Category: Board Minutes

Minutes of Wilma Township, Pine County, Minnesota

CLERK’S RECORD OF WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2 WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING

Paul Raymond Board Minutes, Treasurer's Report

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present: Supervisors Mike McCullen and Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Lori Shute, Michah Murray, Stefanie Williamson, Clay Heller, Jr., Zach Hanson, Kathleen Ackerman, and Daniel Calder.

Approved Ground Rules: Citizens must raise their hand to speak; No interruptions; If a speaker asks question of another person, they can answer but speaker holds the floor; Maintain respect and decorum.

Clerk’s Record of September Board Meeting: Paul read the Clerk’s record of the September Board meeting. Alden corrected the record, it was 9 loads gravel on Fust Lane, and 11 on South Duncan Road. Hesinius put 15 loads of redrock gravel on Little Tamarack Lake Road, 10 on the road. With these corrections, Mike moved to approve the Clerk’s record; Alden seconded. Passed. The record will be corrected on the website.

Road Report: Alden gave his report for October: He is trying to get the roads prepped for winter. So far this season he has spent $13,713 from the Road and Bridge Fund, but $814 of this is shared range-line roads, and Arna, New Dosey and Danforth will pay their half, so Wilma’s share is $12,899. This does not include the new 30” 30 foot culvert for Eagle Head Road or the grates to block beavers. Fornengo has completed the gates.

Alden recommends that in 2025 we brush all of our roads.

SNOWPLOWING FEES DUE Snowplowing for Private Drives in 2024-25:

Standard driveways, $100; Over 700’: $125/season; 1,000 ft. to ½ mile: $200; Over ½ mile, $375. At the annual town meeting in March, the voters approved moving the date up to October 3 of this year.  Paul did not get the notice on time so he emailed everyone with internet and will write to those on the list last year who he doesn’t have email addresses for.

Right of Way Permit for ECE: Michah J. Murry from Ecovillage on Tamarack Pine Drive: “We are trying to get electrical service down at the ponds, and ECE said the last thing they are waiting on is a permit from Wilma Township to cut in a new box on the right-of-way on Tamarack Pine Drive. The work order number is 202419004.” His application and Wilma’s ROW Policy (which passed in 2006 before Glen was on the board) was given to the board. We are holding $1,000 escrow for ECE. Mike moved to approve their application and to notify ECE; Glen seconded; passed. Glen said we need a new policy for future ECE requests. The clerk can approve them with consultation with the chair and notification of the road manager, so there isn’t a big delay until a board meeting. Mike so moved and Alden seconded; passed.

OLD BUSINESS: Township Websites: All Towns with websites must eventually change to the .gov address. Wilmatownship.com Site: We need to find a new provider/host by the end of our current contract with Aspire. Paul reported that Ervin Klienschmidt says he believes he can set up a site for us. Glen recommended another web-host, townweb: https://www.townweb.com/. Glen moved that we fill out the application to TownWeb.com and get a quote for creating and hosting a website for the town. Alden seconded, passed. Tammy Carlson has recommended Leslie Rosedahl who did her’s and several townships’ websites. https://rosedahlpublicaffairs.com/mat Ms. Rosedahl says, “If you just want the new domain to .gov, I can do that, but there is a cost. You can do that yourself; I can give you instructions. But you’d have to be pretty web-savvy to set it up. If you need a new website with a new host and a .gov address, I can also do that. Charge $1500 for website services, plus additional expenses to the township such as the domain name (website address) and site hosting with an estimated ongoing expense of approximately $250/year.” Sample website she has done: https://pinecitytownship.squarespace.com/home

NEW BUSINESS: Legislative and Research Fall Meeting 2024: Paul attended the meeting September 13, 2024 in St. Cloud, moderated by MAT Attorney Graham Berg-Moberg.   Graham researched and expanded Wilma’s resolution for the MAT to advocate with the state legislature for universal cell phone service, like we have for many years for universal broadband. Our resolution passed unanimously.

