April 14, 2015 | Township Board Meeting

Call to Order at 7:30 p.m. by Chair Rick Fry.

Attendance:

Board members present:

  1. Rick Fry, Supervisor
  2. Lee Kaplan, Supervisor
  3. Scott Mead, Supervisor
  4. Kim Hand, Treasurer
  5. Lita Wallace, Clerk

Board members absent: none

  • Number of residents present: 2
  • Number of non-residents present: 2

Treasurer’s Report

$232,502.65     Cash on hand as of March 1, 2015
–         133.00     Expenditure (Minnesota Benefit Association (officers life insurance renewal)

+            0.00      Deposits
__________
$232,369.65     Cash on hand as of March 31, 2015

Discussions:

Kim mentioned that in going through the records, she discovered that mileage expense reimbursements have not been requested/paid for over a year. Motioned/seconded/approved to process any approved mileage expense reimbursement request.

For speedy processing, bookkeeping and recordkeeping, Kim prepared various forms for reimbursement and requested the supervisors to review the forms for approval. Motioned/seconded/approved.

Training expenses, meals, mileage will be reimbursed monthly. Reimbursement Form due at the meeting after expenses incurred. Motioned/seconded/approved.

Motioned/seconded/approved to pay $0.20 per page for photocopying Township documents; i.e. Treasurer’s Report, Meeting Minutes & Agendas.

To respond to the question what was deducted from wages of Board Members in past years, Kim explained that deductions were for Social Security and Medicare.

Lee asked if the township need to file a Quarterly Payroll Tax Report. Kim said that we do not have to file since the township does not owe more than $1000 in payroll tax to require filing the form quarterly. Kim can report once at the end of the year.

Clerk’s Report

  • Minutes from March 10, 2015 was read by Lita. Lee motioned to change the word “budget” to “levy” as it is actually a levy and not a budget. There are no other additions or deletions. Motioned/seconded and approved.

Old Business

  • Election result
  1. Lee was elected as Supervisor and Kim was elected as Treasurer. Term of office is three years for Supervisor and two years for Treasurer.
  2. Number of votes for Supervisor: Lee Kaplan (23), Mark Freeman (4), Bonnie Dressen (1) Steve Call (1), Dona Dressen (1), Dale Brooks (1)
  3. Number of votes for Treasurer: Kim Hand (21), Jack Mead (1), John Wilson (2), Bonnie Dressen (1), Keith Stone (3), Sue Johnson (1)
  •  Internet Review

Judy Strom, a resident, shared the following information:  There will be two wireless towers — one that serves the Little Lake and one that serves the Big Lake.  Contracts with the landowners of the two properties where the towers will be located should be signed within the next several weeks. Following that, most likely in May, Cooperative Light & Power (CLP)  will go to a meeting with the St. Louis County Commissioner to apply for a conditional use permit. CLP anticipates that the towers will be erected in June. Then, there will be about a month of system testing and upgrades to the “backbone.” Given the above scenario, installation to the home should begin in mid to late July and August. The main towers will have a radius of 1.5 miles so there may be some pockets or areas on our two lakes that might not be reached. It may be necessary to have one or two repeater tower/antennas located on a building to extend the main towers’ reach to those areas.

  • Motioned/seconded/approved bills and disbursements as follows:
  1. Training reimbursement for new Board members on April 3 in Cloquet for Lee Kaplan, Kim Hand and Lita Wallace.
  2. Salary for March meeting for Lee Kaplan, Kim Hand
  3. Mileage for April Smitke for trip to Pequaywan Fire Hall to assist with absentee ballot.
  • Committee Reports
  1. Road Review on part of West Branch Road owned by the township – Rick stated that half of the road is in good shape and half is lumpy and bumpy. To fix it, about a mile of the road needs to be dug out, replaced with gravel and then asphalted which will cost a lot of money that the township does not have. The last asphalt was put in 1991-1992. Unfortunately, there is no state or county funds available to fix it either.
  2. Scott mentioned that in 2016, Highway 44 will be worked on from the intersection of Briar/Barrs Lake to approximately two miles north of Rossini Road.
  • Township Website

Lee finalized the draft of the new Township website that looks very professional and user-friendly. With the new website, each Board member will be able to access the site and be able to post, make corrections or additions.

  • Logging at Rossini Road

The logger, Carson Timber and Land Clearing, had a contract to log 34.6 acres that the township owns off at Rossini Road. There is no activity up to this time but they had sent the township $300.00. Scott will follow up on the status.

New Business

  • April Smitke resigned as Township Clerk during the March meeting.
  • Lita Wallace was offered the position of Township Clerk and agreed to serve for one year. Motioned/seconded and approved for Lita to be appointed and sworn-in as the new Township Clerk effective April 14, 2015. Lita does not live in the township. According to MAT (Minnesota Association of Townships), Treasurers and Clerks must live in the township to be elected for a term of two years. Treasurers and Clerks may be appointed for an unlimited term and do not need to live in the township.
  • Lee, Kim, and Lita completed the MAT orientation in Cloquet.
  • Rick announced that he is resigning as one of the Supervisors. His last meeting will be October 2015. However, if a replacement is found before October, he is willing to step-down sooner.
  • CTAS (City and Town Accounting System) program – Ray Barnes, Treasurer with North Star, explained the advantages of purchasing CTAS specifically for the use of the Treasurer and Clerk to better manage recordkeeping requirements by the State Auditor’s Office. Motioned/seconded/approved to purchase the program at a one-time cost of $300.00. Rick requested Kim and Lita to meet with Ray for further discussions.
  • Online banking – Kim explained the advantages of using online banking such as transferring funds from one account to another and paying bills online.
  • State Auditor’s Office requires that there be three signatories on the check: Supervisor, Treasurer and Clerk. To comply, Lita will be added to the account.

Next meeting: Tuesday, May 12, 7:30 p.m. at Pequaywan Fire Department building

Motion was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Lita Wallace