|
SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Jeff Bachke. The “Pledge of Allegiance” was recited. Present for the meeting were Chairman Bachke, supervisor Greg Andrews, proposed interim supervisor John Goman, clerk Patti Alander, deputy clerk Cammy Hansen and fire chief Matt Frantz. Animal control officer Gloria Dallum was absent.
I. Jeff let the audience know that supervisor John Werner has been called to active duty with the U.S. Army reserve and is expecting to serve for 365 days. Jeff made a motion to appoint a previous supervisor, John Goman, to serve as an interim supervisor until John Werner is able to return to his position. Greg seconded the motion; Jeff, Greg and Patti all vote in favor. Motion carried. Patti swore in John Goman.
II. Jeff went over the list of upcoming meetings:
September 10, 2009 10:00 AM Public Testing of Election Equipment for upcoming school board election
September 10, 2009 6:00 PM Public Hearing to consider Rezone Application of properties located on West Calvary Road
September 15, 2009 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM PRIMARY ELECTION FOR ISD #709 SCHOOL BOARD
September 16, 2009 6:00 PM Utilities meeting
September 22, 2009 7:00 PM Planning & Zoning Commission
September 29, 2009 6:00 PM Board of Adjustment Public Hearing for Universal Properties (TENTATIVE DATE)
September 30, 2009 7:00 PM MN Association of Township’s District 10 meeting @ Canosia Town Hall
III. A motion to approve the August 11, 2009 board meeting minutes was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; minutes to be placed in file.
IV. The August financial report was presented:
August Receipts $40,511.31
August Expenditures
General Fund $11,061.97
Administration $17,245.54
Public Works $ 9,581.03
Road & Bridge $ 2,696.17
Fire $ 1,939.41
Building Inspection $ 4,981.37
Lift Station #1 Improvements $ 3,476.46
Lift Station #3 Improvements $ 922.58
Total August Expenditures $51,904.53
September Expenditures thus far
General Fund $38,471.90
Utilities $ 5,798.18
Estimated Payroll $15,000.00
Fair Housing none
Holly pointed out the Lift Station #1 and Lift Station #3 improvements.
V. CORRESPONDENCE:
State Auditor’s e-update September 4, 2009 issue
“Business North” September issue
Thank you note from Donald Lowinski
Northeast Service Cooperative notice and agenda for September 1, 2009 annual meeting
MN Association of Township’s Notice of District 10 meeting and election on Wednesday September 30th
Minnesota Safety Council notice of 2009 Continuing Education and Northern Area Safety & Health Network Safety Day September 29, 2009
“Corporate Trust Connection” fall issue
Minnesota Secretary of State’s “Office update” September issue
“Rural Water” third quarter 2009 issue
“NRWA” 2010 Corporate Partnership Directory
MN State Auditor’s “Pension Division Newsletter” August issue
MN Department of Employment & Economic Development 2009 law changes to MN Unemployment Insurance.
MN Department of Revenue re: unallotments of market values & levy decisions
League of MN Cities “Cities Bulletin” August 26, 2009
“Lakewood Town Crier” July/August 2009
St. Louis Environmental Services Department notice of Tuesday August 25 meeting regarding ISTS.
MPCA notice regarding comments regarding rule changes amendment to rules governing water treatment certification.
State Auditor’s e-update August 14th issue
TransUnion letter regarding security and protection notification credit card software provider. Credit card purchase over the internet. DON’T THINK WE WANT TO BE DOING THIS REGULARLY.
“Stop” 2008 Minnesota motor vehicle crash facts.
RSTP July 15, 2009 meeting minutes
Duluth International Airport Joint Zoning Board August 20th meeting agenda
WLSSD’s notice of 2010 budget an notice of September 21, 2009 Capital Budget public hearing
“Minnesota Counties” August issue
WLSSD’s notice of “Effective Communication for Water Infrastructure webcast
League of MN Cities “Cities Bulletin” August 12th issue
Patti pointed out the letter from TransUnion regarding a security notification related to a credit card purchase.