Every other resolution and issue impacted Wilma Township:   One, to monitor the transfer of public state lands to tribes, jeopardizing public access and PILT revenues. Many thousands of acres of state land have already been proposed to give to the White Earth Band and the Red Lake Band. This affects us because of the Lake Lena Reservation and Mille Lacs Bands which are very close to us.  Almost half of Wilma Township, sixteen sections, are all or mostly owned by the State as St. Croix Forest and MN Trust Land.  Like with the change of our state flag, we would have no vote. Mike said this is a very serious issue and we must continue to resist transfers of thousands of acres of public state land to the tribes. Paul said that MAT recognizes that this is a very sensitive issue and they are treading lightly, but it can seriously affect townships and public access.

Another resolution was for EMS services to be designated as essential services so EMS like Essentia can be reimbursed for lift assists and other responses that don’t require tranprtation.  These are not reimbursed now, and many township EMS services are going broke. Another, to change polling hours for township elections failed.

Township roads were still a big issue, with townships getting very little of the total state road and bridge budget, even though townships own and maintain 41% of all state roads, spending $380 million last year, but receiving only $42 million for all townships.

All of the MAT District Directors were there and most of them spoke. Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Usp7dVD4ummbVa186

NEW BUSINESS: Couri&Ruppe 15th Annual Township Legal Seminar: Will be this Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, Rutledge City Hall, 9 am – 4 pm, Free. Register at kathy@couriruppe.com. Paul, Mike and Alden plan to attend. We can get free legal advice from the attorneys.

Garbage Pickup: Mike said the trucks don’t go down Dollar Lake Road or Vink Road and the people have to bring their garbage out to the county road, which can cause wildlife to tear it up and scatter it. He asked Paul to contact the Board and ask them to go down all township roads. He said we need to bill them for the winter months for use of our hall and heat; they agreed to pay us $150 for winter. Paul will contact them.

November 5, 2024 Election: Need to appoint judges. Glen asked Paul who he recommends; Paul said he has to appoint Patrice and he’d like Cindy Kleinschmidt to judge. Mike moved to appoint Paul, Patrice and Cindy as judges; Alden seconded; passed.

Hazard Mitigation Plan : Pine County Emergency Management is commencing work on the update of the Pine County Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP).  News release given to board. They ask us to post their news release and put it on the website to help notify the public about the plan update and to have an opportunity to provide feedback. Glen moved that Paul post the plan on the wilmatownship.com website. Alden seconded; passed.

Pine County Township Officers’ Meeting, Hinckley, Saturday, October 26: 9 a.m. At Hinckley Community Center. Any questions email PctaTreasurer@gmail.com Register at: PineCountyTownsips.com>login>register. Glen said all officers urged to attend.

MAT Annual Conference: Will be two days only (one night), December 13 & 14, at the River’s Edge Convention Center, St. Cloud.

November Meeting Change: The November meeting has been changed to the second Wednesday of November, the 13th. Glen said he has another campground conference in December and will not be at the board meeting.

Wilma Fall Fest: Stefanie said Fallfest is October 19, 6 p.m. They have fliers and hope to get more children’s prizes. It’s our 117th year as a town. Paul asked that they leave all the chairs and tables up after Fallfest for the Wanderers meeting Oct. 30. Mike moved that the Wanderers be allowed to use the hall with no fee; Alden seconded; passed.

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Total bills for October, $10,428.15, with transfer of $10,500. Mike moved to approve her report and transfer $10,500 from savings to checking. Alden seconded; all aye. Passed.

Mike moved to adjourn; Alden seconded. Adjourned at 8:30.

Paul Raymond, Clerk

CLERK’S RECORD OF WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 WILMA TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING

Paul Raymond Board Minutes

Chairman Glen Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present: Supervisors Mike McCullen and Alden Shute, Treasurer Patrice Winfield, Clerk Paul Raymond, Stefanie Williamson, Clay Heller, Jr., Steve Menth, Zach Hanson, Lisa Irgens, Daniel Calder, and Cindy Kleinschmidt.

