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Annual Meeting March 14, 2017
Crow Wing Township held its annual town meeting on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 8:30 PM at the Crow Wing Town Hall. Present
were township clerk Duane Ruona and those on the attached roster.
Duane called the meeting to order and the pledge to the flag was recited.
Duane Ruona gave opening comments sharing the purpose of the annual township meeting, the peoples meeting, and how it
is run by the residents, not the town board. He also explained the need to elect a moderator and outlined the role of the
moderator.
Ginny Rogers nominated Carol Wermter as moderator. Brad Arnold seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations.
Carol was voted in as moderator.
The first item was to agree to an end time to the meeting, reconvening if necessary to complete business. Greg Smith
made a motion to end at 10:00 PM. Doug Kern seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Carol asked if there were any additions or changes to the printed agenda. There were none.
The minutes of the March 8, 2016 Annual meeting were read by Duane Ruona. Doug Kern made a motion to accept the minutes
as read with a correction to a misspelled word, Tom Mertens seconded, motion passed.
Duane Ruona read the election results:
Office of Supervisor: Dave Schultz 24 votes
Office of Clerk: Duane Ruona 25 votes
Office of Treasurer: Sue Kern 26 votes
There were no write-ins for any positions.
Duane Ruona 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. Crack filling costs for this year will be about $75,000.
Greg shared the problem with sheepsfoot compactor divets on approximately 3.5 miles of Gorron Road, 80th Street, 70th Street
& 75th Street caused by Tri-City Paving . There is approximately 1.5 miles with these divets that do hold water. Greg
has talked with several contractors who have given advice on how to handle the problem. Tri-City came back and fogged the
affected areas. The board will monitor the road. The problem on Cook road where the fabric material separated in the middle
was fixed by Tri-City. They rebuilt approximately 1,200 feet 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 which means we will need $250,000 to $270,000 per year. The question of whether it is
better to do 8-9 miles at one time or 2 miles per year was discussed.
Brad Arnold gave the planning commission report. The P&Z fund had a beginning balance of $20,177.70, receipts of
$18,550.81, disbursements of $17,516.67 and an ending balance of $21,211.84 for 2016. The current receipts are covering the
expenses. There has been an increase in the number of permits issued in the past several years going from 21 in 2011 to 34
in 2016. The Planning Commission meets the second Monday of each month at 6:00 PM at the town hall and Justin Burslie is
available at the town hall each Wednesday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM for anyone to come in and discuss P&Z issues. He is
also available by phone, email or appointment. The planning Commission met with the SSTS inspector for the township and everything
seems to be working well. The fee schedule was changed to reflect actual costs for some items. The Planning Commission recommended
and the town board approved the reduction of the application fees for commercial variances and commercial conditional use
permits from $750 to $500 and an increase in the recording fee from $20 to $46 to be consistent with Crow Wing County's recording
fee. How much to spend on property violations was discussed. 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. This year's activity
has been picking up. Crow Wing County has had no issues with the township's handling of planning and zoning issues. Kathleen
asked about the collection of cleanup costs that have been charged to properties. Brad stated that the costs are added to
the property tax and will be collected when the property is sold. Some properties continue to have ongoing problems with
more items being hauled in after the property was cleaned up. Kathleen also asked about a township wide cleanup that was
tried in the past. Brad said that there were items brought in from outside the township and the county hasn't promoted the
process recently. Carol thanked the Planning Commission members for their hard work.
Greg Smith gave a recycling report. We have 6 dumpsters and 1 specifically for cardboard. There are a few times a year
when the dumpsters are full. The township pays $55 to each of two people who work from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on the first and
third Saturday of the month. Currently we have openings in the schedule for 2017. Any volunteers would be appreciated.
Greg Smith read the proposed 2018 levy amounts to be approved. General Fund $65,000; Fire Fund $53,000; and Road &
Bridge $300,000 for a total of $418,000. Brad Arnold asked if the Road and Bridge amount should be raised. Greg added that
the road maintenance contract was given to Northland Excavating who bid $40-$50 lower per hour than Dale's Excavating. There
have been a few problems with the maintenance this year but it is expected to improve. Carol noted that the R&B levy
was raised from $140,000 to $300,000 last year. George Burton made a motion to approve the requested amount of $418,000,
Brad Arnold seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Randy Powers made a motion to keep notice posting sites the same (town hall, website & Wild Rice Depot being a curtesy
posting location), Dan Lee seconded. Motion passed.
Brad Arnold made a motion that gopher bounties remain at $1.50. George Burton seconded the motion. Discussion on raising
the amount was had. Motion passed to keep same.
Donation requests for 2017 were presented. Ginny Rogers, executive director of Lakes Area Pregnancy Center spoke. She
said the remodeling of their new building is almost done and they will be moving in soon. Ginny discussed positive changes
and additions to the curriculum of the program as well as areas of need they are trying to address and connecting their clients
to services in the community. There are clients from Crow Wing Township utilizing LAPS services. Brad Arnold made a motion
to give $1000 donation to LAPS, Doug Kern seconded. Motion passed.
Carol Wermter talked about the Crow Wing County Historical Society. The society is currently dealing with the buildings
at the fairgrounds which are requiring attention & maintenance. This year's project is the old schoolhouse. They have
received grants for some of the home restorations and other buildings will be demolished. George made a motion to approve
$250 for the Historical Society. Brad Arnold seconded. Motion passed.
Carol read a letter signed by Don Hannahs from Zone One First Responders. Zone One is asking for a donation for upgrading
their equipment and has new volunteers that are in need of equipment and training. Doug Kern made a motion to donate $3,000
to Zone One, Dan Lee seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Carol read a request from the Crow Wing County Fair Board. They are asking for a donation to help with repairs caused
by the storm damage last summer. Randy made a motion to not contribute to the Fair Association. Doug seconded. Motion passed.
Carol read a request from the Crisis Line and Referral Service. They are asking for a donation of $250 to help with training
and programs in the schools. Randy made a motion to not contribute to the Crisis Line and Referral Service. Doug seconded.
Motion passed.
Brad made a motion for the township election to be on March 13, 2018, hours to be from 2 PM-8 PM, followed by the canvass
meeting at 8:15 PM and the annual meeting at 8:30 PM. George Burton seconded the motion. Motion passed.
The Town Board meeting dates for 2017-2018 were reviewed. There was no other business.
Brad made a motion to adjourn, Doug seconded. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:45 PM.
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