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Annual Meeting March 13, 2018
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 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. He also
explained the need to elect a moderator and outlined the role of the moderator.
Doug Kern nominated Greg Smith as
moderator. Greg declined the nomination. Greg nominated Carol Wermter as moderator. 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. Brad Arnold made a motion to end at 9:30 PM. Dan Lee seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Copies
of the agenda were available to all that wanted one. Carol asked if there were any additions or changes to the printed agenda.
There were none.
The minutes of the March 14, 2017 Annual meeting were read by Duane. Doug Kern made a motion to
accept the minutes as read, George Burton seconded, motion passed.
Duane read the election results:
Office of Supervisor:
Doug Kern 22 votes
Office of Clerk: Duane Ruona 21 votes
There were no write-ins for any positions.
Duane read
the board of audit report, copies were given to those who requested one.
Greg gave the road report. Crack filling
costs for the year were about $80,000. Greg has talked to Becky Eckelman of St. Mathias Township about working with our snowplow
driver to do their portion of 50th Avenue. There were comments about the roads not being plowed out wide enough for two cars
to meet. Also a comment was made that not enough sand is being put down on the roads. The maintenance contract is up for
bids this spring. The culverts and shoulder work on 50th Avenue will be finished up this spring. George asked if the levy
should be raised to be able to build up funds for future road projects. Greg stated that the town board felt the current
amount was sufficient at this time. The county will be doing CR 123 and CR 153 in 2020 and the township could be included
in the county's contract if we wanted. The county would provide inspectors for the project. Brad suggested that the cost
difference between doing 2 miles per year versus waiting until there were funds to do 9 miles of road should be explored.
Brad
gave the planning commission report. The P&Z fund had approximately $4,000 more revenues than expenditures in 2017.
Brad found a memo from 2004 that was sent to residents of Crow Wing, Oak Lawn and Long Lake townships concerning possible
annexations by Brainerd and Baxter. Shortly after, Crow Wing Township began doing their own planning and zoning so we could
have more say in those kinds of issues. 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. Violations are addressed by the board as they are reported,
they are not sought out by the commission. Brad talked about violations and about the collection of costs that have been
charged to properties. Dan Hawley is the attorney the township uses for enforcement of violations. Brad also reviewed the
report provided by Justin Burslie about the number of permits that have been issued each year from 2007 to 2017. Activity
has been fairly consistent with a high of 42 and low of 21 with the average being 29 per year. Darlene asked if the township
works with Camp Ripley about the leasing of property for the buffer around Camp. Brad said the buffer is on all the zoning
maps but the township is not involved in that process. Randy asked if the commercial development along Business 371 helps
the township. Brad said that commercial development is about the same as residential as far as the township is concerned.
Crow Wing County does have valuation information by township available for review.
Greg Smith gave the recycling report.
We have 7 dumpsters and 1 specifically for cardboard. There are a few times a year when the dumpsters are full. The price
per ton is down about $10.00 but the amount being recycled is up so the costs have remained about the same. The recycling
pickup costs are about $1,000 per month and the township receives $10,000 per year from the county. The township pays $75
to each of two people who work from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on the first and third Saturday of the month.
Greg Smith
read the proposed 2019 levy amounts to be approved. General Fund $61,000; Fire Fund $57,000; and Road & Bridge $300,000
for a total of $418,000. Greg stated that the cost to the Brainerd Fire Department will be going up so the town board recommended
lowering the General Fund and raising the Fire Fund by $4,000. Dave Schultz is on the Fire Committee and voices concerns
about the increase in costs. George Burton made a motion to approve the requested amount of $418,000, Linda Schuety 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), Linda seconded. Brad mentioned that special meetings are also printed
in the Brainerd Dispatch. Motion passed.
Linda made a motion that gopher bounties remain at $1.50. George seconded
the motion. Tom Mertens asked how many bounties were paid in 2017. Greg said there were less than 200. Dave has been poisoning
gophers in the road ROW. Motion passed to keep same.
Brad made a motion that beaver bounties remain at $30.00. George
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Donation requests for 2018 were presented. Randy made a motion to keep all donations
the same as 2017. After discussion, Randy changed his motion to keep the donations to Lakes Area Pregnancy Center at $1,000
and Crow Wing County Historical Society at $250. Brad seconded, motion passed. It was decided to not give a donation to
Zone One First Responders since no request was made. Mary Marana, executive director of Crisis Line and Referral Service
spoke. She said their organization deals with suicide prevention, including training for township residents, fire and first
responders or other businesses. The number of calls goes up every year. Randy made a motion to give a $250 donation to Crisis
Line. Linda seconded. Motion passed.
Rick Yaeger talked about the Crow Wing County Fair Association. The Fairboard
is currently dealing with the buildings at the fairgrounds which are requiring attention & maintenance. Rick asked for
a donation to help with the Youth Arts building. Brad made a motion to approve $1000 for the Youth Arts building. Tom Mertens
seconded. Motion passed.
Carol read a letter from the City of Brainerd asking for a donation to Legionville for a
student sponsorship of $275. Brad made a motion to donate $0 to Legionville, Randy seconded. Motion passed.
Carol
read a letter from the St. Mathias Park Board asking for a donation for the construction of a covered pavilion at their park.
Randy made a motion to donate $0 to the St Mathias Park Board, Doug seconded. Motion passed.
Dan Lee made a motion
for the township election to be on March 12, 2019, 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. Linda seconded the motion. Motion passed.
The Town Board meeting dates for 2018-2019
were reviewed.
There was no other business.
George made a motion to adjourn, Linda seconded. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:35 PM.
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