Approved Ground Rules: Citizens must raise their hand to speak; No interruptions; If a speaker asks question of another person, they can answer but speaker holds the floor; Maintain respect and decorum. Patrice asked if anyone charges anything to the township to print their name and sign it clearly so it shows up on the copies Ace sends her.

Clerk’s Record of August Board Meeting: Paul read the Clerk’s record of the August Board meeting. Alden corrected the record, it was 9 loads gravel on Fust Lane, not 4. He doesn’t want to install new culverts on the North Duncan Road but cover the existing ones for the logging project. The next census will be in 2030, not 2020. With these corrections, Glen moved to approve the Clerk’s record; Alden seconded. Passed. The record will be corrected on the website.

Road Report: Alden gave his report for September:

Little Tamarack Lake Road: Alden said he put 4 loads of regular gravel on the hill. Little Tamarack Lake Landing: Hesinius Gravel put down 15 loads of redrock, five on the landing, ten on the road. Alden said when we get the bill from Hesinius to send Greg Beck the bill for five loads and the skid steer. They may pay for everything. Hesinius should send two bills, one for the 5 loads plus skid steer, and one for 10 loads.

South Duncan Road: 11 loads pit run on this road and 9 loads of regular gravel on Fust Lane.

North Duncan Road: Nine loads of 2”-minus gravel. Alden will cover the two culverts for the winter logging project, and will post a notice on a trailer that is in the right-of-way that could damage the grader. Our road and right-of-way is 66′.

Heller Drive: Two loads of 2”-minus. Greg Summerland put four loads pit run and two regular gravel down.

Tamarack Pine Drive: Beaver problem. Alden had asked Jim Bredesen to deal with beavers. Alden got the culvert cleared and water flowing again. Diane Knobel from the settlement on the Ponds said they will also keep the culvert open.

Eagle Head Road: Alden put in 30” culvert. He may go over budget with this, but we have the funds. Dave Fornengo is rigging a system to clean the grate over the culvert. Stefanie said there are beaver cones that are better than traps. https://beavercone.com/ Clay had photos of grate systems he showed the board.

Mink Farm Road: 5 loads 2”-minus.

OLD BUSINESS: MAT District 7 Meeting: Was Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at Anoka Ramsey Community College in Cambridge, MN. Many topics were covered, including ARPA Reporting, Cannibis, township websites, cybercrime. Township Day at the Capitol will be moved up to January and will be only one day, no overnight. (Dinner optional.) Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zfEcoHmq6skyHsLx9 Clerk Paul submitted a resolution for universal cell-phone access which passed and which MAT Attorney Graham Berg-Moberg will present at the September 13 MAT L&R meeting:

“RESOLUTION TO THE MINNESOTA ASSOCIATION OF TOWNSHIPS TO ADVOCATE FOR AND LOBBY FOR UNIVERSAL CELL-PHONE SERVICE TO UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED TOWNSHIPS [Adopted by township officers at the MAT District 7 annual meeting (Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Ramsey, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright counties) August 20. 2024, Cambridge, MN.]

Whereas whole areas of rural Pine County (and possibly other counties in Minnesota) have no cell service or very spotty and unreliable service, and

Whereas Wi-Fi calling is of no benefit away from a modem, and

Whereas Centurylink has had frequent outages for landlines, and

Whereas many websites require a cell phone text to verify one’s identity to log on,

Be it resolved that the Minnesota Association of Townships promote and advocate for universal cell phone service as we did for universal broadband.

Submitted by Paul Raymond, Clerk, Wilma Township, Pine County, MN.”

