November 24, 2009  Regular Meeting

The Crow Wing Township Board of Supervisors held its Regular Meeting on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Crow Wing Town Hall.  Present were Chairman Greg Smith, Supervisors Mark Platta and Dave Schultz, Clerk Virginia Rogers and those on the attached roster.

Greg called the meeting to order.

There were no gopher feet presented for bounty. 

WHITE OAKS GLEN

Steve Hagen had asked that the refund for the plat of White Oaks Glen be put on the agenda, but he was not present to address the board. Greg gave a brief summary of the project and the debate over the amount of the refund. Discussion followed. A check has already been issued for the refund. No motions were made. Greg mentioned that a question had been raised about the balance of funds carried over from year to year. He noted that some of the money is there in case of emergency. If there was a damaging storm that took out several roads or another natural disaster that required a large amount of funds, the township would find it difficult to obtain the funding in a timely fashion if it was not in reserve. Dave added that we have a large number of roads that will require resurfacing within the next few years and it would be much easier if the funds are saved up over a period of time, rather than added to the tax levy all in one year.

 BIG WOOD TIMBER

Brad Arnold informed the board that Big Wood Timber has applied for a new Conditional Use Permit. The fees incurred in relation to the violation were reviewed and considered.  Mark made a motion to charge Big Wood Timber for all expenses incurred from the October 1 deadline up through the date they applied for their new CUP, with the exception of the calls from Mr. Strobel, which will be covered by the township. The bill needs to be paid in full by December 11, 2009. The motion was seconded by Greg. Mark amended his motion to add that although expenses began to accumulate on 3-15-07, Big Wood Timber formally went into violation on 10-1-09. At that point, expenses related to the violation should be charged to the property owner. The expenses were added up and the total was found to be $1007.50. Greg accepted the amendment. The motion carried by unanimous vote. Mark Strobel stated that he is still having a problem with smoke from the outdoor burner. The problem lessened, but is still considerable on certain days. He was invited to attend the December 14, 2009 public hearing to make sure that consideration is given to the issue.

Dave asked if a permit for a second entry could be given to The Farm at St. Mathias for the field approach they appear to be putting in. It was decided that this would be acceptable.

Steve Hagen had requested that the agendas for the regular meetings be posted on the township website. Discussion followed. It was decided that a standard agenda would be posted on the website, but specific items do change up until the last minute and other topics can be brought up at the meeting, either by a board member or a town resident, so listing specific items might cause confusion, leading people to believe that a particular topic was not going to be addressed, when in fact, it could be added to the agenda at the meeting itself.

Accepting garbage at recycling was discussed. It was decided that more research is necessary before a decision can be made. Greg will look into it.

Mark made a motion to pay the remaining balance of $984.36 to Anderson Brothers for the paving of Gorron Road. This amount was withheld due to questions on the overage and this amount had not yet been paid. The motion was seconded by Dave and carried by unanimous vote.

The minutes of the November 10, 2009 meeting were reviewed. Dave made a motion to accept the minutes as read. The motion was seconded by Mark and carried by unanimous vote.

Correspondence was reviewed and payroll was reviewed and approved.

The meeting adjourned by general consent at 8:50 p.m.