REGULAR MEETING

PALMER TOWNSHIP

May 16th, 2022

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, Supervisors Demeules, and Larson present. Treasurer Roger Johnson and Amy Bragelman Town hall Clerk. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Treasurer’s Report: Roger Johnson read the balances from the Treasurer's report. Supervisor Richard Larson made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report Supervisors Demeules Second. Motion carried unanimously. Roger added that we did get reimbursed for the Gopher feet from the County which was 1 per pair

Sheriff’s Report: There was no one present from the Sheriff’s office. This would have been Bob’s last appearance at the Town Hall. He will be having a Retirement party on May 27th 12 to 2 in Elk River. They later sent an email stating there were 90 calls for service as compared to 115 in 2021 (52 of those were security checks on Weiss property and 68 in 2020. There were 36 traffic stops, 7 offenses charged by citation, one crash with injury on 4-28 127blk/ CR 3 and no crashes with property damage. There were no burglary attempts, no thefts. There was no DUI’s, no parking violations and one property damage on April 30th 8200blk/17th ST to a mailbox could be an accident.

Road Maintenance/Signs: Chairman Ganz stated that due to High Water we closed roads and issued the No Wake Ordinance. The road closers are due to safety and Township Liability. 42nd West and East were closed, along with 42nd north of Julia. 112th there is a big washout. Warned on 49th and 109th that water was a crossed the road. The township worked close with deputies to keep people off the closed roads. The township supervisors will be out fixing as much as we can. Hot mix is available. Ryan Peterson stated that on 42nd street may be undermined and we might want to keep big trucks off. Mike Ganz stated that as soon as it dries up, we can get a better idea of what that road needs. Mitch Hoefer asked if that spot would be a good place to put in a culvert? Ganz stated that he didn’t think that would have helped, that would just move the problem down the road. Demeules stated that there is a lot of studies and channels that goes into changing the size of a culvert. 7th street is a shared Township Road with St. George which needs work. Mike made a motion that the Township would cover ½ of the cost. Supervisor Demeules second and the motion was carried. Ganz stated that they got an estimate from TS Dirt Work to put dirt on 98th that came in at $14.05 a ton and we will need approximately 1700 ton in 2 areas, which will come in at $23,885. We are still waiting on an estimate from Herbst. Mike Ganz made a motion to go with TS Dirt Work as long as Herbst doesn’t come in lower. Demeules Second and the motion was carried unanimously. We also need to put some gravel on the north end of 113th. The Supervisors met with Civil Engineering Site Design out of Monticello. 109th form 42nd at the y to 47th ½ came in at 536,388.90 for milling pavement which is just over a mile of road. 109th avenue to only fix the low spot came in at 40,158. 55th, 56th, 561/2 Street SE, 107th, and 106th Avenue SE came in at 261,324.30. Roger Stated that just to do 109th road it would be over our road budget for the whole year. We are still waiting on an estimate for a culvert on Julia, but Ganz stated that it probably be around 40,158, but we will have to pull permits with the DNR, it is more involved. Roger mentioned that at the annual meeting we only levied two hundred and seventy thousand dollars for roads. There is other way we can pay for roads such as bonds which will take 10-20yrs to pay off or we could asses the property owners. Demeules stated that now that the engineering is done, we don’t have to do it this year we can shelf it and come back to it. Hoefer asked if there are any grants to do roads. Ganz stated that they are hard to get the last grant that we applied for they only took the first few applicants and hundreds applied. Grants have a tone of stipulations but when we have a chance, we do apply they unfortunately haven’t had many as of yet.

Fire Department: No one was present from the Fire Department.

P.E.C: Roger reported that Clean Up Day is set for June 4th. Roger brought a spread sheet of what other townships are charging. Supervisors will need to go through pricing tonight so that Roger can post it in the paper.

Park Report: Chairman Ganz stated that mower is in the shop getting fixed. Hoefer brought up that the sand trap in the bathroom at the park was plugged again. Ball starts in June with over 200 kids again. Mitch said he will fix the library at the park. Ganz stated we should get a quote to get the parking lot at the park seal coated. Mitch stated that there are about 15 trees down at the park since after the storm

Lake Association: Demeules stated that the BLCA first general meeting is June 10th at the Palmer Park at 6:30. An ice-cream social will be held followed by a meeting. There will be no water sampling on May 17th due to high water. The County Surveyor was going to come out and calibrate the gauge for the High-Water mark but since it is under water, they won’t be doing that. We had 10,000 that was allocated towards water testing in the hopes that the County would put money towards test from their ARPA fund but that is not going to happen this year. Therefore, we will not be putting money towards that this year. Char asked when they will be spraying for curly leaf, John Schnell said they would not be.

Legal Comments: None

Approval of Minutes: Chairman Ganz asked for approval of March minutes as written. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve, Chairman Ganz seconded and the motion carried.

ARPA FUND: Nothing was purchased last month. Supervisor Demeules reported that the Cameras will be installed tomorrow morning, they will work through the day and come back Thursday if need be.

OLD BUSINESS: Wipper Pit. Steve Demeules, we have not received the second phase of testing as of yet. They should come in sometime next week. The family has 3 different offers from mining companies. If the township doesn’t purchase the Pit, it is important to know that it can become an active granite pit again. Years ago, when Hard Drives was thinking about buying the Pit the Township didn’t shut it down. Hard Drives pulled out due to a pending sale. The Township can put regulations as to the times that the Pit is used but it still can be used as a gravel pit. A resident inquired about the purchase agreement and if it was signed that the township already owns it. Supervisors stated yes, it is signed but it’s three pages long and there are a lot of ways the township can back out if need be.

NEW BUSINESS: David Jacobsen 11117 42nd St Clear Lake

PID 40-406-0150 Demeules stated that the County may have a problem with impervious surface and he will send comment.

Renewal of Tobacco license for Briggs Lake General Store. Chairman Ganz motioned to approve Larson second motion way carried.

COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:

Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve claims #22105-22129 plus payroll, and Conexus for a total of $12,650.92 Chairman Ganz seconded it and the motion carried.

Chairman Ganz made a motion to adjourn. Supervisor Demeules seconded and motion was carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m.

Amy Bragelman, Palmer Township Clerk Approved as reviewed June 13th, 2022