MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
PALMER TOWNSHIP
February 12, 2024
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 was Amy Bragelman Township Clerk. Roger Johnson Treasurer joined via Zoom. 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. Chairman Ganz reported that the ARPA fund is zero even though it shows a negative dollar amount and will be changed to reflect a zero balance. Chairman Ganz also reported that last month we moved funds from Capital Reserves to roads.
Sheriff’s Report: Geoff Dowty read the Sheriff’s report for the month of January. 102 Total calls for service as compared to 98 calls for service in 2023. Dowty stated that there were 8 medicals, 32 traffic stops, 26 security checks, and 2 suspicious activities. Dowty mentioned that there were 3 frauds 1 he went into detail about. A resident was called by a person posing as law enforcement. The imposter stated that the resident had a warrant out for their arrest and needed to pay to avoid arrest via Bitcoin. The defrauder did their homework and new information about the resident and St. Cloud police officers. Dowty stated that the St. Cloud Police Department will NEVER call and ask for money to avoid an arrest. He also mentioned the hit-and-run at the corner of 105th and 42nd Where a sign was taken out and a boat house that caught fire on Lake Julia.
Road Maintenance/Signs: Chairman Ganz reported that we are saving money on snowplowing this year. Supervisor Wipper stated that he hasn’t gotten a bid back for a patch that the Township would like to put on the corner of 42nd. It should give that corner another 3 to 5 years before we need to replace the road. Supervisor Wipper has a call into a company that does chip sealing it may be an option for some of the roads that are in better condition. Supervisor Demeules reported that he has been in contact with Scott Dahlke in regards to the Culvert that needs to be replaced at Briggs Creek. Dahlke has been in touch with James Bedell to get the permits together. Rick Peyton inquired if one of the Culverts could be eliminated at Briggs Creek. Chairman Ganz stated that is unlikely. Shelly Alger Peyton inquired about widening the road and putting up guard rails. Supervisor Demeules stated that we will probably have to widen the road but guard rails will most likely not be installed. Chairman Ganz reported that the sign that was taken down on the corner by a vehicle has been put back up. Roger reported contractor on the 11117 42nd are parked directly on the road. Charlene Langowski inquired as to what will happen when the house is done and they have friends and family come over and there is no place to park. Roger stated that we could bring that to the county's attention Demeules also stated that he could contact the homeowner.
Fire Department: Chief Koren gave the monthly call report for the period of 12/11/23 – 1/08/23 There was a total of 15 calls for the Clear Lake Fire Department. 8 of those calls were for Palmer Township, 6 being medical, 1 was fire, and 1 other. There will be water rescue training at the channel on Saturday.
P.E.C: We are all set for clean-up day which will be held on May 18th. Chairman Ganz called Midway and Liberty, and they are all set up for May 18th, 7 am to noon. Roger sent in the score grant application.
Park Report: Chairman Ganz stated that he took a few dead trees out of the park last week. Chairman Ganz doesn’t charge time to the Township for this because he uses the firewood to heat his house. Chairman Ganz reported for the Park Committee. They met on February 5th last Monday. They talked about the Forestry Stewardship report that splits up the park into zones. Albert has already sprayed some of the bigger buckthorn down the South trail, so it will be easily identifiable when the time comes to remove the bushes. They discussed and picked a location for the Tennis Courts and Pickleball. It will be on the Southwest side of the park, and they will add two pitch ball fields. Hopefully, we can use the old chain link fence and they are looking for volunteers to help with the concrete. The Committee should have costs for all of the park projects by the March meeting. They are also wanting to put more parking for Palmer Ball in the summer. They discussed disc golf signs, apps, and buying a set of frisbees for the course. Supervisor Demeules reported for Two Inlet Park. The County has been contacted by the Morehouse Family and they are ready to sell and would like it to be quick. They are Partnering with Minnesota Land Trust so the County has more time to seek that funding. Harry Enzer inquired if they knew how much the family is asking. Chairman Ganz reported that there are 6.42 acres and it is valued at 431. They sent out the request to decommission the building in 2024, but they won't do the tare-downs until fall. That includes all the buildings besides the barn 2 cabins and three houses. They will be doing more native plantings along County Road 16. There is an Open House on Saturday the 24th from 2-4 it will be at the park unless inclement weather, then they will move to the Town Hall.