VI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS
A. Building Report
|
TYPE OF PERMIT ISSUED
|
NUMBER ISSUED
|
|
Municipal water
|
1
|
|
Mechanical
|
2
|
|
Deck
|
1
|
|
Siding
|
2
|
|
Plumbing
|
2
|
|
Windows
|
2
|
|
Insulation
|
1
|
|
Garage
|
2
|
|
Roofs
|
2
|
|
Demolition
|
2
|
|
Total permits issued
|
17
|
Total valuation of projects $105,561.00
Total Fees assessed $2,579.50
B. Planning and Zoning
1. The commission met on August 18th at 5:30 pm to conduct the annual inspections for all the Conditional Use Permits in the Town.
2. The next meeting of the planning commission will be on Tuesday Sept. 27, 2009 at 7:00 PM.
3. The Grew Variance denied by the Board of Adjustment was overturned by District Court. The Town can go into further detail about the town’s decision to take the next step in the process.
4. A public Hearing will be held by the Planning Commission on Thursday September 10th at 6:00 pm. A petition and application has been received by Richard Kobus to rezone property on West Calvary Road from Multiple Use Non Shoreland to Residential.
C. Public Works/Road and Bridge
Submitted by Gary Olson:
Roadside mowing and brushing was finished
Roadside debris was pickup from the Stockholm and Kingston Roads and 5th Ave. S.
All lawns were mowed and trimmed
Met with Darrell Johnson on the Birchwood Road about possible ditching
West Calvary Road is closed as St. Louis County is installing a new culvert
RJS started rehabbing lift station #1
Nine legal postings were put out
Thirteen Gopher One locates were done
Commercial water meters were read
Four loads of aluminum cans were hauled to the recycler
Waste water pumped was 1,325,500 gallons (daily average of 42,758 gallons)
Water usage was 2,516,488 gallons (daily average of 81,777 gallons)
D. Fire Department
Submitted by Matt Frantz:
Eleven medical calls
One Automatic fire alarm
One oven fire
Two trash fires (at same address)
One mutual aid call
One firefighter injury (stepped on a nail at the trash fire)
E. Animal Control:
Submitted by Gloria Dallum
Hours Worked 23.5
Miles Driven 92
Fines assessed & collected None
Licenses sold None
Dogs to the pound None
F. Utilities: Patti stated that the West Calvary Road connections are moving along.
G. Park Department:
1. Patti stated that a bid has been received for a new light in the park
2. Les has been mowing the lawns
3. The football Junior League is using the field for practice
H. Sherriff: No report
I. Rice Lake Fair Housing Authority: Three applications are pending; Patti will call a meeting of the RLFHA board.
VII. Old Business:
A. Rice Lake Dam Road project: no new information. Waiting until late fall to pursue.
B. Fire Department Bylaw Changes: Have been read twice and voted on and now need to be presented to the Town for approval by the Board.
C. Bow hunting Ordinance #26: Has been previously approved, adopted and published as required and was signed tonight. The Ordinance is now in effect.
D. Erickson Road: Patti reported that we need to address the gate that is in the Town’s Right of Way at the end of this property. The residents have not been opening the gate for the plow. Patti will be sending a letter.
E. Gary Olson: Was out sick a portion of last week and will likely be out the remainder of this week.
VIII. New Business
A. Fuel bids for 2009-2010 heating season were received (bid information attached.) A motion to award the bid for heating fuel to Superior Fuel Company was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; motion carried.
B. A motion to approve a request from the fire department to disburse funds from the capital improvement fund for an application to St. Louis County for a permit for the new North fire hall was made by Greg and seconded by John.
C. Patti mentioned that we need to research paying claims electronically. She is concerned that when we make payment electronically the endorsement language that is printed on the reverse of our checks does not apply.
D. Greg, Jeff, Jerome and Joe Mihalek (the Town’s attorney) attended an all-day mediation session on Wednesday regarding the Lift Station #3 dispute with USA. An agreement was made with both sides conceding some. The formal agreement will be written up and mailed to the Town. Greg made a motion to accept the results of the mediation and to close out the contract with USA. Jeff seconded the motion. All vote in favor; motion carried. Patti will be sure that all lien releases are received prior to mailing our payment.
