Alexandria Township
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of February 7, 2011
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 7th day of February, 2011 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
ROLL CALL: Supervisors present were Bryon Alstead, Jul Feuling, Joel Dahlheimer, Louis Ross and Roger Thalman. 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 Thalman at 6:00 p.m.
Alstead, seconded by Ross, made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Ross, seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 1/19/2011 regular board meeting as written. Motion carried. Supervisor Feuling abstained.
Feuling, seconded by Alstead, made a motion to authorize payment of claims 11030-11044 in the amount of $31,292.58, net payroll $3,603.72, totaling $34,896.30 and to authorize a transfer from savings into checking of $20,000.00. Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN’S CONCERNS: None
PLANNING AND ZONING: Broken Arrow Resort Conditional Use Application, John and Marjorie Spinner, applicants. Zoning Administrator Oleson explained that this application had come before the Planning Commission in November and was tabled until January to allow the applicants time to provide additional information regarding ownership structure, the location of the proposed docking, and the location of designated parking areas. He reiterated that the Spinners, owners of the resort, are seeking to retain a portion of their property as a resort (the RV campsites) and convert another portion of their resort to a cooperative form of ownership (through the sale of the cabins). The new cabin owners would own the buildings, but not the land. The land would belong to an association, said association to be comprised of the new cabin owners and the Spinners. The RV sites would continue to be rented out on a nightly/weekly basis. Oleson stated the planning commission recommended approval with conditions. The conditions pertain to maintenance of the buildings, density, coverage, etc. He also stated that the planning commission had asked him to contact the township attorney. The township attorney said everything appears to be in order.
Chairman Thalman asked the Spinners if they were comfortable with the eight conditions listed for approval. Mr. Spinner said yes. Supervisor Feuling stated that the website depicts 17 campsites, but the staff report denotes only 13. Mr. Spinner explained that a few campsites were eliminated due to the work on State Highway 27 and there are now only 13 campsites. Supervisor Feuling also asked if there had always been 8 docks. Mr. Spinner responded yes. Motion by Alstead, seconded by Feuling, to approve the Broken Arrow Conditional Use Permit Application with the eight (8) conditions outlined in the staff report. Roll: Alstead, Ross, Feuling, Dahlheimer, Thalman – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that he had been approached by landowners requesting an informal discussion with the town board at their February 23rd meeting. The purpose would be to discuss a potential variance application on the north side of the Darling/Carlos bridge. The town board agreed to meet with the landowners at the next meeting.
ENGINEER’S REPORT: Lisa Ave. access closure. Engineer Kuhn stated that the closure of the State Highway 29 access at Lisa Avenue had been requested by MnDot. The town had held a public informational meeting and the response to the closure was mainly positive. Clerk Raisanen asked if the road access needs to be vacated. Supervisor Ross indicated that he felt the road access should be vacated by the state. Motion by Ross, seconded by Dahlheimer, to direct Engineer Kuhn to forward the town’s approval of the closure of the Lisa Avenue access to MnDot.. The town board also directed Engineer Kuhn to discuss with MnDot the possibility of improving the Manor Drive access. Roll: Dahlheimer, Feuling, Ross, Alstead, Thalman – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Geneva Bike Trail. Engineer Kuhn presented cost estimates for widening Geneva Golf Club Drive to allow for a bike trail on the shoulder. Total estimated cost would be $38,000 if the work was done the same time as an overlay. Clerk Raisanen stated that he had sent an email to Mr. Beisner and Kent Carlson explaining that there may be no county park dedication fees available for this bike trail project and that the supervisors requested Engineer Kuhn to prepare a cost estimate for the project as a road widening project.
Engineer Kuhn presented cost estimates for potential blacktop overlays: East.Lake Victoria-$145,000.00, E. Lake Geneva-$103,000.00, and Golf Club Drive-$81,000.00. Supervisor Ross asked if overlays were more cost prohibitive than sealcoating. Engineer Kuhn stated that overlays were more beneficial long-term. He will price out the cost of sealcoating for these roads and present at the next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen stated that two more township election judges needed to be appointed for the upcoming annual meeting. He recommended appointing Margaret Movald and himself. Motion by Alstead, seconded by Ross, to appoint Margaret Movald and Gregg Raisanen as township election judges. Motion carried. Supervisor Feuling abstained.
Clerk Raisanen also stated that the town board needed to appoint the election judges to the absentee ballot board. Motion by Ross, seconded by Dahlheimer to appoint the election judges to the absentee ballot board. Motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen stated that the annual weed inspector training and the Douglas County Association of Townships’ annual meeting will be held on March 16, 2011. Supervisor Feuling indicated that she will attend as the town’s representative.
Clerk Raisanen presented the proposed 2012 budget. He indicated that the largest account that was underspent was blacktop, since some of the anticipated blacktop projects for the year were withdrawn. Motion by Ross, seconded by Feuling, to recommend forwarding the levy amount of $684,513.00 to the voters at the annual meeting for consideration.
Being no further business Ross, seconded by Alstead, made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.
Respectfully submitted….
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Gregg Raisanen, Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ________, 2011
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Roger Thalman, Chairman