Lake Association: Shelly Alger-Peyton reported that they have received 100 memberships already, and about 30 have come in online. Steve McComas will be coming out on April 13th along with PLM. They cleaned ditches on Highway 25. Shelly stated that they did it early this year due to the weather. Char Langowski stated that they will have to do it again in the spring and then in the fall. Char stated that she thought this wouldn’t count for a spring clean-up. Ice Day was canceled due to the ice conditions and the fact that the permits were denied due to unsafe conditions. Waiting for grants from Sherburne Soil and Water. Shelly asked if the Township would be willing to purchase smaller dumpsters for Rush and Elk. Demeules stated that Rushes dumpster at the landing has been abused in the past and that’s why we pulled it and the dumpster at Elk Lake would be Clear Lake Township's responsibility. Walt Munsterman did the Annual report. Some factors that may be causing the lakes to decline may be bigger water crafts, the use of aqua thrusters, and any fertilizers that get washed into the lakes. Something residents can do to combat the descent of the lakes is to educate residents, about shoreline restoration, rain gardens, upgrading septic systems, and the use of fertilizer. To acquire a full report please see clerk Amy Bragelman during Normal business hours. Walt also stated that clams were found in Rush this is a positive find in that clam since they need fairly decent water to survive. Walt also mentioned that lily pads are great at cleaning the lakes and pulling out phosphates and are illegal to remove. A resident inquired about having a dumpster at the landings for lake weeds. The board stated that you would need multiple permits that would come from the DNR and then a new permit every time you transferred weeds. Supervisor Demeules stated that this may be something the BLCA could look into. Shelly Alger- Peyton said she could reach out to the DNR and see what could be done.
Approval of Minutes: Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the January minutes as written. Supervisor Wipper seconded it and the motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS: Term limits were brought up at last month's meeting Supervisor Demeules and Clerk Bragelman both reached out and found out from MAT there are no powers given to the Township board nor to the voters at the annual meeting to impose term limits on the Township officials. We effectively have term limits as there are routine elections. If the voters want to put someone else in out of concern for a person's length of time on the board, they can do so. But there's no power to prevent an individual from being elected based on past service.
Harry Enzer stated that he would love to see term limits but not at a Township level. Supervisor Demeules replaced Cecil Peterson who was on the board for 50 years.
NEW BUSINESS: Chairman Ganz made a motion for the approval of election judges for the elections in 2024. Supervisor Demeules seconded. Treasure Johnson stated that if we do run into trouble finding judges, we could always ask Haven they don’t have a supervisor election in March. Chairman Ganz inquired as to whether their head judge was also the Clerk. Roger stated that yes, it is now but for 50 years prior they had a head judge who only did elections. Chairman Ganz stated we will probably see more and more Township move to hiring a person just for elections due to training and law changes.
Chairman Ganz showed residents a data request form and policy that we may be using in the future. Chairman Ganz spoke with the township attorney Ashely Bukowski who stated After our telephone conversation on Tuesday, I drafted a data request policy and the data request form for the township’s review and adoption. A few things to note:
Minnesota Chapter 13, the Government Data Practices Act, excludes certain townships, like Palmer Township. This means that Palmer Township is not obligated to follow the requirements of the Government Data Practices Act. However, it is still a good practice to have a policy to follow so residents of the township know the proper procedure for requesting data.
The township can deny a request. However, for public policy reasons, I would recommend having a valid, governmental reason for the denial (i.e., the information is private).
The township can charge for the copy request. The best practice would be to incorporate this into the township’s fee schedule. If a fee is adopted, we can amend the policy to reference the exact amount of the fee and also note that time for staff and consultants will be addition
Even though the Government Data Practices Act doesn’t apply, the township still must follow the Open Meeting Laws.
Supervisor Demeules made a motion to table Hoag variance since no one showed up. Supervisor Wipper Seconded. Treasurer Johnson asked if we followed the Federal rate for mileage. The supervisor stated they followed the County and the County followed Federal. Therefore, the millage will increase.
COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:
Chairman Ganz mentioned wanted to hit on a few notes that he has heard may be an issue. Supervisors don’t charge for mileage in the Township limits. He also wanted to make it clear that the Supervisors make $22 an hour which is set in April Maintenance is $18 Clerk and Treasure are $18.50 and Election judges are $16. We as supervisors do a lot that we don’t charge for.
Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve claims #24019- #24046, plus Conexus for a total of 153,287.72 Supervisor Wipper second
Chairman Ganz made a motion to adjourn. Supervisor Wipper seconded and the motion was carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Amy Bragelman, Palmer Township Clerk Approved as reviewed March 12th, 2024