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OCTOBER BOARD MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 13, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chairman of the board of supervisors Jeff Bachke. The “Pledge of Allegiance” was recited. Present for the meeting were Chairman Bachke, supervisors Greg Andrews and John Goman, clerk Patti Alander, deputy clerk Cammy Hansen, treasurer Holly Herstad and animal control officer Gloria Dallum. Fire Chief Matt Frantz was absent. Six residents were in attendance.
Jeff went over the list of upcoming meetings:
October 14, 2009 6:00 p.m. Kobus re-zone public hearing
October 15, 2009 7:00 p.m. Duluth Area Townships meeting
October 19, 2009 7:00 p.m. RLVFD Relief Association meeting
October 20, 2009 6:00 p.m. Ries cell tower public hearing
October 20, 2009 7:00 p.m. Planning & Zoning Commission
October 21, 2009 6:00 p.m. Utility committee
October 22, 2009 6:00 p.m. Begley cell tower public hearing
October 28, 2009 10:00 a.m. Public Accuracy testing of election equipment
October 28, 2009 7:00 p.m. St. Louis County Assn. of Townships meeting
October 29, 2009 7:00 p.m. Fire Dept. meeting re: new fire hall
November 2, 2009 6:00 p.m. Agenda meeting (NOTE DATE AND TIME CHANGE)
November 3, 2009 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ISD #709 General Election
November 10, 2009 7:00 PM Board meeting
A motion to approve the September 8, 2009 Board meeting minutes was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; motion carried with minutes to be placed in file.
The September financial report was presented by Holly Herstad, Treasurer:
September Receipts $ 40,217.15
September Expenditures
General Fund $ 44,677.95
Administration $ 18,876.64
Public Works $ 5,863.37
Road & Bridge $ 6,366.60
Fire $ 4,812.33
Building Inspection $ 4,913.31
Lift Station #1 Improvements $ 3,476.46
Lift Station #3 Improvements $ 26,436.25
Water Tower $ 215.63
Total Expenditures $115,638.54
October Expenditures thus far
General Fund $ 30,810.23
Utilities $ 64,002.29
Payroll $ 15,000.00
Fair Housing $ -0-
CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED:
· E-update, Office of the State Auditor, October 2, September 25, September 18, September 11,
· Today, Fall 2009 issue
· Notice from Charter Communications regarding station name changes
· Nortrax equipment, September 2009 issue
· Minnesota Counties, September 2009 issue
· Ag Innovation News, Oct.-Dec. 2009 issue
· 2009 Fire State Aid report (Rice Lake = $13,373)
· LMC Cities Bulletin, Sept. 23, 2009, September 9, 2009
· Thank you note from Georgia Aus
· WLSSD Board meeting Agenda, Sept. 21, 2009
· SLCAT meeting minutes, Sept. 23, 2009
· Town of Canosia Newsletter, Sept. 2009
· RSPT agenda, Sept. 16, 2009
· Township ISTS Advisory Group agenda, Sept. 29, 2009
· Charter Communications notice of Account System Upgrade
· Minnesota PCA fall update
· RLK, Inc. municipal services brochure
· MDH Waterline, Fall 2009 issue
· Municipal Sewer & Water, Sept. 2009 issue
DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
1. Building Department: No report
2. September Planning & Zoning Department: No report
3. Public Works/Road and Bridge Department: No report
4. Fire Department: Cammy read the following report as submitted by Matt Frantz, Fire Chief: In September the department responded to 12 calls. They consisted of 2 medical, 2 carbon monoxide alarms, 2 lifting assistance, 1 power line down, 1 car fire and 4 automatic fire alarms at Homecroft School.
5. Animal Control: Gloria Dallum gave the following report:
Hours Worked 36
Miles Driven 170
Fines assessed/collected none
License fees collected none
Dogs to the pound none
6. Utilities: Patti reported that the hook ups on West Calvary Road are continuing. The new remote readers being installed on the new connections are working relatively well; we are on a bit of a learning curve as far as the speed at which we can drive and still get a reading.
