SYLVAN TOWNSHIP
REGULAR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING MINUTES
JULY 07, 2016
(Recorded for Transcription Purposes Only)
Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance/Roll Call: Chair Booth called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said. Those present: Supervisors Roland Anderson, John Wulff, Arlene Schmit, Greg Booth, Yvette Adelman-Dullinger and Clerk/Treasurer, Faith Broberg. Sign-In Sheet attached.
Agenda: Supervisor Wulff moved to approve the amended agenda, seconded by Supervisor Anderson and the motion carried.
Clerk/Treasurer’s Report –
Regular Board Meeting minutes – June 16, 2016 – Supervisor Wulff moved to approve the amended minutes, seconded by Supervisor Schmit and the motion carried.
June 2016 Financial Balances – Supervisor Schmit moved to approve the June 2016 Financial Balances, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried.
Approve Clerk Moving Money – Supervisor Wulff moved to approve the Clerk moving $634.39 from the General Fund to the Bituminous Fund, seconded by Supervisor Anderson. During discussion both Supervisors Wulff and Anderson approved changing the motion to state funds would come from the Road and Bridge Fund instead of the General Fund, the question was called the motion carried.
Approve Clerk posting and publishing the Notice of Candidate Filing Period – Supervisor Wulff moved to authorize the Clerk to post and publish the Notice of Candidate Filing Period, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
Approve the Clerk posting the State Primary Election – Supervisor Wulff moved to approve the Clerk posting the notice of State Primary Election, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
PUBLIC INPUT –
Terri Wickham, City Administrator and Craig Boyer, Maintenance from the City of Pillager were present to discuss working together with Sylvan Township to pave Cemetery Road (a shared road) also known as Front Street. There was discussion regarding information that was in the Brainerd Dispatch, June 8, 2016 that County Engineer David Enblom “said he would contact townships in the south-central area of the county to see whether any might be interested in paving any of their roads at the lower rate the county received while paving work is taking place in that area of the county.” It was found out that this would be for bituminous overlaying on existing paved roads.
Sylvan’s portion of Cemetery road is approximately 1320 feet long and would need a cul du sac or some type of turn-around, 22’ top. The bituminous would only need to be 2 ½” compacted.
· We would need an agreement with the City of Pillager.
· We would need to revise our 5 Year Road Plan.
· The Engineer’s estimate on the cost.
It is getting too late to do the paving this year.
There was discussion on the fact that the City of Pillager’s share is ready for paving and Sylvan had done some prep work previously on their portion of the road. We would probably need to get (2) quotes as the cost will be over $25,000.
Supervisor Wulff moved to proceed with doing a joint project with the City of Pillager for paving Cemetery Road, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
There was discussion that City of Pillager could go ahead and have their portion of the road paved and Sylvan could do their portion when they were ready. It was decided that it might be cheaper if both portions of the road were done at the same time.
Old Business/Reports
Bryan Drown Road Projects Report- Bryan Drown of Bolton & Menk was present and reported that he had Partial Pay Estimate #1 for Tri-City Paving for the road improvement on 125th Street SW. The total of the Partial Pay Estimate is 129,071.94. Total withholding is 5% for seeding. Supervisor Wulff moved to pay Partial Pay Estimate in the amount of $129,071.94, seconded by Supervisor Anderson and the motion carried.
Amended Resolution 2015-10 Vacating River Lane SW – Supervisor Schmit moved to approve the Amended Resolution #2015-10 vacating River Lane SW and Re-Establishing River Lane SW with the Correct Legal Description Exhibit B, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
Order Vacating River Lane SW as Recorded with Cass County Document #335292 and Re-Establishing with the corrected Legal Description –
Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger moved to approve the Order Vacating River Lane SW as recorded in Document #335292 and re-establish with the corrected legal description Exhibit B, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried.
Road Supervisors Report –
It was noted that some more shouldering was completed and some mowing of ditches. There was discussion on having documentation noted on our bills by the Road Maintenance Contractor so that the Board will know what road work has been completed, which roads still need to be done so that the Town Board knows where they are at with the budget and how to budget for the next year. Supervisor Anderson will talk with Brad about doing the documentation. (There was discussion on different ways to do documentation).
Newsletter – Supervisor Wulff suggested that in the next newsletter that we should put in an informational article on ditches to inform residents about what should and should not be put in the ditches.
Crow Wing Circle Drive and 43rd Avenue SW – Supervisor Anderson brought up the alligator sections on these roads and since the hot mix plant is here in the area we should have Bryan work on these two projects.
120th Street SW – Shared road with East Gull Lake. This road has a frost heave and needs a cut and patch job. Bryan Drown has looked at 120th Street with Brad Holmvig, Sylvan’s Road Maintenance Contractor – and Brad has submitted an estimate for the work on this road. There was discussion on the repairs that need to be done for this patch, use of fabric, and exactly how much do we do for the repair. The Clerk will send the estimate to Rob Mason, City Administrator at East Gull Lake and ask if they have soil borings for 120th Street SW.
13th Avenue SW – the Township also received an estimate from Holmvig Excavating for repair work for this road. There was discussion that we probably only need to do repair work to the top of the sandy hill which would be about 1/8 of a mile and this would cut the cost in half. Maybe we should have Brad Holmvig give us another estimate on the shorter length. We should get the width of this road’s right-of-way.
