Alexandria Township
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of October 6, 2014
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 6th day of October, 2014 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
ROLL CALL: Supervisors present were Bryon Alstead, Jul Feuling, Lyle Hammerschmidt, Joel Dahlheimer and Russell Niskanen. Also present were Gregg Raisanen, Clerk, and Mona Billmark, Treasurer. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Alstead at 6:00 p.m.
Dahlheimer, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to adopt the agenda with the addition of ATV Use under Old Business and Lake Park Turnaround under New Business. Motion carried unanimously.
Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 09/15/2014 regular board meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Dahlheimer, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to authorize payment of claims 14204 – 14214 in the amount of $16,062.85, net payroll $3,984.99, totaling $20,047.84 with no transfer of funds from savings. Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN’S CONCERNS: none
A question arose concerning a possible adverse possession on Neewana Beach Road. Chairman Alstead suggested moving up the ATV issue at this time. Clerk Raisanen suggested the board invite our legal counsel to a future meeting to address both issues. Clerk Raisanen will request that Attorney Paul Johnson attend a future meeting.
PLANNING AND ZONING: Zoning Administrator Oleson asked the board for direction on how to handle abandonment of sewer systems, either after residents have connected to ALASD or whether they have chosen to install a new system. At present, this service is not part of our sewer inspection agreement with the county. The county’s Land and Resource Director, Dave Rush, indicated they are open to performing this service for us and did not think we needed to formally change our contract to reflect it. Oleson will contact the county to request this service be included as part of our contract.
Oleson reported that he had spoken with a resident on E. Lake Burgen Road regarding the illegal filling of the ditch in front of his property. The homeowner had been notified that this action was a violation of township policy and was given a deadline of July 15, 2014 to remove the fill. To date no action has been taken by the homeowner. The board was in consensus to send the homeowner a letter giving a new deadline of November 1, 2014. This will coincide with the timeline the homeowner was given for submitting a plan regarding his impervious coverage. Oleson will send out a new letter stipulating the deadline and requesting the homeowner to consult Engineer Kuhn as to the amount of fill needed to be removed.
ENGINEER’S REPORT: Engineer Kuhn presented a list of potential 2015 blacktop projects, namely Liberty Road and the Crestwood Drive/Lakecrest Road/Pinewood Lane areas. He recommended to not overlay Liberty Road because of the saw cuts but to reclaim and re-blacktop the surface at an estimated cost of $500,000. The other option would be to continue with repairs and eventually do an overlay. Engineer Kuhn’s recommendation is to wait on the reclamation project and do the repairs on an as needed basis.
The Crestwood Drive/Lakecrest Road/Pinewood Lane project would cost between $250,000 – $300,000. The projected cost for Crestwood Drive alone would be around $150,000. Clerk Raisanen will check the budget and report back at the next meeting. Chairman Alstead asked how many years before Liberty needed to be overlain and/or reclaimed. Engineer Kuhn responded around five years.
Engineer Kuhn reported that the traffic counters have been installed and working on Neewana Beach Rd. and 50th Ave. We will get an actual traffic count from MNDOT after they adjust the count numbers.
OLD BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen reported we received a signed resolution from the city regarding the annexation of a portion of Geneva Road. Feuling, seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to adopt Resolution 14-04, a resolution adopting the orderly annexation of a portion of Geneva Road. Roll: Niskanen, Dahlheimer, Alstead, Feuling, Hammerschmidt – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator Oleson will draft language for changing our ordinance to reflect setbacks to a city road.
NEW BUSINESS: Supervisor Dahlheimer reported he had spoken with Bernie Rachel regarding the formation of a turnaround on Lake Park. Mr. Rachel recommended that the town build a turnaround within the confines of the road right of way. Engineer Kuhn, Supervisor Dahlheimer and Alden Just will assess the recommended site.
Clerk Raisanen reported on a proposed sublease with the Economic Development Commission for office space 304 Broadway. He stated the EDC would lease the whole property and the township would enter into a sublease arrangement with them. The township would rent 33 percent of the entire space at an initial monthly cost of $1,270.00/month plus $183.00/month for taxes and insurance. Significant areas of savings would include the postage machine, copier rental, and internet/phone service. The duration of the lease would be 10 years. Dahlheimer, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to authorize the clerk and chair to proceed with the sublease, said sublease to include an early termination clause. Roll: Niskanen, Dahlheimer, Alstead, Feuling, Hammerschmidt – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Niskanen, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to authorize Chairman Alstead to notify WSN of our intent to vacate by the end of December, 2014. Motion carried unanimously.
Clerk Raisanen stated the 304 Broadway building owner, Gary Zacher, has indicated we can move in prior to the end of December. Clerk Raisanen proposed the township hire a contractor to move the office. Consensus to have the clerk obtain quotes for moving expenses.
Clerk Raisanen reported we had received one quote for winter road maintenance services. Alden Just Road Maintenance provided a quote that met all the requirements in the RFP for the following amounts: grading with a motor grader: $85/hr., plowing of snow: $85/hr., sanding of roads (excluding salt/sand): $75/hr. and sign installation and other maintenance: $34/hr/worker with a fuel increase of $1.00/hr. with every $0.12/gallon increase in fuel costs above the base price of $3.459 for dyed fuel and $3.659 for highway fuel. Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to contract with Alden Just Road Maintenance at the above stipulated pricing for winter road maintenance for the period of October 7, 2014 – March 31, 2015. Motion carried unanimously.
Clerk Raisanen requested Alden Just provide a price quote on salt/sand for the next meeting.
Being no further business, Hammerschmidt, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Gregg Raisanen, Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ________, 2014
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Bryon Alstead, Chairman