7. Park: Patti reported that the park is nearly ready to be shut down for the winter. Some of the brush has been cut down, but Patti believes there should have been more taken. Patti will check with John Werner to verify that prior to calling Rick’s Tree Service. Twining is working on installing the light.
8. Sheriff: No report, although Patti mentioned that we did call the sheriff regarding a vehicle that was left at Lift Station #7. It has been removed.
9. Rice Lake Fair Housing Authority: Four loans were approved in closed in September and the beginning of October. Resolutions will be read and approved later in the meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Rice Lake Dam Road project: Nothing new. Now that the construction season is winding down, we will make contact with St. Louis County to ask to begin this process.
2. Erickson Road: Patti, Greg and Cammy met with property owners on 10/12/09. We will set up a meeting with St. Louis County and the residents on site to view the property and discuss possible solutions to the plowing problem.
3. Electronic Payment of Claims: Patti stated that she has done some research and believes that the only claims that can be paid electronically at this time are federal and state payments.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Cammy stated that she has spoken with the County and has submitted a written request to have stop signs installed at the North/South intersections of Kingston and Rutter Roads and Willard and Rutter Roads. The County expects the project to be completed in six to eight weeks. Cammy also asked the County to inform us of how to properly address the change in traffic pattern (signage, etc.)
2. Cammy read into the record Resolution 09-10-26:
RESOLUTION 09-10-26
RESOLUTION APPROVING THE DISSEMINATION OF THE RICE LAKE FAIR HOUSING LOAN AUTHORITY MONIES TO QUALIFIED RESIDENTS OF THE TOWN OF RICE LAKE
WHEREAS, within the entity of Rice Lake Township there is incorporated a loan program known as the Rice Lake Fair Housing Loan Authority, and
WHEREAS, the purpose of this Authority is to loan its acquired funds to qualified person within the boundaries of Rice Lake to improve the property of the qualified persons as established by the Authority’s guidelines, and
WHEREAS, the Authority has a qualified homeowner, applicant 09-02 who meets the criteria as established by its standards for repairs. Maximum loan amount is not to exceed $9,500.00 plus administrative costs, and
WHEREAS, the monies paid back to the Town will be accomplished by a predetermined monthly schedule with an interest rate of 3.00%, and
WHEREAS, funds received from this loan shall be re-deposited in the Rice Lake Fair Housing Loan Authority account at North Shore Bank of Commerce and used for other such loans.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that upon approval of the Town Board that the administration of this loan shall be carried out by the Rice Lake Fair Housing Loan Authority and the Town Board.
Adopted this 13th day of October, 2009
Two additional resolutions, Resolution 09-10-27 and Resolution 09-10-28, which were identical to the above resolution except for the applicant identification number, were also read. One additional resolution, Resolution 09-10-29 was read that was identical except for the applicant identification number and the interest rate, which was 6%. A motion to approve all four resolutions was made by John and seconded by Greg. All vote in favor, motion carried.
3. A friendly amendment to a motion donating $450.00 to the Fire Department Auxiliary for the annual Halloween carnival (previously approved at the October 6, 2009 Agenda meeting) was made by Greg and seconded by John. The motion amended the amount from $450.00 to $250.00. All vote in favor; motion carried. The carnival has received quite a few donations in the past week, so not as large a contribution is needed.
BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR:
- Clarice Turcotte, 3858 Nelson Road: Presented a framed and mounted portion of the stage curtain from the old Arnold School. She asked for permission for the frame to be hung in the town hall. All present agreed that this is a wonderful donation and will be hung in the hall.
