April 11, 2017

                          SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP

      Minutes for Regular Board Meeting of April 11, 2017

Present: Supervisors, Tina McKeever, Bruce Martinson, Rick Anderson; Clerk Doug Schwecke; Treasurer Carla Menssen; Deputy Clerk Gale Ring, Fire Chief Phil Bonin, Commissioner Storlie and residents of Schroeder.

The meeting was called to order by T. McKeever at 7:02 PM.

B. Martinson moved to approve the agenda with the addition of opening of viewfinder at Tac Harbor. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

B.Martinson moved to approve the minutes of March 13, 2017 regular meeting as amended. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried. T. McKeever moved to approve the minutes of the Board of Canvas. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carla Menssen reported-Receipts for March totaled $32,005.07. Disbursements totaled $16,036.97. The ending checkbook balance, as of March 31, 2017, was $72,176.66, and a Total Balance of $216,760.49. B. Martinson moved to approve the treasurer’s report. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

B. Martinson moved to approve checks #4015-4057 in the amount of $9,379.94. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

Lodging tax debit slip for Jan. 2017 of $1,074.94, was approved and signed.

Fire & Rescue: Phil reported they had a meeting last night with a PERA rep to explain what is involved with switching the Fire Relief to PERA. The final exam for the new firefighter training will be next week, followed by 2 weeks of hazmat training. Our new members will then have completed 146 hrs. of training. There was 1 call last month. Sheriff Pat Eliasen was here to answer any questions about their request for funds to do a site survey. The ARMER radio system is fully operational in Cook County, however there are 3 spots of poor coverage. One is around the Schroeder Town Hall. This survey would show if Bi-Directional Amplifiers (BDA) would help and the best placement for them. Cost of the survey is $5,400. If it showed BDAs would be effective they would apply for grants to cover the cost. R. Anderson moved to contribute $540 to the Cook County Auditor for the ARMER site survey. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried. Charlie asked for the Supervisors impressions of the Fire Relief switching to PERA. They all thought we should move ahead, but would like to see new projections. It was decided to request a new cost analysis from PERA. This would give us newer information and allow us to decide by Oct. 31.

Commissioner Storlie: The property tax informational meeting held on April 4 was very well done and will be available to view on the Chamber of Commerce’s website. Four from Cook County attended a leadership conference for county leaders. Work is being done to improve security in the courthouse.

Reorganization: R. Anderson moved to appoint B. Martinson as Chair and T. McKeever as Vice Chair. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried.

R. Anderson moved to assign department heads as follows, Road & Bridge- R. Anderson, Cemetery-B. Martinson, Recreation- T. McKeever. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried.

T. McKeever moved to appoint B. Martinson to the Fire Relief Board, replacing retiring R. McKeever. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

T. McKeever moved to designate Cook County News Herald as the official newspaper. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

R. Anderson moved to keep the posting places the same. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.

R. Anderson moved to approve Resolution 2017-03, designating Grand Marais State Bank as our official depository and approving Tina McKeever, Bruce Martinson, Richard Anderson, Carla Menssen, Mary VanDoren, Doug Schwecke and Gale Ring as designated signatories. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.

T. McKeever moved to keep compensations at current levels. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried.

Road and Bridge: R. Anderson reported that the roads are in pretty good shape right now. Bruce mentioned that the county will be doing some milling/repaving in 2018, and it might be a good time to schedule our projects for then as well.

Cemetery: Bruce asked Phil to fill the water tank sometime in the next month. Mowing bids from Greg Johnson and David Somnis were discussed. T. McKeever moved to accept the bid from Greg Johnson Mowing for a 2 year contract for lawn care. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried. How often to mow was discussed. It was decided to try mowing the ball field every other week and the rest weekly. Tina will have overview of the mowing.

Recreation: We have received a $300 grant from Great Place Project for a put & take library by the town hall. R. Anderson moved to approve renting a port-a-let for Harbor Park. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.

Maintenance: Clerk mentioned the leak in the roof will need to be fixed when the weather warms up. T. McKeever moved to approve having the steps, porch, and the Silver Field sign restained. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried. T. McKeever moved to approve spending up to $200 on plants for the Town Hall area. R. Anderson moved to approve spending $275 for Schroeder Township signage, by Border Signs. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.

Other Business: TSSSD- R. Anderson moved that the Schroeder Town Board of Supervisors supports the detachment of the area of Schroeder Township lying within the boundries of the Tofte/Schroeder Sanitary Sewer District and authorizes the board chair, Bruce Martinson, to sign the petition of detachment filed with the chief administrative law judge following Minnesota Statutes 442A.06. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.        T. McKeeveer moved to approve Resolution 2017-02, a resolution approving $1,500 to Tofte Township for the 4th of July celebration. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried. The Birch Grove taskforce has put forth a recommendation for reorganizing the various entities using the Birch Grove building. Our participation will be decided after Tofte decides to approve or disapprove the recommendations. Rick Anderson came before the Board to explain his request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a residence without a commercial business on a property in the General Commercial zone in Schroeder. The Board found it to be consistent with our revised land use plan. T. McKeever moved to issue a letter in support of Rick Anderson’s request for a CUP. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried with R. Anderson abstaining. B. Martinson asked for a motion to petition the DNR to replace the sign at Tac Harbor Safe Harbor. All other safe harbors along the shore have larger, more visible signage. R. Anderson moved to request the MN DNR, working with MN DOT, install large brown signs on Hwy. 61 near the entrance of Taconite Harbor Safe Harbor in Schroeder. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried. R. Anderson moved to approve $100 to help defray costs for a opening ceremony to dedicate the new viewfinder at Tac Harbor. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried. Local dignitaries and press will be present and this will be a good public relations opportunity to showcase Schroeder and the Mn. Power facility. R. Anderson attended the new officers training put on by MAT. He found it to be very informative.

Correspondence: Sent– govt. survey

Received–  soil composting

Public Comments: none

T. McKeever moved to adjourn. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried. Adjourned at 8:47 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Doug Schwecke, Clerk