MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
PALMER TOWNSHIP
March 10, 2025
The regular meeting of the Palmer Township Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Palmer Township Hall, with Chairman Ganz, Supervisor Demeules, and Supervisor Wipper present. Also present was Amy Bragelman, Township Clerk, and Treasurer Roger Johnson via Zoom. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Chairman Ganz asked for a moment of silence for residents that have recently passed. Included but not limited to Paul Fors he was 95 years old, past royalty and a longtime member of the community.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Roger Johnson read the balances from the Treasurer's report. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Supervisor Wipper seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Sheriff’s Report: Capitan Ben Zawacki read the Sheriff’s report for February. There were 69 Total calls for service as compared to 91 calls for service in 2024. There was 1 trespassing, 1 accident with property damage, 19 traffic stops, 1 security check, 4 extra patrols, 1 DWI, 3 medicals, and 2 suspicious vehicles to name a few. Zawacki also gave the annual Sheriff’s report. He reported that Palmer Township had some of the lowest crime statistics in the county. Palmer had 1161 calls for service/ arrests in 2024. 584 of the calls were for traffic stops, extra patrols, and security checks. Serious criminal activity included 2 assaults, 2 burglaries, 1 narcotic, 2 DUIs, 16 thefts, 2 of those had criminal felony charges, and 11 damage to property. Zawacki reported that they are days away from their backup dispatch center going live. It is located in the public safety building in Zimmerman. They had 9 department retirements. They have a new k-9 deputy who started training with his handler Deputy Nick Carlson. Bane will be a dual-purpose canine to replace Jax who retired from the drug task force in January. The emergency response unit took home top honors at the Minnesota Tactical Officers Association Conference in October. Some notable community involvement programs involved the Special Olympics Torch Run, Night to Unite, and Shop with a Cop.
Road Maintenance/Signs: Chairman Ganz reported it was a slow month not much to report. A few 911 signs have been ordered and will be replaced when they come in.
Fire Department: Chief Koren reported for February. The monthly call report for 2/10/2025 to 3/09/2025 shows 10 calls for the Clear Lake Fire Department. 3 of those calls were for Palmer Township. All of those calls were medical.
P.E.C : Roger Johnson reported that all of the applications have been sent in to the County. Palmer clean-up day is May 3rd, the county will be doing some advertising for us. We will be raising our rates this year. The carload went from $5 to $10, pick up load will go from $10 to $20; tractor tires will increase to $25, upholstered items will be $15 instead of $10 this year, mattress and box springs will go up to $20, oversized trailer loads will go up to $50 they were $15 in past years. We did find a recycler for mattresses and upholstered items so hopefully we can get some score grant money back for that this year.
Park Report: Supervisor Demeules Reported for Two Inlets Park. There is a pilot program funded through Legacy Grant that has a host artist who will develop a program for Park visitors. They're going to start using QR codes to explain different aspects of the park while visiting. We have one of the books available at the hall that explains what you will see if you use the QR code at the park. The planning areas for 2025 needed to be reduced. The new requirement for the grant was prevailing wages so they are going to lose about 30%, maybe 40%. Therefore, the planting needed to be reduced. The County did not receive any bids for the possible auction items for the dairy barn. Supervisor Demeules mentioned to the County that they would be interested in anything left on the property that may relate to the Township. Parks and Recs is interested in having an information booth at this year's Palmer Day.
Chairman Ganz reported that there was vandalism at the park last month. In trying to mitigate the vandalism at the park they tied down the porta-potty, however, in doing that we had high winds that blew the porta-potty apart. Chairman Ganz met with Dan Phelps from Arnold's the new mower is in. The trade-in for our old mower is not very high, the township is thinking about putting it on Facebook Marketplace or having a silent auction. The new mower is around $12,400 and the trade-in value that they are willing to give us is $4,250. We got a similar mower so the bagger from the old machine will fit on the new mower. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to purchase the new mower, Chairman Ganz seconded and the motion was carried. Surface Pro contract is signed and sent back to them they will be ready to cover the pickleball courts at the end of May beginning of June.
Lake Reports: Barb Aaberg reported on behalf of the T-Lid. The contracts have been signed for water guards at the public access Chairman Bob Sass is working with the BLCA on Carp management and getting more information on the Alam study. The T-Lids annual meeting is in August. Shelly Alger-Peyton reported on behalf of BLCA. Currently, the BLCA has 139 members. They are waiting to hear about the Carp Management Grant If approved the management process would begin in June or July. The application for the Alum Study Grant is to be submitted by July. Carp Solutions will be out on April 12th to speak at the BLCA meeting after the monthly meeting at 10:00 a.m. On August 9th a representative from SWCD will be out to speak about the pros and cons of alum treatments.The blca is also looking for feedback from the township on new signage for slow no wake. The current signs are white and these new signs that they are hoping to put out will be bright yellow. The board suggested taking off the township number since the clerk is only in the office on Tuesdays and those phone calls would get unanswered. They also suggested less wordage so travlers can quickly understand what the signs are for and what they're trying to say.
Approval of Minutes: Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the February minutes. Supervisor Wipper seconded, and the motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS: Nothing
NEW BUSINESS: Supervisor Wipper made a motion to stay with Cummins to service the Town Hall generator Supervisor Demeules seconded and the motion was passed. The bids for the two culverts on 42nd Street came in. Palmer Township received five bids back. The engineers estimate came in at $121,727.50. The lowest bidder was Kirchoff Construction whose Bid came in at $105,406.55. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to go with Kirchoff Construction, Supervisor Wipper seconded, and the motion was carried.
COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:
Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve claims #25041- #25060, plus Conexus, $99,405.21. Supervisor Wipper seconded.
Chairman Ganz made a motion to adjourn. Supervisor Wipper seconded, and the motion was carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:44p.m.
Amy Bragelman, Palmer Township Clerk Approved as reviewed April 14, 2025