Cannabis Webinar: The State of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management held a webinar, “Implementing Chapter 342: Guidance for Local Governments on Adult-Use Cannabis,” on August 9. Topics included:

  1. General implementation update and 2024 legislative session changes 
  2. Role of local governments in application and licensing framework
  3. Role of local governments in compliance and enforcement. Minorities get preference in licenses, and people who have had pot convictions get preference.

ARPA Fund Designation: The unspent money must be designated by the end of 2024, but don’t have to be spent until 2026. Glen moved that Wilma Township spend all remaining ARPA Funds for officer training and for town hall internet service. Alden seconded. Passed. Our internet fund is now in the red.

NEW BUSINESS: Wilma Property Appraisal and Increased Rates: MATIT will change our property values based on the appraisal by Overland Solutions. Fire Hall/Grader Hall was insured for $70,219. They say it is now worth $176,703, and our annual contribution will go from $211 to $530. The Town Hall, now $170,694; new value, $173.859. Annual premium from $512 to $522.

Township Websites: All Towns with websites must eventually change to the .gov address.

Wilmatownship.com Site: We need to find a new provider/host by the end of our current contract with Aspire. Tammy Carlson (District 7 Director) said Leslie Rosendahl did the website for her township and they are very pleased with it. Paul contacted Ms. Rosendahl. She said that she will “Charge $1500 for website services for up to 6 pages. If more pages are requested, the site cost will be $250 per additional page. The transferring of data can either be done by you or me. It does take quite a bit of time of downloading the documents and then uploading it again. I don’t mind making additional pages, but if it’s a lot of documents, we’ll have to talk about that.

“If you just want the new domain to .gov, I can also do that, but there is a cost. You can do that yourself; I can give you instructions. But you’d have to be pretty web savvy to set it up. If you need a new website with a new host and a .gov I can also do that. I will charge additional expenses to the township such as the domain name (website address) and site hosting, which is an estimated and ongoing expense of approximately $250/year.” https://rosedahlpublicaffairs.com/mat

“To be clear – I will create the new site and transfer pictures/data to the new site and create the pages with content and then train you how to update it. That’s $1500. There will be ongoing annual costs of around $250 to Squarespace to host your website and domain address.”

“What’s extraordinary about wilmatownship.com is the extreme amount of minutes that you have on your current website that I will not transfer. You can decide to do those minutes (back to 2005!) by yourself or someone else can do it – and to be honest, I’ve never seen a website with more than a few years because most townships just keep those on a per request basis.”The Pine City Township Website she did: https://pinecitytownship.squarespace.com/home

Mike said we need to give Ervin Klienschmidt an opportunity to do the site and to see if he is able. Glen said we need to check out another web-host, townweb: https://www.townweb.com/. Paul said the board can decide how many years of records we will transfer to the new website. Every meeting record for the last 118 years is in the safe, and anyone has a right to see them. Stefanie asked if there is any way to archive all the internet records so people can still access them. Glen said when he stops hosting the site, everything will disappear. He said we need a guarantee that if Leslie dies the website will continue if we go with her.

November Meeting Change: Glen has an out-of-town meeting the first week of November, so he will miss the election. Alden moved to change the November meeting to the second Wednesday of November, the 13th. Mike seconded. Passed.

Wilma Town Park: Steve Menth said there are grants available to help us develop the park. He envisions a bandshell and facilities. Glen said Steve will be appointed to a committee to study grants and options.

Wilma Fall Fest: Stefanie said Fallfest is October 19, 6 p.m. They have fliers and hope to get more children’s prizes. It’s our 117th year as a town.

Coiuri&Ruppe 15th Annual Township Legal Seminar: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, Rutledge City Hall, 9 am – 4 pm, Free. Register at kathy@couriruppe.co

Treasurer’s Report and Claims: Total bills for September, $13,052.28, with transfer of $13,000. Mike moved to approve her report and transfer $13,000 from savings to checking. Alden seconded; all aye. Passed.

Alden moved to adjourn; Mike seconded. Adjourned at 8:40.

Paul Raymond, Clerk