2012 August 13 Minutes

Posted byWacouta Township

Wacouta Town Board Meeting
August 13, 2012 – APPROVED
Aug 13 Meeting Minutes (Word doc.)

August 13, 2012 Meeting
Present: Sue Betcher, Mickey Payne, Ray Bronson and Barbara Charlson
Others: Dick Johnson, Fred Plaas, Sue Simonson, Wendy & Gary Thomforde
and Bill Wells

Sue called the August 13, 2012 meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:00 PM.

Motion was made by Ray and seconded by Mickey to approve the Agenda with the expansion of a few categories. The motion carried.

There were no Declarations of Conflicts. Meeting minutes from July 9, 2012 were approved with no corrections.

Roads and Bridges

  1. Flueger is finishing up on spring work such as speed limit signs and Bayview street sign

Planning and Zoning

  1. Board members signed a letter dated July 10, 2012 to The Honorable Mark Dayton, Governor of Minnesota, supporting the Mississippi River Parkway Commission?s recommendation for a statewide moratorium on new silica sand mining operations along Minnesota Scenic Byways; Dick Johnson shared with the Board a copy of his Open Letter to the Goodhue County Board of Commissioners regarding this recommendation
  2. Discussion on Frac Sand Mining will be continued and no action to be taken at this time.
  3. Ray will attend Aug 23, 2012 Land Stewardship Workshop on ?Using Township Zoning Powers to Control Silica Sand Mining and Harmful Developments? in Frontenac; Fred Plaas will see if he and/or fellow P&Z members can also attend

Friends of Wacouta (FOW) Trail

  1. Sue photographed two (2) gopher holes on the walking trail and will mark them on the map; a Fall repair plan is in the works; suggestion to trap gophers next Spring may not be feasible

Wacouta Web Page (http://www.wacoutatownship.org)

  1. July 9, 2012 Minutes and August 13, 2012 Agenda are posted this month; FOW newsletter will be posted soon
  2. Ray asked that residents submit additional photographs for the Web page

Town Hall Structure

  1. Bill Wells offered the Township his disassembled ?Bachelor Pad? log cabin (770 sq ft built around 1920) as a historical building ? minus the heavy stone fireplace; rough estimate to reassemble the building is $45,000 (e.g., replacing rotted logs, re-assembly, corn blasting, etc.); Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Mickey that the Township store the disassembled log cabin up to one (1) year and after that time, it would be Bill?s responsibility to remove it from Township property. The motion passed. (NOTE: Bill has the right to remove this property at any time.)
  2. Sentence-to-Serve (S-to-S) crew is scheduled to clean up the basement on Sept 17 (Mon); they will take down partitions, remove microwave and fridge, move large wooden table, etc.; Ray will line dumpster up; cost for masks, suits and vacuum filters is around $500; will need to purchase a new walk-through door, two (2) windows and paint.; Barb will complete and deliver the Sherwin Williams purchasing contract
  3. Mickey repaired the water pump condenser and will help with replacing the pressure tank after the S-to-S clean-up is complete. Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Ray to authorize up to $500 on a new pressure tank. The motion carried.

Treasurer?s Report

  1. Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Mickey to pay bills and payroll on August 13, 2012 in the amount of $22,023.14 as presented. The motion carried. (NOTE: Red Wing Fire Services check for the first half of 2012 was in the amount of $16,349.76)
  2. Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Ray to certify $151,530 Final Levy Certification for taxes payable in 2013 as: 1) General Fund at $52,192; 2) Road & Bridge (includes Trail Maintenance) at $61,200; and 3) Fire & Ambulance at $38,138. The motion carried.

Elections ? State Primary and General

  1. Public Accuracy Test to test the assistive voting device and the optical ballot counting equipment to be used for on Aug 14 for the Primary ballot marking and vote tabulation was held on Aug 13 at 6:00 PM. Equipment functioned as expected and results can be disposed of after 22 months.
  2. In addition to Mike Christensen, Rick Wirkkala, and Susan Jablonski, Bill Wells and Gary Thomforde also volunteered to be Primary Election Judges. Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Ray to approve the above names and Barbara as Primary Election Judges with all paid at a rate of $10 per hour. The motion carried.
  3. $500 budget line item for Primary and General Election Judges is not enough and can draw upon under-budgeted items (e.g., legal fees, signage, snow removal, etc.).

Miscellaneous

  1. Sevastopol & Wacouta Left Turn Lanes – MN DOT agreed the work needed to be done and has placed construction costs in their 2015 budget; these turn lanes will be similar to the one at Frontenac MN; Board should touch base with MN DOT in August 2013 to verify the project is still a go
  2. Emergency Broadcast Siren ? Need to replace sirens per FCC mandate so they are compatible with new frequency of Prairie Island Nuclear Plant; one (1) siren is located on Highway 61/63 and not under Xcel Energy jurisdiction; estimated replacement cost is $3,100; Mickey will research that the siren will be heard by near-by residences before we expend the funds.

Motion was made by Sue and seconded by Mickey to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 PM on August 13, 2012. The motion carried.

Respectfully,

Barbara Charlson
Wacouta Township Clerk/Treasurer

Upcoming Dates:

Aug 14 Tues State Primary Election at 7:00 AM ? 8:00 PM
Aug 23 Thurs District 4 MAT Meeting in St. Peter MN at 7:00 AM
Aug 23 Thurs Land Stewardship Meeting in Frontenac MN at 5:00 PM
Sept 3 Mon Township Board Meeting
Sept 10 Mon Township Board Meeting
Sept 19 Wed Election Judge Refresher Course 2:00 ? 4:00 PM
Sept 29 Sat Township Picnic at 3:00 PM
Oct 9 Tues Township Board Meeting
Nov 6 Tues General Election at 7:00 AM ? 8:00 PM

Noteworthy Web Sites