More discussion on Crow Wing Circle SW and 43rd Avenue SW – Bryan Drown had given the Town Board Preliminary Quantities and Cost Estimates for 43rd Avenue and Crow Wing Circle Drive in June of 2015. There was discussion that in Bigwater we were planning on reclaiming the bituminous material and then overlaying that. For 43rd Avenue SW the cost was $19,690 and the cost for Crow Wing Circle Drive SW was just under $28,000.00 for a total of $47,650.00. The Township needs to find out what the City of East Gull Lake thinks about the estimate that Holmvig Excavating submitted for 120th Street SW and also get an estimate from Holmvig Excavating for what needs to be done on 43rd Avenue SW and Crow Wing Circle SW. The Township’s portion of 120th Avenue SW would be around $17,000.00 with the total of all three roads at around $65,000. Supervisor Anderson will check with Holmvig Excavating on an estimate for repairing these roads.
From Annual Road Review – Supervisor Anderson reported that on the Annual Road Review this year it was noted that 131st SW and 39th Street SW need some cut and patching and there were also some holes that need to be filled. Since we received money from BNSF for repair work after the train wreck, we should go ahead and get the repair work done. He will write up some work orders for that.
New Road Name – Jessica Watts, Cass County GIS Tech Support Specialist, has informed the Board that Melissa Peterson and Ben Lundberg property owners (41-109-1102) are requesting the County for an address. They have suggested Big Bear Trail, SW and Jessica would like input from the Town Board. Supervisor Anderson moved to approve the name Big Bear Trail SW, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried.
Planning Commission (PC) – Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger gave this report.
Alvin Baird Variance Application – The PC Site Committee recommended to the Town Board approval of this variance application. The plan is to construct a 40’ x 70’ stick built shed that they plan to use for their own storage and woodworking. The structure would be located 10 feet from the top of a bluff. Cass County’s Land Use Ordinance requires structures to be located 30 feet from the top or toe of a bluff. Greg Bennett and Tane Barclay had gone on the site visit. The property drops off significantly and would not be practical to use as a building site if the building site was moved back to the full setback. After discussion, Supervisor Anderson moved to approve the PC’s recommendation to approve the variance, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried.
MPL Hydro Electric Dam – Minnesota Power and Light Informational Meeting – They are seeking to renew their license to operate the Hydro Electric Dam, which Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger says takes 5 – 7 years to get a new license. Regarding the Wildlife Management Areas – there have been no decisions made, they are still looking at their options. Supervisor Booth asked about the tree harvest that is being done on the MPL land, some right next to his place. Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger mentioned that last August in 2015 at an informational meeting on the Wildlife Management Areas that residents were against the development as the areas were small and would bring in a lot of people plus the restrictions that would be put in place. They felt there were safety concerns also. There were some people there interested in trails and there would be no ATVs or horseback riding in this area.
Crow Wing Agency Site – MPL owns this property and they can’t sell it to the Crow Wing State Park per the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Crow Wing State Park wants it so it can be protected by the Park. Representative Nolan is working to get this either through Federal or State legislation or both and get it handed over to the Crow Wing State Park.
Park Report –
Resolution 2016-05 – accepting donations ($1500 from each) the Lions and the Pillager Fire Department for repairs at the Park from the storm damage. Supervisor Schmit moved to approve Resolution 2016-05, accepting the donations, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
Supervisor Anderson gave this report and has been talking with Ryan Smith from the Homeland Security regarding the damage that was done at the Park last year in the wind storm. This issue needs to be resolved by August – one year from the date of the storm. The Park Board decided that they would only ask for reimbursement from the cleanup of the storm and remove the pavilion, slide, and bench from the claim. The amount of storm damage was around $13,000 so at 75% they would receive around $9000. John Peterson will not build the truss because it has not been engineered and he does not want the liability of it. The Park received a quote from Jeff Vokl to do the pavilion for $9,000.
The Park Host never showed up. The geese have moved in – causing a mess, there’s concern for the health issue. The Game Warden, Halverson from Staples told Bob Anderson to shoot into the air to see if that would scare the geese away. The neighbor put up the fence between the Park and his property.
Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger moved to hire Bob Anderson, May Township Representative to the Park Board, as an employee doing maintenance at the Park, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried.
There was discussion on the re-building of the pavilion at Pillager Lake Park and if the pavilion has to be engineered by a professional. Supervisor Anderson will check into this.
Fire Report- Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger gave this report. There was discussion on residents blocking private roads in Fairview Township and Sylvan has the same problem on 26th Avenue SW. The Fire Department bought some signs, Fairview is paying for them. They will be installing them on the private road. The Town Board decided to wait and see if they want to do the same with 26th Avenue SW.
The Fire Association will be trading in two of three trucks at Station 2 and getting $15,000 for them. The third one will go back to the DNR. The used truck the Association is purchasing is a 2007 Ford F550 with 3,000 miles on it. The purchase price with the trade-ins will be $95,000 and will go to Station 2. The City of Chatfield MN is trading in this truck as they are upgrading to a $650,000 truck. Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger has ask for an equipment truck list.
Rescue 1 – got new tires.
Squad 1 – sent to Willow River
The ISO has changed classifications – City was 6/8B and now is 06/6Y 5 miles of the station. The ISO’s Public Protection Classification Program (PPC) plays an important role in the underwriting process at insurance companies. This helps determine the premiums it charges its policyholders.
Sales Tax Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger reported that the Minnesota Association of Townships attorney said that we should ask the Township’s attorney. Since Brad Holmvig, Township’s Road Maintenance Contractor, is treating all of the Townships the same- itemizing materials and labor separately on the claim that we should just leave it alone at this time.