CROW WING TOWNSHIP

Annual Meeting - March 8, 2016
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Annual Meeting - March 8, 2016

Annual Meeting March 8, 2016

Crow Wing Township held its annual town meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 8:30 pm at the Crow Wing Town Hall.  Present were township clerk Susan Amick and those on the attached roster plus late comers.

Susan called the meeting to order and the pledge to the flag was recited.

Susan Amick gave opening comments sharing the purpose of the annual township meeting “the people’s meeting”, and how it is run by the residents, not the town board.   She also explained the need to elect a moderator and outlined the role of the moderator. 

George Burton nominated Carol Wermter as moderator.  Kathleen Lordbock nominated Art Lordbock as moderator.  There were no other nominations.  Art was voted in as moderator.

The first item was to agree to an end time to the meeting, reconvening if necessary to complete business.  Sue Kern made a motion to end at 10:30pm.  George Burton seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

The minutes of the 2015 Annual meeting were read by Susan Amick.  Brad Arnold made a motion to accept the minutes as read, Doug Kern seconded it, motion passed.

Susan Amick read the election results:

Office of Supervisor: 

Greg Smith 34 votes

 Office of Clerk:

Susan Amick 33 votes

There were no write ins for either position.

Susan Amick read the board of audit report, copies were given to those who requested one.

Greg Smith read the road report for Dave Schultz who was absent ,  Weatherbee, Cook & 50th were worked on this year by Tri City Paving.  Greg shared the problem with sheeps foot compaction divets on the road surface.  There is approximately 1.5 miles with these divets that do hold water.  Tri City has stated they will repair the problem in the spring.  Greg has talked with several contractors who have given advice on how to handle the problem.  The board will work on the matter in the spring when roads are clear.  Cook road had fabric material laid between the gravel and laptop.  Dave noticed when looking at the work being done one day that the fabric was not overlayed in the center properly.  Now there is about 700 feet of cracking down the center of the road.  We have 40 miles of roads that last about 20 years. We would need to upgrade 2 miles per year to maintain our roads. Estimated price for repaving 1 mile of road is $125,000 - $135,000 at today’s cost. We will need $250,000  to $270,000 per year.

The street improvement fund now has $0 as we just did about 9 miles of roadway.

Other major costs per year are-

* $1,000 per mile for crack sealing every 4 to 5 years.

* Snowplowing, sanding and grading, $20,000-$45,000.

* Mowing ditches $3,000

* Maintenance $5,000-$10,000

Brad Arnold gave the planning commission report.  Mr. Arnold addressed the appearance of Big Wood Timbers outside.  The purpose of the planning commission is to address land use permits but they have begun to ask land owners in advance about intended property appearance.  Brad shared that Justin Burslie/NJPA has been serving our township and it has been working quite well for us this past year and that the PZ budget easily covered expenses with some left over.  There was an increase in the economy & permit sales, plus a fine tuning of the program which led to the positive numbers.  Justin is here at the town hall every Wednesday afternoon, at PZ meetings, by appointment and phone call.  The Planning Commission meets every 2nd Monday here at 6:00.  PC is always looking for people interested in getting involved & are encouraged to talk to Brad.  The adoption of Statute 462 was addressed by Brad regarding if PC members can be on the board w/o being a property owner.  It was stated that the need to own their own property is not a requirement to be on the board.  How much to spend on property violations was discussed.  There have been some ordinance revisions that have taken place.  Violations are addressed by the board as they are reported, they are not sought out by the commission.  Brad asked residents how they want to handle violations.  He also asked how residents want to handle the zoning in the corridor along the 371 corridor south of the new and old 371 exchange – do we desire commercial development there or not?    Kathleen Lordbock asked about what violations consist of.  Brad explained it relates to garbage & refuse overfill on property that ends up on neighboring property, & includes excess old junk, tires, chemicals, etc.  There is quite a variety of situations currently.  Violators are charged $10 month fee.  Randy Powers asked if it should be raised.  Brad explained the procedure of the investigation that occurs regarding violations, time given to address the matter before fines, etc.  Randy Powers shared that he has witnessed the town board “bend over backwards” to try to help those in violation with property clean-up & expressed there may be a need for stronger actions. 

 

Greg Smith gave a recycling report.  We now have 6 dumpsters and 1 specifically for cardboard. We receive approximately $9,500 from the county each year to run the program.  St Mathis, Fort Ripley & Crow Wing are part of the program.  It was noted that the clerk does receive calls thanking the township for the helpful workers and good service.  It was noted that we also have a person pick up e-waste also.

Greg Smith read the proposed 2017 levy amounts to be approved.  General Fund $65,000;  Fire Fund $53,000;  and Road & Bridge $300,000 for a total of $418,000  George Burton made a motion to approve the requested amount of $418,000,  Carol Wermter seconded the motion.  Motion passed. 

Ginny made a motion to keep notice posting sites the same (town hall, website & Wild Rice Depot being a curtesy posting location), Tom Merton seconded it.  Motion passed.

Randy Powers made a motion that gopher bounties remain at $1.50.  Zach Rogers seconded the motion.  Discussion on raising the amount was had.  Motion passed to keep same.

Donation requests for 2016 were presented.  Don Hannahs from Zone One First Responders was present to share stats on the 23 medical runs to CWT last year.  Zone One is upgrading their training to be able to give people the best care.  They are continuing to update radios.  They are the only first responder group not affiliated with the fire department, are all volunteers and make no money off of their work; all donations go into new equipment.  They serve 9 other townships, but CWT has the second most calls they attend.  Four of the team members live in CWT, two are paramedics.  Their services are about giving back to the community – they receive no profits or pay.  George made a motion to donate $2,000 to Zone One, Doug Kern seconded the motion.  Kathleen Lordbock brought discussion forward to increase amount to be able to pay for a radio,.  Kathleen made an amendment to raise the motion to $3,000 instead of $2,000.  The motion to donate $3,000  was voted upon and passed. 

Ginny Rogers, executive director of Lakes Area Pregnancy Center spoke.  She gave an overview of projects happening in remodeling their new building & reported an increase in client visits per month doubling over this past year.  Ms Rogers discussed positive changes and additions to the program as well as areas of need they are trying to address with increased staff, and connecting their clients in the community for greater support.    There are clients from Crow Wing Township utilizing LAPS services.   Doug Kern made a motion to give $1000 donation to LAPS, Zach Rogers seconded it.  Motion passed.

Doug kern made a motion to donate $250 to Crisis Line.  Kathleen Lordbock seconded it.  Motion passed. 

Carol Wermter was present to talk about the CW historical society.   The society is currently dealing with the buildings at the fairgrounds which are requiring attention & maintenance, including making them handicap assessable.  There was discussion regarding if we want to limit donations to things that serve our township or expand beyond it.  George made a motion to approve $250 for historical society.  Doug Kern seconded it.  Motion passed.   Doug Kern made a motion to leave American Legion safety school at $0.00, Randy seconded it.  Motion passed. 

George Burton brought up discussion on the possibility of changing the election hours to 1-7pm due to the lateness of the annual meeting following it.  Susan pointed out that currently it is required by state law to keep polls open until 8pm. 

Brad made a motion for the election date on March 14th hours to be from 2-8pm, followed by the canvass meeting at 8:15 then by annual meeting at 8:30pm. Tom Merton seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

Carol made a motion to adjourn,  George seconded the motion.  Motion passed. 

Meeting adjourned at 10:17pm.

 

 

 

 

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