MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
PALMER TOWNSHIP
September 12, 2022
The regular meeting of the Palmer Township Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Palmer Township Hall, with Supervisors Ganz, Demeules, and Larson 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. Chairman Ganz made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Supervisor Demeules seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Sheriff’s Report: Ben Zawacki read the Sheriff’s report for the month of August in Palmer Township. There were 99 calls for service as compared to 106 in 2021 and 83 in 2020. There were 30 traffic stops, no crashes with injury, and 1 property damage. There were no burglaries, no thefts, and 1 boating complaint. There were no shooting calls, no DUIs, no parking violations, and 1 property damage. Ben reported that it has been a quiet August. Chairman Ganz commended the police department for their great work on Saturday’s Palmer Day.
Road Maintenance/Signs: Supervisor Demeules stated that they have been doing a lot of brushing. Chairman Ganz spoke with Scott Dahlke from Civil Engineering Site Design. He stated that he hasn’t been able to get into a position to generate plans for either the
109th Avenue project or the 42nd Street project, due to workload. He believes it would be best to
generated and ready plans late fall, and then obtain bids mid-January or early Feb
for work to be done in the spring or early summer. Ganz stated that we should be able to start this project right away in the spring. Ganz mentioned that when they originally tard the roads around the lake no base was added, so now we will need to go back and do it correctly. Ditches are being mowed. Jeff Peterson is getting signs put out. Charlene Langowski questioned why a sign hasn’t been moved. Ganz stated that he will talk to Jeff and see what the hold-up is. Ganz talked to Mike with MJS dirt works about a culvert on 65th that needs some repair, due to a washout during storms. James Langowski brought up that the minutes may need to be changed for the previous month. The minutes state that French Drains will be used on the corner of 50th and 114th but they didn’t end up using French Drains, instead they put in a ditch drainage system.
Fire Department: Captain Koren gave the monthly call report for the period of 7/12/21 – 8/09/21 for Palmer Township. There was a total of 16 calls for the Clear Lake Fire Department. 5 of those calls were for Palmer Township, 3 being medical, 2 fire, and no auto accidents.
P.E.C: The report that Roger sent in for expenditures was 20,230.13 to have Clean Up Day this was. We will get reimbursed 14,413.47 with a difference of around 6 thousand dollars. We had a little over 3 thousand in entrée fees, we are sitting at around 2,700 out-of-pocket costs, which is close to what we have paid in years past. The biggest bill was from Republic last year the bill was around 11,000 this year it was 19,286.72. Ganz stated that we should shop for a different service. Clint Schendzielos stated that to keep everything cleaned up around the Township 2,700
isn’t a huge cost. The board agreed. Roger stated that we did raise our prices this year, but we are still lower than other surrounding towns.
Park Report: Chairman Ganz stated that we had our biggest event of the year Palmer Day on Saturday. The park looked astounding. Ganz thanked Mitch Hoefer for all of his hard work. The unofficial numbers were 123 cars entered in the Car Show, 29 kegs of beer, and just under 60 units in the Parade. No incidents that anyone was aware of. The park got some sprucing up days before Palmer Day. Poles and picnic tables were painted and repaired, the new spring toys were installed by Lions members Felix, Pat, and Mitch Hoefer. Ganz and the board looked through the two septic bids that we got from MJS and Busse. MJS came in at 10,450 and Busses came in at 10,354 for the Pavilion. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to go with Busse Larson second and the motion was carried unanimously. Roger questioned if we could put this on the ARPA Fund Chairman Ganz said yes, but that we need to take the spring toys out of the Lions fund. Clint Schendzielos asked if there is an update as to when the building that is used for Palmer Day will be reconfigured. Ganz stated that the door hasn’t come in yet and the engineer is going to design something for the header, so it won’t get done until next spring.
Lake Association: Steve Demeules reported that the BLCA didn’t have a meeting this month. They are getting acclimated with their newly elected board, same with the T LID.
Legal Comments: Roger stated that reimbursements have to be on a separate claim form.
Approval of Minutes: Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the August minutes as written. Supervisor Larson seconded it and the motion carried. Clerk Amy will add an addendum to the July 11th Minutes.
ARPA FUND: Nothing to report
OLD BUSINESS:
1.Cameras will be installed Friday, October 28th in the Meeting room and the library.
NEW BUSINESS:
1.PID: 40-027-1465 David & Mary Thorpe Road and Shoreland Setback, and Impervious Surface. They are wanting to enclose a porch to make it a 3-season porch. Supervisor Demeules asked what they will do to mitigate water runoff. You may need to put in French Drains because the Board of Adjustments is getting strict with impervious surfaces. The residence will be taking out a sidewalk. Demeules will send comment and mention the runoff mitigation and the sidewalk that they plan to take out. A resident mentioned that they could contact the Lake Association and may have some grants that could help with the French Drain.
2.PID: 40-401-0080 Van-Ha Nguyen Side, Road, Shoreland Setback, and Impervious Surface. She is looking to redesign the roof line. She will also be adding new gutters, and talked with Dan who hasn’t made it out to the property yet. Supervisor Demeules stated that she should have a number of before and after for the impervious surface. Demeules will send comment
3.PID: 40-022-1202 IUP Contractors Yard Brandon Doering
Demeules will send comment and mention that he gets the size of operation he needs.
4.Brian Wipper would like to move his horseshoe club to Palmer Park. They would have to change the pits around a bit. Chairman Ganz made a motion to work with the club to update the pits. Supervisor Demeules seconded and the motion was carried.
5.We need a new mower the old one is around 8 years old Chairman Ganz got a few bids. Kawasaki 31 horse 14,399 or 26 horse 10,200 Arnolds is 10,849 with 4,000 more for a bagger if we would need one. We could trade in our old mowers. We will be looking to purchase in October.
6.Gary Gray came and talked and answered questions about County Commissioner and solar energy.
COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:
Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve claims #22217- #22249, plus payroll, and Conexus for a total of 53,566.36. Supervisor Larson seconded it and the motion carried.
Chairman Ganz made a motion to adjourn. Supervisor Demeules seconded and the motion was carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m.
Amy Bragelman, Palmer Township ClerkApproved as reviewed October 10, 2022