MINUTES

REGULAR MEETING

PALMER TOWNSHIP

August 14th, 2023

 

The regular meeting of the Palmer Township Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Palmer Township Hall, with Chairman Ganz, Supervisor Demeules, and Supervisor Wipper present. Also present were, Amy Bragelman Township Clerk, and Roger Johnson Treasurer. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Treasurer’s Report:  Roger Johnson read the balances from the Treasurer's report. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Supervisor Wipper seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 

 

Sheriff’s Report: Geoffrey Dowty read the Sheriff’s for the month of July. 120 Total calls for service as compared to 122 calls for service in 2022. There were 26 traffic stops, 31 security checks, and 13 boating complaints. Dowty explained that all boating stops are categorized as complaints. Most of the stops were made due to boating registration, lights on the boats, and life jacket checks. There was one theft and 2 assaults. 

 

Road Maintenance/Signs: Chairman Ganz stated that sweeping is completed. MJS will be working on 109th tomorrow August 15th, and 42nd Street has to go in front of the Technical Evaluation Panel before any work can be done. The Township held a preconstruction meeting on Wednesday morning Chairman Ganz hand-delivered 54 letters while Supervisor Demeules handed out 8 to residents a long 107th and 115th inviting them to the meeting held on Wednesday 6 people showed up. 115th is tentatively scheduled for August 21st. It will be milled and overlayed. Dunick Brothers are doing the work. Their working hours are 7-7 Monday through Friday and 8-5 on Saturdays if needed. No work will be done on Sundays or Holidays. 115th will be open for travel the whole time. The road will most likely be milled before Labor Day and tarred after. Signs are caught up on. Treasure Johnson stated that when we get road bills, they should state the road that it’s on and not the name of residents that live on it. Due to the fact that it looks like we are servicing someone’s private property

 

Fire Department: Chairman Ganz stated that he and the Supervisors attended a Fire Board meeting, at that meeting it was stated that Clear Lake is in need of a new Fire Hall. Chairman Ganz mentioned that Palmer Township built its own Fire Hall with no help. Back then the Township stated that when the time comes, we wouldn’t help Clear Lake build a new one. That being said they don’t have the funds or the population. We may have a special election in November where township residents can vote. Ganz mentioned that if we decide not to help them what happens with our service, and the whole department would suffer. We have a good fire department. The new station comes at a cost of around 2 million, but we are not sure what they would ask Palmer Township for. Supervisor Demeules stated that once we have an accurate cost, we will discuss it more. Chief Koren gave the monthly call report for the period of 07/10/23-08/14/23 for Palmer Township.  There was a total of 22 calls for the Clear Lake Fire Department. 6 of those calls were for Palmer Township, all being medical, 0 fires, and 0 auto accidents.

 

P.E.C: Roger Johnson stated that we got our score grant money in. We received a total of 5,909.90 therefore the Townships total cost for clean-up day was a little over 6,300. Anything that goes to the landfill we don’t get credit for. Ganz mentioned that we will pick a date this fall for Clean-Up Day and will probably stay with the vendors we had this year.

 