E. A motion to approve the installation of a light in the park, not to exceed $2,000.00, was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; motion carried. Greg recommends that the light be mounted on the south side of the flag pole so as to limit any light shining toward homes in the area.
F. A motion to appoint Greg Andrews as vice chairman of the board in the absence of John Werner was made by Jeff and seconded by John Goman. All vote in favor; motion carried.
IX. Business from the Floor
A. Andrea Schmaltz, 4203 W. Calvary Road:
1. Asked the location of Lift Station #3 and what happens when the Town receives its negotiated payment from USA. Jeff responded that the contract remains in force as far as warranty information.
2. Wonders if the Town is working on anything with the Walters family at 4193 W. Calvary Road. She said that two or three nights per week the family members are screaming for their dog in the middle of the night. When Gloria is contacted, she tells them to call the sheriff and the sheriff is telling them to call Gloria. The dogs are pit bulls and are out running at least once per week. Ms. Schmaltz stated that Gloria was called three times in August. Patti does not believe there have been any citations issued regarding this address in 2009. Jeff assured Ms. Schmaltz that he will speak with Gloria to find out how to handle future issues. She also feels that the Walters family is intimidating the surrounding residents and violating the Town’s ordinances and it seems that nothing is being done. The yard is also a nuisance regarding junk; there is continuously a yard sale at that address. Dennis Arthur, 4270 Willard. Rd. stated that he brought this matter to the board’s attention about a year ago as well. Andrea asked to know if any citations and/or fines have been issued. Patti will check our records and let her know. Greg explained how the Town is approaching junk violation issues and that it is an expensive thing to enforce. Jeff let Andrea know that she is welcome to attend the March annual meeting and recommend that the amount the Town spends for attorneys’ fees are increased to allow more cases to be prosecuted. Patti estimates that each junk ordinance violation costs approximately $6,000.00 in court/attorney fees. Holly also recommends that the State of Minnesota sales tax division is notified that a flea market is being conducted at the home. Andrea stressed that she wants something done with this property. She wonders if the money the Town pays to its animal control officer can be allocated to the problem properties instead. Jeff responded that no, that is a board decision.
3. She asked when the replaced culverts on West Calvary Road will be resurfaced. Greg stated that St. Louis County is responsible and Patti gave her the phone number to reach them.
B. Mark North, 4209 W. Calvary Road: Mark asked that the board again reconsider the way the assessments on the West Calvary Road were calculated. He would like the five vacant lots that were not assessed to be assessed in order to reduce the individual amounts to each home owner. Mark asked the board to review the whole situation and reevaluate. Jeff stated that the board will discuss it, but that the decision was made two years ago by the board. Greg let the people in attendance know that they are welcome to attend the utility meeting next Wednesday at 6:00. Mark asked to be sent a copy of those meeting minutes since he may not be able to attend.
C. Dennis Arthur, 4270 Willard Road:
1. Reiterated that something needs to be done with the Walters property.
2. Submitted a complaint about the property at 4202 Willard Road approximately two weeks ago. This property is quickly turning into a junkyard. Patti has given the information to Marty and she will check with him tomorrow to see if anything has been done. There is also a storage shed that was built too close to the road that needs to be moved.
D. Jerry Robison, 4300 W. Calvary Road: Concerned about the way the W. Calvary Road project was completed. He stated that a prior board had stated that the Town would not do the project unless grant money was received. He soon after found out that the board had passed the project. He asked the board to think about directly reimbursing the residents who were assessed any money that is recovered from future homes being built on the Phase 1B sewer and water line. He also supports Mark North’s position that all properties, not just homes, should be assessed. Jerry stated that in the future the board should not say that something would not be done one day and then go ahead and do it a few days later. He feels that this was a bad mistake. Jeff told Jerry that Jim Oberstar had said that funds would be available but when we went through the motions, there were no funds available.
A motion to approve and execute the following claims was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; motion carried.
General Fund checks #50138 through #50160
Utility Fund checks #4123 through #4128
Payroll checks #10007 through #10012
Rice Lake Fair Housing none
Having no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
|
