Alexandria Township
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 7th day of October, 2013 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.
Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to adopt the agenda with the addition of discussion on the Zimmerman property under Old Business and Mark Lee final payment under Engineer’s Report. Motion carried unanimously.
Hammerschmidt, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 09/16/2013 regular board meeting as written. Motion carried. Feuling abstained
Niskanen, seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to authorize payment of claims 13210 – 13227 in the amount of $258,324.01, net payroll of $3,495.70 totaling $261,819.71 with a transfer from savings in the amount of $235,000.00. Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN’S CONCERNS: none
PLANNING AND ZONING: Zoning Administrator Oleson reported that the planning commission recommended denial of the Preliminary Plat for Tim Rock based on the lack of public road access to “Lot 3” and the lack of clear legal or practical easement access from County Road 73 to said lot. Oleson said Mr. Rock had come prepared with a “Plan B”, which would entail the creation of a 12-acre flag lot for farmland, a 6-acre lot with the homestead and a 2-acre lot for the rental unit. Oleson stated that with Plan B, the applicant will still need a variance regarding the sewer line requirement. The applicant would like to discuss the new plan with the board at the next town meeting. He feels he has justification in not needing a variance due to the two homes having existing private sewer and the flag lot being exclusively farmland. The planning commission also recommended the application fee be waived if a new application is presented in a reasonable length of time. Motion by Alstead, seconded by Dahlheimer, to deny the Rock preliminary plat application and to waive the application fee if a new plan is presented. Roll: Niskanen, Hammerschmidt, Feuling, Dahlheimer, and Alstead – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Oleson presented revisions to the small animal ordinance. Supervisor Feuling indicated she would prefer having the term “containment” defined and the elimination of the term “non-venomous”. Other suggestions were to include setbacks and restrict the breeding of chickens. Consensus of the board is to have the planning commission conduct further research on these areas.
Oleson presented a draft of the sign ordinance. He explained that the primary change was to exclude billboards and digital signs throughout the township. Consensus of the board is that this ordinance is ready for adoption.
Oleson reported the town had received a letter from the MPCA stating Jack’s Family Recycling Center is out of compliance with MPCA regulations.
OLD BUSINESS: Zimmerman property. Clerk Raisanen reported he had requested that the township attorney research the appropriate statute for tax-forfeited properties; specifically, upon sale of said property, which governmental entity receives the revenue. He will provide a future update to board.
ENGINEER’S REPORT: Clerk Raisanen reported that the 2013 overlay project is almost complete. He stated that Engineer Kuhn had asked to remove the shouldering portion from the contract and allow our road maintenance contractor to complete the shouldering.
Clerk Raisanen stated the town had decided to retain a portion of the 2013 gravel payment to Mark Lee Excavating due to the excessive amount of rebar and other scrap metal that was present at the time gravel was laid. The clerk is recommending payment of the remainder of Mark Lee’s contract since there has been no evidence of metal on the roads in the last month. The board was in agreement to authorize final payment to Mark Lee Excavating.
NEW BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen presented a copy of the 2014 budget and Schedule 1 for discussion. Clerk Raisanen reported that current expenditures to date are in alignment with the 2013 budget with the exception of blacktop which was over budget due to the overlay projects. Clerk Raisanen recommended the adoption of the 2014 budget in the amount of $724,676.00. Dahlheimer, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to adopt the 2014 budget in the amount of $724,676.00 as presented and recommended by the budget committee. The board discussed the status of the sewer sinking fund which was previously zeroed out.
Being no further business, Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Gregg Raisanen, Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ________, 2013
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Bryon Alstead, Chairman