Park Report: Stacy Strang reported for the Palmer Park Committee. Stacy stated that they have started meeting on the last Tuesday of every month as a committee. They have four projects that they have started working on. Parking, disc golf, tree removal, and tennis courts. They have looked into keeping the tennis courts where they are or possibly moving them. Albert Kangas got a few quotes and brought some drawings of where they could go if we moved them. Some ideas for new locations included near the basketball court, adding on to the basketball court and behind the concessions stand but that was quickly ruled out as an option. Albert asked the board which location they preferred the existing or alongside the basketball court. Ganz stated that they have been working with the Palmer Day committee to eventually put a bandstand over by the basketball court and would there be room for both. The committee stated that they are aware of that and thought if we cleared trees there would be. The board questioned if there is a need for such a big court that holds 2 tennis courts. Supervisor Ganz inquired if the committee has talked to pickball players to see what they want. They stated that they had not. Supervisor Demeules asked if they needed to remove the old tennis court either way why wouldn’t we put it back where it was? The committee stated that if they left them in the same location, and put a driveway in so that they were easily accessible, the cost would be about the same to move them closer to the parking lot. It is also closer to a power supply if you ever want to do lighting. Chairman Ganz asked how the committee defined a park, is it nature and walking paths, or is it Fitness and playground equipment? The committee stated that they thought that the Palmer Park is a mix of both and that is why it appeals to a large group of people. Ganz asked if the committee had talked to Dennis Weis as to why the tennis courts were put where they are now. Another idea was to add to the basketball court and add a tennis court to it without a fence. The board would like the committee to get another quote on a smaller court. The committee may go out for other grants but would probably use them for bigger projects, and they still have money from the County to contribute to the park. Supervisor Demeules reported on Elk Lake Park. There is a tour tentatively scheduled for August 31st for state representatives to come out to the property. They are going to contact Northern Reliability to see if it is possible to divert the new poles so that they don’t go through the park, due to the disturbance they may have on any artifacts that are in the park. They have not picked a vendor to start phase 2 which is demolition of buildings on the property, which will have to be supervised the whole time. The trails will be mowed and the parking lot for phase one will be 60 cars. The next meeting is on Wednesday the 16th.         

 

Lake Association: Supervisor Demeules reported that the BLCA election was held they had a very good speaker. The grant continues to progress they continue to take readings and samples from the lake. The Carp survey will be coming back this fall, and they will be doing some bore samples. The Grant hasn’t officially been awarded yet, but Soil and Water have been helping to fund the testing. T -Lid has its annual meeting on Saturday at 10 am at the Town Hall this is where they will be doing their assessments for next year, so if you live on the lake you will want to come to this meeting. They will also be voting on board members and will let residents know what they will be working on next year. Supervisor Demeules also mentioned that the County has grants of $6,000 available for septic systems to be given to low-income homeowners. The application for this is available online  

 

Legal Comments: Chairman Ganz mentioned that he needs to contact Ashley from Rinke Noonan and we may not need to change our parking ordinance at all.

 

Approval of Minutes:  Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the July minutes as written. Supervisor Wipper seconded it and the motion carried.

 

ARPA FUND: Supervisor Demeules reported that no more new invoices have been submitted. Chairman Ganz stated that the pressure washer came and will be coming out of ARPA funds. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to add a camera to the front entrance in front of the clerk’s office to better see who was coming and going. Supervisor Wipper seconded and the motion was carried  

 

OLD BUSINESS: No old business

 

NEW BUSINESS: Krista Ponting is looking for a CUP to board horses at the old Kampa farm. 10551 26TH ST SE St. Cloud MN. The permit states that they would board 20 to 25 horses although they don’t expect to ever have that many. The waste from the horses will be hauled off the property. Palmer Township Board has no issue with the applicant’s request as long as all county regulations and ordinances are followed.

 

Mark Reinhart questions about the 42nd culvert and whether or not the angle is correct. Chairman Ganz stated that we have him on the Agenda for the September meeting but when they put the Culvert in the DNR stated that the way it is placed is how it has to stay. Supervisor Demeules stated that to change to course of water there are a ton of hoops to jump through.

 

Supervisor Wipper stated that he is in the process of getting a bid for 2 spots in the bike trail that are failing.

 

Chairman Ganz made a motion to sign off on the renewal of the liquor license for the Briggs Lake General Store and Palmer House. Steve Demeules seconded Mitch Wipper abstained and the motion was carried.

After Palmer Day the locks will be removed so the only way to get in will be with a key card, remotely, or a key fob.

 

COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:

 

Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve claims #23188- #23215, plus payroll, Conexus, and Briggs Lake General Store for a total of 18,936.43 Supervisor Wipper second

 

Chairman Demeules made a motion to adjourn.  Supervisor Wipper seconded and the motion was carried.  The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

 

Amy Bragelman, Palmer Township Clerk     Approved as reviewed September 11th, 2023