Alexandria Township
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of March 6, 2023
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 6th day of March, 2023 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 324 Broadway, and via teleconference.
ROLL CALL: Supervisors present were Jeff Oberg, Rod Eldevik, Dennis Butz and Jerry Wright. Also present were Gregg Raisanen, Clerk, with Mona Billmark, Treasurer, attending via teleconference. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Eldevik at 6:00 p.m.
Oberg, seconded by Butz, made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Wright, seconded by Butz, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 2/22/2023 regular board meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Butz, seconded by Oberg, made a motion to authorize payment of claims 23035 – 23043 in the amount of $35,538.78, net payroll $4,108.13 totaling $39,646.91 with a transfer from savings of $33,000.00. Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN’S CONCERNS: none
PLANNING AND ZONING: Oleson reported an application for the final plat of Twelfth Addition to Lake Geneva Estates had been submitted by Scott Thompson. The subdivision would create eight residential lots. The preliminary plat was approved by the town board at their October 17, 2022 meeting. Oleson stated Mr. Thompson has complied with the conditions of approval, which were to submit a permanent stormwater management plan; adding Lot 1, Block 1 of Tenth Addition to Lake Geneva Estates to the plat to comply with the lot width requirement; delineate the wetland on Lot 3 by SWCD; no variances to be granted on any of the approved lots relating to property line or wetland setbacks; and either removing or providing an easement for the existing mailboxes located on Lot 1, Block Two. With regard to the common mailboxes, Mr. Thompson has drawn up a Declaration of Easement which would provide access to the mailboxes for the affected landowners (those in the Fifth Addition plat) and shall run with the land and be binding upon all parties.
Oleson also reported Mark Jahner of Stoeckel – Jahner has indicated he will be recording the easement after the final plat has been recorded. Chairman Eldevik expressed concern that the proposed easement does not guarantee access to the easement and also stated the existence of the easement will need to be relayed to the future purchaser of Lot 1, Block 2. Consensus of the board was to send a letter to the current owner of this lot advising them that when Lot 1, Block 2 is sold, the buyer needs to be made aware of the easement.
Oleson reported the county surveyor has indicated his approval for the final plat.
Oberg, seconded by Wright, made a motion to table the final plat approval until more clarification on the easement can be obtained.
Oleson provided a recap of the planning commission’s public hearing on the zoning ordinance amendments and comprehensive plan sections. He stated there were relatively few questions. A few building contractors had reached out to him regarding shouse regulations. The Vikingland Builders Association agreed to email their members with a letter provided by Oleson asking for feedback on the ordinance amendments. The city building department also emailed their listing of builders. Any comments received will be discussed at the planning commission’s March 27th meeting.
ENGINEER’S REPORT: Engineer Kuhn reported the county has asked if the town will be doing any striping this year. His recommendation is to stripe Geneva Golf Club Drive and Neewana Beach Road, from Liberty Road to Vinland Strait. Consensus to accept Engineer Kuhn’s recommendation and have him relay to the county.
OLD BUSINESS: none
NEW BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen reported a few changes had been made to the 2024 budget in the areas of fire protection and culture and recreation.
Clerk Raisanen provided a handout from MAT pertaining to statutes and regulations townships need to abide by for contributions and donations. In particular, he stated MN statute for senior centers is permitted and does not have a financial cap for contributions. Under recreation, he said donations are limited to $10,000/year, and has to be authorized by electors at the annual meeting. He noted the town board has no authority to donate funds for social and recreational services without electors’ approval.
Clerk Raisanen stated the town board needs to recommend a levy amount to the electorate. The proposed levy would be 8.1%. Oberg, seconded by Butz, made a motion to forward the proposed 2023 levy in the amount of $917,941.00 to the residents at the annual meeting, a proposed 8.10% increase from 2022.
Being no further business, Butz, seconded by Oberg, made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 7:43 PM.
Respectfully submitted….
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Gregg Raisanen, Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ________, 2023
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Rod Eldevik, Chairman