SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP Minutes of the Annual Meeting of March 11, 2014
The Annual Town Meeting was called to order at 8:12 PM by Clerk Doug Schwecke
Clerk led over 60 people in attendance in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance
Roger McKeever nominated Steve Schug as Moderator. Roger McKeever moved to close nominations. Gale Ring seconded. Motion carried with 1 nay.
Skip Lamb moved to approve the agenda as presented. Deb Johnson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Roger McKeever moved to approve the minutes of the Annual Meeting of March 12, 2013, and the continuation of Aug.12, 2013. Deb Johnson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Treasurer Alicia Kangas presented the annual Treasurer’s Report showing a beginning balance of $129,488.32, receipts of $139,689.60, disbursements of $113,826.27, leaving an ending balance of $155,351.65. Skip Lamb moved to approve the Treas. Report as presented. Greg Miron seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Alicia then presented the IRRRB Storefront Loan Program showing a bank balance of $57,533.95, one outstanding loan of $32,388.41, for a total of $89,922.36.
The 2014 Budget, which was approved by the Supervisors at the Feb. 11, 2014 Board meeting, was presented by the clerk. General-$32,000 (plus donations), Road & Bridge-$20,000, Cemetery- $2,000, Recreation- $4,000, Fire Dept.- $23,000, Rescue Squad- $10,440, TOTAL- $91,440 (plus donations to be approved by the voters)
Supervisor Roger McKeever presented the Road Report. All roads appear to be in good shape at present, we’ll see what the spring melt brings. Several culverts will need to be replaced in the next few years.
Supervisor Deb Johnson presenting the Cemetery Report stated that everything was pretty quiet. Nothing new was planned for the coming year.
Supervisor Tina McKeever reported on Recreation mentioning Port-a-lets will be rented for the summer, beginning in May, for the ball park and Harbor Park, and the dock will again be put in at Dyers Lake at that time. Plan work at Harbor Park will be presented later in the meeting.
Fire Chief Phil Bonin was not in attendance. No one else had anything to report.
Moderator Schug read the Rescue Squad report prepared by Chief Louisa Trachta. They began the year with 10 members and all are currently certified. There were 53 calls in 2013, with 27 being from Tofte and 26 from Schroeder
Roger McKeever moved to designate the Cook County News Herald to be the Newspaper of Record. Skip Lamb seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Tina McKeever moved to set the time for the next Annual Meeting to be 8:01PM March 10, 2015. Alicia Kangas seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Skip Lamb moved to set the Annual Election Poll hours at 5-8 PM for 2015. Roger McKeever seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Citizen concerns–Skip Lamb moved to approve a letter of support for maintaining our Post Office as full time. Roger McKeever seconded. Motion carried with 1 nay.
Mary Van Doren moved to approve a letter of support for the senior housing project being proposed by Tofte Township. Linda Lamb seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Support of the development of lots for affordable housing was brought up. Some thoughts brought forward were; looking for future development to help young couples stay in area, should township maintain roads in any future development?, what is affordable?, not specific enough for action tonight, would include incentives for first time buyers. Steve Schug moved to approve a letter of general support. Mary Van Doren seconded. Motion carried by a vote of 20 ayes to 10 nays.
A community clean-up day for the Welcome Walls in the rest areas is again being planned for this spring/summer. A big thank-you to Gale Ring and Deb Johnson for all their hard work on getting this project started last year.
Election results were announced with Roger McKeever being re-elected for a 3 year term as Supervisor, and Doug Schwecke being re-elected for a 2 year term as Clerk.
Alicia Kangas moved to table setting the Levy until a continuation of this meeting on Aug. 11 of this year. Deb Johnson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Donation requests: Alicia Kangas opened this topic with a motion to set a cap, for donations to be approved by the voters, at $5,000 per donation request and the total to be not more than 10% of the approved budget for the year. Also any request must be for a specific purpose or project to help the voters decide on need. Kathy Johnson seconded the motion and asked that voting be done by paper ballot. It was asked that the donation requests for this year be presented before this motion was called.
Tofte Township– A letter was read requesting $1,500 to help defray the costs for the 4th of July celebration and fireworks.
Birch Grove Community School is asking for $8,000 to help bridge a funding deficit this year brought on by the unexpected loss of 5 students due to relocation for housing or employment. Next year looks much better financially because the kindergarten round-up just completed showed interest by 9 possible students, kindergarten would be fully funded by the state next year, and no 5th graders leaving this year. It’s important to community to keep the school operating because it provides local employment, day care, is a top rated VOA school, and is well supported by area businesses.
