Alexandria Township
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of March 20, 2023
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 20th day of March, 2023 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 324 Broadway, and via teleconference.
ROLL CALL: Supervisors present were Joel Dahlheimer, 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.
Dahlheimer, seconded by Butz, made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Wright, seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 3/06/2023 regular board meeting and the 3/10/2023 special board meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Wright, seconded by Butz, made a motion to authorize payment of claims 23044 – 23055 in the amount of $5,554.11, net payroll $2,216.40, and EFTPS $1,813.04 totaling $9,583.55 with a transfer from savings of $5,000.00. Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN’S CONCERNS: A number of residents were present to discuss the condition of S. Lake Jessie Drive. They reported the road was ice covered, narrow, and that the crown of the road was too great, which has resulted in vehicles going into the snowbank when they pull over. Alden Just, the township’s contracted road maintainer, was present and was in agreement with the residents. The road froze early and he was unable to grade the road to lessen the crown prior to freeze up. In addition, placing more salt/sand on the road now will probably result in a muddier road in the spring after the road surface thaws. Consensus of the board was to have Mr. Just scrape the road tomorrow and inspect the road during the annual road inspection to view if areas of the road need to be widened and to lower the crown prior to freeze up next fall.
PLANNING AND ZONING: Andy Brinkman, S. Lake Jessie Drive, was present questioning the cost of his building permit. He reported his home was damaged during the spring storm. He was inquiring why he had to pay so much to reconstruct his home and why the building permit fees were not waived by the township. Zoning Administrator Oleson reported his permit was increased as it was obtained after construction had begun; therefore, the fee was doubled according to township permit policy. Clerk Raisanen reported the township had checked with the City of Alexandria earlier in the year about fee waivers for these circumstances. They indicated they were not decreasing fees for storm damaged structures. In addition, Clerk Raisanen reported the majority of the cost of a building permit fee collected by the township is passed through to the city, who does all the plan review and inspections for the township. Very little of the cost of the permit is retained by the township. Clerk Raisanen will review Mr. Brinkman’s permit and respond to him.
ENGINEER’S REPORT: Engineer Kuhn inquired if anyone from the board had communicated with Steve Luchow regarding the drainage problem at the end of Burgen Heights SE. Engineer Kuhn had previously obtained a few estimates last fall for installation of a drainage pipe and had met with the county engineer to discuss a possible cost sharing of 1/3,1/3,1/3 between the county, township, and landowners affected. Supervisor Dahlheimer will contact Mr. Luchow to determine if he is interested in the proposed cost sharing.
OLD BUSINESS: Clerk Raisanen reported RFP’s for summer road maintenance quotes was advertised twice and one proposal was received from Alden Just Road Maintenance. Quoted amounts were as follows: grading of roads- $120.00/hr., mowing road ditches- $88.00/hr., spraying weeds- $88.00/hr., sweeping roads- $88.00/hr. and sign installation and other maintenance $45.00/hr/worker. The proposal submitted met all of the requested information in the RFP. Alden Just’s quoted amounts were a slight increase from the previous summer. Dahlheimer, seconded by Butz, made a motion to contract with Alden Just Road Maintenance at the quoted amounts for the period April 1, 2023-September 30, 2023. For: Wright, Butz, Dahlheimer, Eldevik. Against none. Motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
Being no further business, Dahlheimer, seconded by Butz, made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 6:40 PM.
Respectfully submitted….
______________________________________
Gregg Raisanen, Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ________, 2023
_______________________________________
Rod Eldevik, Chairman