a central voting place. Glen said it brings the town together when everyone comes to the hall, and he got to make contact with a lot of citizens when he was judge on the 19th. Glen moved to table the matter; Mike seconded.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Patrice gave the treasurer’s report which will be posted on the website. Total bills for March are $4,084.93 and she requests a transfer of $4.000 from savings to checking. Gary moved to approve; Glen seconded.

Gary moved to adjourn; Mike seconded. Meeting adjourned 8:40 p.m.

Report by Paul Raymond ___________________________________

Attest: GlenWilliamson, Chair_______________________________