JANUARY AGENDA MEETING MINUTES

JANUARY 5, 2010

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Jeff Bachke.  Present for the meeting were Chairman Bachke; supervisors Greg Andrews and John Goman; Treasurer Holly Herstad; Clerk Patti Alander; Deputy Clerk Cammy Hansen; MSA representative Jerome Flogel and Asst. Fire Chief Tim Isaacson.  Fire Chief Matt Frantz joined the meeting at approximately 6:20 p.m.

Tim Isaacson addressed the board regarding selling the Fire Department’s 1956 Chevrolet fire truck.  The truck has not been used for 15-20 years and is taking up space in the fire hall and costing the Town for liability insurance coverage.  The truck has been listed for sale on Craig’s List and there have been a few inquiries and one offer.  Tim would like to know how to proceed.   Cammy verified that we do have the title; however it is a 1955, not 1956 model year and gave a copy to Tim to verify that the serial number on the title matches the serial number on the truck.  Tim would like to have the proceeds of the sale go to the fire department truck fund.  Tim stated that he expects to get approximately $1,500.00 -$2,000.00 for the truck as it needs a lot of work.  The buyer would have to pay in cash or a cashier’s check payable to the Town of Rice Lake and would need to come to the Town Hall to sign the title.  Cammy or Jeff will need to sign the title on behalf of the Town.  A motion was made by Jeff and seconded by Greg to sell the 1955 fire engine with the proceeds to be deposited into the fire department’s equipment trust fund.  All three supervisors vote in favor; motion carried.  Tim also told the board who the newly elected officers are for 2010:  Matt Frantz, chief, Tim Isaacson, 1^st Asst. chief, Scott Twining, 2^nd Asst. chief, Richard Johnson, medical, Randy Hiti, maintenance,  and Mark Niemi, training officer. 

Jerome stated he received a call from Scott Kyrola of Northland Constructors regarding extended our water/sewer lines north on Rice Lake Road.  Jim Holmgren, the owner of Northland has purchased the Calvary Auto property so now owns the land on the west side of Rice Lake Road from the Calvary Road north to his current property.  As the Calvary Auto property is adjacent to our water/sewer line, Northland would like to extend the line through his newly acquired Calvary Auto property and to his current Northland Constructors property.  Jerome stated that our policy has been to require that the line be run the full length of the property and that the cost is completely paid by the property owner.  When the Town was initially planning on putting this line in, the assessment would have been in the $300,000.00 area.  There was a lengthy discussion regarding how to proceed with this matter and many questions were raised, especially regarding possible future development on the property currently owned by John LaBuda.  That property does not currently have any well or septic tank as it is a storage facility.  But if that property was sold and someone built a structure that required water/sewer services, how would they be charged?  Also, the Krenzen property would be affected.  Since it affects two other properties, does the project need to be put out for bids?  What would the Sewer Access Charge, if any, be?  The board decided that we need to consult with our attorney and see what types of things should be taken into consideration and how other municipalities have handled this type of matter.  Board members agree that the line would definitely be an asset to the Town; we need to be sure it is completed properly.

Jerome mentioned that MSA has had some internal discussion and is fairly confident that there may be another round of stimulus funds coming.  The hope is that we could get funding for the E. Calvary Road project that needs to be done.  Patti stated that due to the large amount of water we are losing on this line we hope that it will be placed as a higher priority project.  We are being billed by the City of Duluth for 28 million gallons of water and are billing residents for 12 million gallons.  Soil borings and wetland delineation has been previously completed.   Jerome will let us know of any further developments.  (Jerome departed the meeting at this time.)

A motion to approve the December Agenda meeting minutes was made by Greg and seconded by John.  All vote in favor; minutes to be placed in file.

Cammy reminded the board that there is a Utility meeting scheduled for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. to discuss rates.

Cammy asked the board about their plans for the North Fire Hall.  Patti mentioned that after looking at the 2011 budget she does not believe the timing for bonding for this project is right.  She believes that as long as we notify the county of the improvements we have made we will be able to postpone the building for a year.  There are some things such as site prep that can be done now with the Capital Improvement funds.  Matt also mentioned that the overhead doors on the South Fire Hall need some repairs/replacement.  He thinks it could be spread out over a couple of years so that the entire cost is not incurred at once. 

A meeting to discuss the 2011 Budget was set for 9:00 a.m. on January 12, 2010.

Cammy asked to talk about the Deputy Clerk position and if that should be done now.  Patti would like to wait on that discussion for now.

Cammy passed out a form requesting Social Security numbers and Driver’s License numbers of authorized signers for the bank safe deposit box.

Chairman Bachke signed the Snowplow Easement for the Erickson Road.

We have a pay application for LS #1 from RJS.  Patti is not sure we should pay it because we are still having some problems with surges that show on WLSSD’s report.  Jerome believes it is a communications issue with the mag meter and has been happening every couple of weeks or so.  The project is complete, but the surges have been occurring since the repairs were made.  Jeff asked to table this until Thursday when we can have further discussions with Jerome.

Cammy passed out a briefing from our attorney regarding the Grew matter for later review by the supervisors.

Patti discussed the possibility of moving funds from the building department to an investment account.  The building department had net income of about $29,000.00 in 2009 and she thinks it would be prudent to set this money into an investment account in case there is a shortage in future years.  Patti will get the figures prepared and ready for presentation at the board meeting.  She will also be recommending at the board meeting that budgeted capital improvement funds that were not used be set aside in an investment as well. 

Cammy distributed a draft copy of next week’s Board Meeting Agenda.

Patti delivered her resignation letter to Chairman Bachke.