Birch Grove Foundation is asking for $3,500. BGF is charged with managing Birch Grove Community Center and running programs such as the weekly senior lunch, Sunday Fundays, summer pizza nights, “Put & Take” library and many other community events.
Schroeder Area Historical Society is asking for $9,000, the same as last year, to supplement fundraising, memberships, donations from individuals and organizations, and gift shop revenues to help maintain the building and promote community involvement and programs.
The motion to cap donations was the called. Ballots were distributed and collected. While the votes were tallied Commissioner Bruce Martinson was asked to give his report. Bruce reported that, due in part to a resolution passed here last year, Lake Co. has opened Lake Co. Rds. 7 & 8 to ATV traffic. Everyone is encouraged to become involved in Tac Harbor Citizens Advisory Board to help keep the facility open. He then introduced Cook County’s new administrator Jay Kieft. Jay said his main focus in this new position will be to help the Commissioners and dept. heads to become more efficient and transparent, and also to work to strengthen partnerships with the Townships. He would be interested in attending some of our Board meetings. The ballots being counted, the results on the motion to cap donations was 16 yes and 29 no, so the motion failed. Mary Van Doren moved to approve Tofte’s request for $1,500 to be used for the 4th of July celebration. Leona Sherer seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Tina McKeever moved to approve Birch Grove School’s request for $8,000. Phyllis Miron seconded. Motion carried with some opposition. Mary Van Doren moved to approve Birch Grove Foundation’s request for $3,500. Linda Lamb seconded. Motion carried with some opposition. Linda Lamb moved to approve Schroeder Area Historical Society’s request for $9,000. Phyllis Miron seconded. Motion carried by a show of hands, 22 yes to 11 no.
Next Greg Miron started the discussion on plans for upgrading the Township Park by Father Baraga’s Cross with a short history on the planning process. C.J. Fernandez then presented his latest set of revisions. He said he was here to present concepts for future use, not a design proposal. It would be up to the people to decide what, if anything, is done. He was open to any constructive ideas to move this process forward, focusing on the history of the area, existing features, and granting options. The main components would be parking, ADA accessibility, meeting areas, green space, and erosion control. Some concerns brought up from the floor were better public notification, ongoing maintenance costs, is there enough room for adequate setbacks for a vault toilet, increased traffic, pebble beach be left alone. The erosion problems and ADA accessibility are things that will need to be addressed by the township regardless of whether anything else is done. A follow up meeting would be held in the next month or two to finish the project.
Judy Gregg nominated Don and Tina McKeever as Citizens of the Year. Gale Ring seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Linda Lamb moved to continue the Annual Meeting to Aug. 11, 2014, 7 PM at the Schroeder Town Hall. Deb Johnson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Meeting was recessed at 10:32 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Schwecke, Clerk
Steve Schug, Moderator
SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP
Minutes of the continuation of the 2014 Annual Meeting
The meeting was called to order by Moderator Tina McKeever at 7 PM on August 11, 2014.
The only item of business was to approve the 2015 Tax Levy for Schroeder Township.
Expenses for 2015 are expected to decrease by $5,400 as 1 fire truck loan from Cook County is paid off this year. So disbursements would be about $87,000, plus any donations to be approved at the 2015 Annual Meeting. The expected pre-Levy receipts for 2015 should be about $78,000. This leaves about $9,000 to be covered by the Levy. In addition, any donations would have to be added to that amount. Question was asked about how close actual receipts and disbursements have been to the budget. 2012 was short about $25,000 due to the purchase of new fire truck and equipment. 2013 was long about $25,000 due in part to an accumulated gas tax payment from Cook County. For 2014, expenses are running about $10,000 above 2103, due in part to extra snow plowing last winter. Receipts are also up $5,000 due to some state aid s and grants, so we’re about $5,000 behind last year. Some concern was expressed about the amount of donations granted every, which seems to be steadily increasing. Some felt that we should build a little cushion as the township roads will need some work in the coming years, and that could be very expensive. Bruce Martinson moved to set the 2015 Levy for Schroeder Township at $39,000. Second was by Greg Miron. After more discussion the motion was called. The motion carried unanimously.
Linda Lamb moved to adjourn. Second was by Skip Lamb. Motion carried.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Schwecke, Clerk
Tina McKeever, Moderator
Schroeder Township 