SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP

 Minutes for Regular Meeting of May 10, 2016

Present:  Supervisors, Tina McKeever, Roger McKeever, Bruce Martinson; Fire Chief, Phil Bonin; Commissioner, Ginny Storlie; Cook County Road Engineer, Dave Betts;  Assistant Clerk, Gale Ring; residents of Schroeder.

Absent:  Clerk, Doug Schwecke, Treasurer, Alicia Kangas

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

The agenda of May 10, 2016 was presented.  B. Martinson moved to amend the agenda as follows: add discussion of Minnesota Power facility after Commissioner Storlie’s report.  R. McKeever seconded.  Agenda approved with change as noted above. 

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

Treasurer’s Report:  Receipts for April totaled $1278.72.  Disbursements totaled $6433.84.  Ending checkbook balance as of April 30, 2016 was $65,165.03. In all of the Township accounts, Schroeder has a total of $209,300.16.   B. Martinson moved to approve the Treasurer’s report.   R. McKeever seconded.  Treasurer’s Report approved.   

Checks 3775-3792 in the amount of $3583.88.  B. Martinson moved to approve the claims.  R. McKeever seconded. Motion carried.

There were no Lodging Taxes paid in this month.

Dave Betts:  Reviewed the Cook County road five year plan.  The following items were of interest to Schroeder:  The work to pave the Sawbill from Britton Peak up to the Honeymoon is scheduled to begin this summer.  This includes culvert repair.  The state road grant money awarded to Schroeder for road work will flow through the county highway account.  Dave Betts will be available for information and advice on town road work using these funds.  The third item was the question of whether or not the Cramer road will be paved in the near future.  Such a project would require approximately 6.25 to 8 million dollars at this time to complete.  Complicating the project is the fact that there is no county right of way as of yet and the Cramer needs to be widened to meet current federal ten ton road standards which is what all paved roads must meet as a standard at this time.  Also a few bridge issues would have to be addressed.  Paving the Cramer will not happen soon.  There are current plans this year to lay down gravel on the Cramer from the Highway as far as the Hansen gravel pit.

Commissioner Storlie:  the Schroeder Sugar Loaf road sign at the top of the Sugar Loaf has been knocked over and the signs taken.  There is a report on the county website where this can be reported in the future.  Cook County Commissioners held an emergency management meeting in April.  Focus was on handling diseases, their management, treatment and containment.   There were also more workshops on building bridges of mutual cooperation with other counties in Minnesota.  Also discussed was the presence of teenage sex trafficking from Thunder Bay along the North Shore to the Twin Harbors.

Minnesota Power Facility on the Cramer Road:  a tour of the facility was conducted by B. Martinson and R. McKeever.  Schroeder is looking into using the building as a source for pumping water for the fire trucks during the winter.  A proposal for Schroeder to lease the facility until such a time as MN Power sells the building is being discussed.  The pump runs 70 gal/minute.  The building has a lot of space.  No numbers are known for utilities and no lease price is known as yet.  Chr. T. McKeever tabled the topic for later discussion when cost figures are available.  

 Policy on authority to expend funds: no firm figures or circumstances were arrived at.  Tabled until T. McKeever has an opportunity to talk to surrounding communities to see how other townships handle their spending, with or without board approval.

 Fire Dept.:  there was one call.  Tofte covered it.  Schroeder, Tofte, and Listen have scheduled a training day.   P Bonin picked out shelving units and a bench for the fire hall.  Hasn’t found a reasonably priced gas container cabinet yet.  Still researching better prices for properly designed fire suits for new members.   Cuffs without thumb holes are recommended but cost more when purchased from the original manufacturer.  False calls continue at Bluefin.  Bluefin has been urged again to correct the error.

Road and Bridge: Schroeder lost its grader operator due to personal injury while on another job.  Suggested that township might consider Jerry Donnich.  No action taken at this time.  Question raised should Schroeder Township crush gravel and store for future projects.  Further discussion on this topic is scheduled for the work session on Road and Bridge to be held on May 26^th at 6:00PM at Schroeder Township Hall.

Cemetery:  B. Martinson staked required plots for use.  P. Bonin asked to fill water tank by Memorial Day.

Recreation:  Baseball fence needs to be straightened back to an upright position.  T. McKeever and D. Schwecke to discuss and to contact Vetter to see if he will straighten and re-anchor the fence.  G. Ring said the bench purchased with Great Place Project funds is here and ready to be assembled and installed on township hall deck.  Bench to be positioned to view the Lake.  The board allowed G Ring $200 to buy stain and brushes and other items for the 5/26 cleanup day scheduled at the Hall with the BGS second through fifth graders.

Maintenance:   East roof/wall edge of Township hall has suffered water seepage.  R. Anderson advised that this could be fixed with flashing.  The cost would be around $200.00.  T. McKeever made a motion to approve the repair.  R. McKeever seconded.  Clerk D Schwecke instructed to contact P. Borson, or Dillahey, or Gustafson to ask them to repair siding and subsurface materials damaged when snow and water got under the hall siding on the NE low corner of the Hall.  Kitchen ceiling tiles are fixed for now.

Other Business:  a public meeting is set for June 16 Thursday at 6:00 PM to discuss land use plan in Schroeder.  TSSSD:  Suggestion was made that Tofte may be ready to leave the TSSSD also and that this may make it possible to close the TSSSD down.  Schroeder reps will take this idea to the next TSSSD meeting.BGS check for financial assistance:  The statute clarifying township ability to donate to schools remained uncompleted due to the death of its author Rep D Dill.  In the meantime, T. McKeever spoke to Jim Fischer of District 10 from MATT.  He stated that Schroeder can pay the first $10k to BGS for 2015/2016 under the service contract statute verified through emails received from Lutsen Twp. and MAT attorneys. T. McKeever will meet with the clerk to make certain that all other financial support checks are placed in the appropriate categories.  T. McKeever made a motion to award the $10k check for the period of 2015/2016 to BGS.  R. McKeever seconded.  B. Martinson abstained due to his wife’s connection with the school.  Motion passed. 

B. Martinson made a motion to sign the IRRRB resolution, allowing IRRRB to reorganize with regional control. T. McKeever seconded. Motion passed.

T. McKeever revisited the terms of the Schroeder Business Development loan (once known as the Storefront loan), regarding whether or not there should be limits on amounts borrowed. There was no interest in removing the caps established in the previous regular meeting. The matter was dropped.

Correspondence: Proposed loan program changes sent to IRRRB.  Received approval of the loan changes from IRRRB.  Letter of support for Taconite Harbor was sent.

B. Martinson moved to adjourn at 9:44PM. T. McKeever seconded. Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Gale Ring

Assistant Clerk