Minutes: July 9, 2019 Regular Board Meeting
Presented for approval at the August 13, 2019 Board Meeting
July meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Michelle Meis with the Pledge of Allegiance. Supervisors present included, Brandon Mell, John Paitl and Jared Landon. Also present was Clerk Stan Iskierka, Treasurer Mary Dillner and Deputy Clerk Kelli Storck. Supervisors not present was Betsy Rising.
Agenda (Additions or Changes)
Additions to New Business:
- Ordering of bolts and nuts
Motion by Paitl seconded by Landon to approve Agenda. Approved.
Approve Minutes
Motion by Landon seconded by Mell to approve July Minutes. Approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Motion by Landon seconded by Paitl to approve Treasurer’s Report. Approved.
Bills
Motion by Mell seconded by Landon to approve paying bills. Approved.
Open Forum
- Fiber Optics – A resident inquired about grant money towards fiber optics. He stated that he heard that there is new grant money available. Mell and Iskierka will look into this further and try to get an answer for our next meeting.
Maintenance Report
- First time mowing completed
- Patched Anchor (2-tons)
- Blue signs-193 have been installed. Have 400 left to install
- Elmcrest/540th-stop sign down-put up a temporary one
- Graded roads and new gravel for chloride
- Have not gotten to the frost boils yet. Will need to close the road to take care of frost boils on County Road 2 to Balsam. Road committee will check on the locations and notify contractor to begin work on the road.
- Road committee will look at what is needed for blacktop patching
Road Committee
- Mailbox down – A resident said that their mailbox may have been hit. Landon and our contractor could not locate the mailbox.
- Road Plan – Mell stated that we have to make a plan for the roads. Our contractor can cut out the asphalt at the patching locations, but we will need to hire a paver contractor to put down the asphalt. Landon suggested that he and Rising should look at the roads and then they will get paving bids. A couple of locations would be township Parking Lot and Berry Ave.
- Road Committee will work on putting together a priority list.
- County is not doing any blacktop projects in our area this year.
- Blue Heron Trail We have received two paving Quotes to repair 482nd/ Blue Heron Trail. Knife River Quote of $28,000 to cut out the bad spots and pave. Prefer Paving Quote is $25,000 to mill the bad spots and pave. Board agrees on the quotes and the Joint Power committee will get ok from Fish Lake Township board.
Nessel Township has a Joint-Powers Sharing on this road with Fish Lake Township, which is currently a 62/38 split. Fish Lake Township wants to change this to a 50/50 joint-powers sharing split. Nessel Township is planning on having a meeting with Fish Lake Township on July 10 or another day. We will present pricing/quotes to Fish Lake Township for the cost of making repairs and try to come to some sort of agreement on a new Road Maintenance Agreement.
- A resident asked when crack sealing will be done on Alpine. It was explained that there is a plan in place for Prefer Sealing to be sealing the cracks.
- A resident inquired about applying chloride on Acacia Lane from Rush Haven Resort towards the Grumpy Minnow. The resident was informed that the County overrode the chloride portion of the Conditional Use Permit for Rush Haven. It was suggested that the resident along with other residents, call the County and make a complaint about the dust on this road. The resident inquired about starting an SSD for the chloride of Acacia Lane. The resident was informed that they can start and SSD and that there is a process for it. The Board said they would assist with how to start an SSD.
Policy Committee
- Board Compensation – Mell drafted a Compensation Policy with suggested changes to the policy. It was decided to remove the sentence “Combined with being on the Contract Committee, shall be paid an additional $100 per month” under “The Budget Manager” area. Mell will make the changes and we will discuss at the next meeting.
Motion by Landon seconded by Paitl. Approved.
- Board Compensation – Landon suggested that we remove the sentence “Emergency duties performed by Board members during overnight/weekend hours shall be paid at $30 per hour” from section 5.2. Mell will delete this sentence and will present the new policy at the next meeting for approval.
Old Business
- Mailbox Stand Resolution – Approval needed for Resolution 06-2019, for Chisago County to collect fees for 911-address signs and mailbox stands for new residents.
Motion by Landon seconded by Mell to approve Resolution 06-2019. Approved.
- Anchor – Mell has not gotten any updates from SEH regarding the preparation of bidding documents for the engineering of Anchor Avenue. Our contractor did some patching on this road.
- Salt Shed – Mell has only received two proposals. Mell recommends that we use these proposals as a rough estimate and that we add this as a line item at the Annual Meeting.
- Internet – Landon does not think that Verizon, located in Cambridge, can sell internet to the Township. Mell will look further into this.
- AED – Storck stated the amount of $2,000 was approved at the Annual meeting towards the purchase on an AED with a mounting case, which would be kept at the Town Hall. Storck requested that we hold off on purchasing at this time because she is still working on getting some grant money and donations.
- Gravel Testing – Testing was done on Clover Trail and Basswood. The clay content is a little over 10%. Iskierka will have one more test done once they start graveling.
New Business
- Sale of Township Truck – Landon suggested that we sell the Township pickup truck. He stated that it is not good for the engine if the truck is not being driven enough. Mell suggested that we try to make an effort to utilize the truck more often. Landon stated that if there is not at least 1,000 more miles on the truck by December, he would like to sell the truck. The Board will try to use the truck more often and re-visit this at a future meeting.
- Bolts and Nuts – Approval needed to buy stainless steel bolts and locking nuts from Fastenal for $231.19. These will be used to mount our street signs
Motion by Mell seconded by Meis to approve spending $231.19 for bolts and nuts. Approved.
Motion by Mell seconded by Paitl to Adjourn at 8:35 pm. Approved.