SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP

      Minutes for Regular Board Meeting of Feb.9, 2016

Present: Supervisors, Tina McKeever, Roger McKeever, Bruce Martinson; Clerk, Doug Schwecke; Treasurer, Alicia Kangas; Fire Chief, Phil Bonin; Asst. Clerk Gale Ring, Commissioner Ginny Storlie, and residents of Schroeder.

The meeting was called to order by T. McKeever at 7:00PM.

R. McKeever moved to approve the agenda with the addition of Annual meeting items and expenditure authorization policy, under Other Business. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried.

B.Martinson moved to approve the minutes of Jan. 12, 2016 as presented. R. McKeever seconded. Minutes approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Receipts for Jan. totaled $1,750.77, which included the 3rd period property taxes. Disbursements totaled $8,515.65. The ending checkbook balance as of Jan. 31, 2016 was $69,658.65. T. McKeever moved to approve the treasurer’s report. B. Martinson seconded. Treasurer’s Report was approved.

B.Martinson moved to approve checks #3713-3729, with check # 3721 being voided, in the amount of $5,966.71. R. McKeever seconded. Motion passed.

Lodging tax debit slip for Nov. in the amount of $761.70 was approved and signed.

Commissioner Storlie: Ginny Storlie reported that the last draft of the Cook County Land Use Plan was approved by the Commissioners with a few minor changes. Sherriff reported few ATV complaints and only 1 citation being issued in 2015. Credits local ATV clubs with good education programs and responsible riders. 5 people will be hired by DNR to do monitoring for invasive species at various county lakes this summer. Signage guidelines are being reviewed. Forest Service is intending to pave part of Temperance River Rd., but no money is available at this time. Discussed Lake Co. ambulance service covering part of Schroeder Twp. and whether Cook Co. should be paying for this.

Fire and Rescue: Phil reported that the shower remodel is completed and provides more room dressing area. Meeting held last night. Still working on Fire Relief. Looking into having PERA take over administration, possibly on Jan. 1, 2017. Will need to purchase some new uniforms this year as some old ones need replacing and have more new members. They will cost about $1,300 each. Looking at adding some shelving also. No calls last month.

Road and Bridge: Bill reported that the roads are in good winter condition for now. Rick Anderson reported for the road committee that with projects that might need attention in the next 5 years the budget should be increased to create a reserve to handle them. They recommended that it be increased to $45,000 with any residual being left in to accumulate. Snowplowing issues at the fire hall were discussed and seem to have been resolved.

Cemetery: Mowing bids were discussed briefly and were tabled to March.

Recreation: Nothing

Maintenance: Estimate from Dave Rude for replacing old lights in fire hall with LEDs were for about $290/8’ fixture. Decided to try a few first to make sure that’s what we want. T. McKeever moved to approve replacing 2 lights. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried.

Other Business: Compensation schedule was reviewed and left as is, with grader operator being set at $25/hr. T. McKeever reported on the meeting she attended with Birch Grove School and the 3 twps. Enrollment in K-5 is currently 27 fulltime and 2 part-time students. This level is sustainable but are strapped for cash currently. Some computers need upgrading in order to support required testing. Saplings and Birch Buddies programs are currently operating at a loss. A sustainability plan is being developed. They will be approaching townships in Lake Co. also for support. After further discussion on BGS and requests for support in general, R. McKeever moved to approve Resolution 2016-01, a resolution approving 2 payments of $10,000 each (in March and June of 2016) to Birch Grove Community School. B. Martinson seconded. Carried unanimously. After discussion T. McKeever moved to adopt the 2016 budget as: General- $59,000(includes approved requests for support), Road&Bridge-$45,000(to be added to existing balance), Cemetery-$2,000, Fire-$19,000, Rescue Squad-$13,000, Recreation-$4,000, Truck Replacement-$7,210, Radio Replacement-$1,000. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried. The Board of Appeals and Equalization was discussed and a date of 6 PM, April 12 was set. Annual meeting- B. Martinson asked to be on the agenda to talk about changes to the cemetery rules and changing the old storefront loan program to “Schroeder Business Development Revolving Fund”. T. McKeever to discuss changes to Schroeder Area Land Use Plan. Clerk asked to develop a survey to be sent to all registered voters in Schroeder to get their input on the ongoing donation issue. Hopefully this will alleviate tension at the Annual meeting. Requests for support have been received from SAHS, Birch Grove Foundation, and Birch Grove School. Their information is posted on our website.

Correspondence: Sent–  various year-end reports

                        Received- Gellinger letter, census survey

R. McKeever moved to adjourn. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried. Adjourned at 10:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Doug Schwecke, Clerk