Regular Meeting                               April 26, 2011

Crow Wing Town Hall                     6:00 p.m.

Board Members Present: Chairman Mark Platta, Supervisors Greg Smith and Dave Schultz and Clerk Virginia Rogers.

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

No gopher bounties were claimed.

Mike Eloranta was present with some planning and zoning questions, which were answered.

The Wade Tomberlin violation was discussed. MPCA has indicated that they would be interested in inspecting the property in conjunction with representatives from the town board and a sheriff’s deputy. Wade was present and Brad gave a brief history of the complaints, including recent calls stating that he is living in the shed on the property, burning in the night, dumping toxic fluids onto the ground and hauling in additional debris. Wade responded to say that he went through a divorce last year and that he had moved property from the main parcel onto the five acres that he owns now. He said that he has experienced theft and that is he is keeping someone there at all times for the sake of security.  He said he is going to file a harassment charge against his ex-wife and her boyfriend. He said that he is not dumping hazardous waste on the property and is not burning any tires or that sort of thing. An aerial photo of the property was reviewed and Wade stated that he is willing to work with the township. Greg asked if there are any car batteries on the property and Wade said that there are not.  He also added that he will do whatever the town board asks him to. Brad stated that in order to stop the complaints, there are certain items that will need to be addressed. Greg added that if he can start removing some of the things he doesn’t need, especially from the area near the shared driveway and showing improvement that will help a great deal. Brad added that Wade should call him when he has progress to show and Brad will come and visit the property and document the improvements.  Wade was in agreement with this plan and said that he appreciated the board’s candor. He asked for a date when the next inspection will be made. It was decided that 45 days from now would be appropriate.

Brad gave the Planning and Zoning update. The Melissa Collier property is being sold to Barb Schuety, who would like to replace the manufactured home with a different one. The property is in violation and Barb is aware that it will have to be cleaned up in order to resolve this. Marv Copa has passed away and his brother Martin would like to work on cleaning up the property, which is in the process of going back to Navillus Land Co. as part of satisfying his community service hours. Mark made a motion that the town board be agreeable that the cleanup of this property would be acceptable by the township to meet the community service requirement and that Mike Sullivan would be recommended as the person to monitor progress.  The motion was seconded by Greg and carried unanimously. There will be a CUP application for a plastics conversion business in the former Prairie to Pine Auto Sales building. A warehouse will also be constructed. Marv Niesen would like to construct a shed, but his property is on the violation list for outside storage. A good deal of cleanup has taken place and Brad has identified some items that Marv should remove yet before the violation can be resolved. Marv would also like to add a second driveway, so he will need to apply with the town board for a permit. Greg made a motion to give the Planning Commission the authority to inspect the property and remove the violation once they find the cleanup acceptable. The motion was seconded by Dave and carried unanimously. There were a few complaints received about the racing on Easter Sunday at North Central Speedway. Discussion followed about possible decibel testing. Greg will check into information on meters.

Dale DeRosier was present to discuss snow plowing and grading. The supervisors will make notes and put together policies at the next meeting, including frequency of grading and plowing and depth of snow before plowing begins.

A recycling policy was discussed. It was decided that until more information is available workers will be asked to set aside some of the clean dry recyclables  until the end of the morning and store any that the the roll off will not hold in the shed, leaving it until there is a roll off with extra room left to accommodate it.

Greg made a motion to keep the town board life insurance at the bronze level. The motion was seconded by Dave and carried by unanimous vote.

The minutes of the April 12^th and April 19^th meetings were reviewed. Dave made a motion to approve the minutes with one minor change. The motion was seconded by Greg and carried by unanimous vote.

Ed Fox was present and wanted to state that he has a garbage pickup service and a dumpster and so his garbage that was found near the DNR trail on Town Hall Street must have been drug there by a dog. He also wanted to discuss a potential football field. He has been working with the BMX track and is rebuilding his corporation.  He would like to share bathroom facilities and bleachers with the track if they will agree. He was asked if the corporation any money with which to begin the project. He answered that it does not.

Mike Eloranta wanted to file a complaint about the outdoor wood burner at the Neelan property in Barrows. He asked what could be done if this is a problem again next year. Brad explained that writing an ordinance controlling these types of furnaces can be difficult but that many other communities are dealing with the same issues.  Mike was asked to keep records of when the smoke is a problem and take photos so that there is a good record of the issue. Mike also said that the four wheelers that are coming in and out of the opening at the end of Depot Street by his residence are travelling at high speeds and that he feels this is dangerous to children playing outside. The supervisors will take a look at it and see if something could be done to reduce the speed or limit traffic.

Payroll was approved and correspondence was reviewed.

 The meeting adjourned by general consent at 8:45 p.m.