- Andi Schmaltz, 4203 W. Calvary Road: Andi asked about the sewer and water hookup fees. She would like an explanation of where the $800.00 for the hookup fees are going (she understands the $750.00 WLSSD fee.) Jeff and Patti explained that ever since sewer and water services were made available within the Township, these fees have been imposed. The fees offset the costs of the engineer to ensure that the integrity of the Town’s water supply is not compromised and anything left over from these costs is deposited into the Utility account to cover ongoing maintenance and expenditures for breaks and other unpredictable expenses. When the Town first offered water and sewer services, there was no WLSSD fee. Although it may seem as if residents are paying two sewer connection fees for the same service, they are indeed two separate fees that are charged for two different items. Andi thinks that it is not best to have funds set aside in a fund when residents are scrimping to find a way to hook up. She also wonders how much work the inspectors are doing for the $240.00 fee they are charging. Andi would like a copy of the report that the inspector completed for her home. A spirited discussion ensued. Andi asked for a “detailed receipt as to exactly what my $800.00 is going for, to the penny.” Patti made the point that the $800.00 sewer fee and the $575.00 water fee were both implemented when the Town first began offering these services; neither fee has been raised since it was first implemented (sewer in 1986 and water in 1966) and has been paid by every residence that is connected to the system. Patti will gather information regarding what the average monthly operational costs are for the system.
She also asked about metering well water that does not enter the sewer system (garden and lawn watering, car washing and the like.) Andrea stated that there is an “hour meter” option on the E-One grinder stations and why can’t the Town use that rather than metering the water. Jeff and John both explained that the hour meter is not designed to measure water flow, but to measure the time that a grinder has ran (for maintenance purposes.) Jeff also assured the Schmaltz’s that the Town surveyed surrounding municipalities and found that of those surveyed; none offered “breaks” for summer watering. Also, the residents have the option of keeping their existing well for outdoor water usage.
Next Andi asked if there has been any movement on the Walter’s house (junk ordinance.) Patti stated that she believes that Marty sent a letter on September 15th giving them until October 15th to act. Jeff let the audience know that the Planning Commission has a list of properties in the Township that need attention. They have been individually rated and prioritized according to the rate. The Town has a limited budget for legal fees and from our past experience these cases have cost thousands of dollars to pursue. The board encouraged Andi to attend the annual meeting in March and make a motion to approve a larger budget for legal expenses if she is so inclined. Patti explained that once the Town issues a citation to a resident, it then falls to the court system to proceed with the case from that point on. Andi is very frustrated that nothing seems to be changing with this property; it continues to be a problem. Patti recommended that Andi be a part of the Planning & Zoning Commission to help address these types of issues.
The next item Andi brought up was the dog issue at the Walter’s house. She asked Gloria if she gets paid on an hourly basis or on a salary. Jeff told Andi that she cannot ask questions of Gloria; she must direct questions to the Board. Andi thinks that there are a wide variety of hours worked. Jeff states that salaries are based on an average amount of hours worked and are not open to public debate. He also clarified that the Town has spoken with the sheriff to clarify how future calls regarding dogs at this property are handled: the sheriff will respond to all calls; Gloria will accompany the sheriff if she is available. Andi believes that the entire Township is being intimidated by these dogs. Greg stated that Andi should be calling the sheriff if she feels threatened. As of two weeks ago, the 911 operators have been instructed in how to handle these calls. Andi brought up an occasion a month or two months ago when no one responded to a call when the dog was loose. Again, Jeff stated that the Schmaltz’s should call 911 if they feel threatened at any time or if the dog is outside of the kennel at any time. She would like to know what will happen when 911 is called. Gloria asked to address Andi. Gloria stated that if she called 911 and the dog(s) were on the Schmaltz property and were threatening them, sheriffs will respond. If they see the dog(s) loose on the road and not growling or biting at anyone, and if Gloria sees the dog loose, she would cite the owner. However, if Gloria herself does not see the dog loose, she cannot issue a citation based on another person’s observation. More vigorous discussion was had. Jeff made the final point that 911 should be called when any issues regarding the Walter’s dogs occur.
A motion to approve and execute the following claims was made by Greg and seconded by John. All vote in favor; claims approved.
General Fund checks #50224 through #50256
Utility Fund checks #4136 through #4143
Having no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
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