SCHROEDER TOWNSHIP

      Minutes for Regular Board Meeting of May 12, 2020

*Due to the Emergency Declaration of Covid-19, The meeting was held virtually on Zoom. All votes are by voice roll call.

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

The meeting was called to order by Chair T. McKeever at 7:06 PM

R. Anderson moved to approve the agenda as presented. T. McKeever seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

R. Anderson moved to approve the minutes of April 14th, 2020 regular town board meeting as presented. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carla Menssen reported; Receipts for April totaled $4.60. Disbursements totaled $6,451.18. The ending checkbook balance, as of April 30, 2020, was $60,810.94, and a Total Balance of $196,153.12. R. Anderson moved to approve the treasurer’s report and checks #4832-4844, amounting at $1,645.51. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Still waiting on lodging tax for February. Carla made a statement on behalf of reduced revenue due to Covid-19. Town Hall rent has been reduced due to cancellations. Half of the Taconite Production tax has been received. If receipts go down the budget will be a little higher. Overall, still in good standing. Rick asked a question pertaining to the storefront loan program wondering how long it would take to get it cashed to use. Carla answered that some interest would be lost but the person interested in the loan would go through the bank. Bruce asked Rick if the new to be owners of Temperance Traders were aware of this program. It was stated that it has been mentioned.

Fire Dept: Phil reported that they opened the doors to a meeting this month after postponing last months due to covid-19. Two Fire calls and Two carbon monoxide calls were reported. There is a new member of the Schroeder fire department. Hayley Scott.  Some equipment has been gone through, found some battery corrosion. Looking at getting new air packs. The cost can range around $6,500 each. It was also reported that Phil would like to look at hiring a secretary for the Fire Department. He figures the job would be about 10-15 hours a month. This would help with Fire reports, grants, emails, meeting notes etc. Phil reported that he may want to step down from Fire Chief. Rick asked who the assistant chief currently is. Charlie Bonin is the current assistant chief. Bruce asked Phil if he would like to have Chuck Whiteside fill the water tank at the cemetery. Phil agreed and stated that about 200 gallons get filled once a year.

Commissioner Storlie: Commissioner Storlie updated on the Property Tax Relief. She stated that as a county, the due date of May 15^th cannot be changed. However, under the Minnesota Statue it does state that it can allow any penalties to be obeyed. This would be the best option to use due to economic stress or covid-19 related issues. Taxes have been postponed until a new date of July 15^th however, it is encouraged to pay taxes if you are not caught in a financial situation. In April it was stated that highway engineer Kristen Foster is resigning at the end of May. Interim replacement’s name is Mike, a guy who has worked for Cook County in the 80’s. It was also approved that Mikala Schliep is a new hire for a dispatcher/ Jailer position. Next week, at the committee of the whole meeting it will be talked about that Cook County should be more forceful about wearing face coverings due to covid-19

Road and Bridge: Rick Stated that he has not heard back from the hydrologist about the Sugar Loaf Creek culvert. Invitations have been sent out to 5 people regarding 2 culverts that need to be replaced. Culvert #7, 3 miles north of Highway 61 and culvert #9 3.2 miles north of Highway 61 both up the Cramer Road. 5 out of 5 bids were received. R. Anderson moved to approve the bid from Charles Vandoren for a total of $1,540.00 provided it includes everything as listed on the scope of work. If not, the bid from Laboda Grading would be approved for a total of $3,450.00. B. Martinson seconded. Motion Carried Unanimously. It was stated that a citizen lives in between these two culverts and there always needs to be access for them. The citizen will be notified of this project. Rick stated that he received a call from Tom Dwyer asking if he can drive on the SugarLoaf road and open the gravel pit. He was granted the permission to do so. Chuck Vandoren was asked to give a bid on 5 yards of gravel to be delivered to the town hall to fill holes around the outside of the hall. For $135.00 and a few volunteers this project can be completed. T. McKeever made a motion to approve. R. Anderson seconded. Motion Carried Unanimously. Rick received a phone call from Diane Silver regarding the old tennis court posts with concrete of the townships on her property. The township is required to move them so a bid from Chuck Vandoren has been received for a total of $160.00. T. McKeever made a motion to approve Chuck Vandoren move the posts and to put them on township property at the Sugar Loaf Gravel Pit for up to $250.00. R. Anderson seconded. Motion Carried Unanimously. It was brought to Ricks attention that there is a lot of gravel deposited on the boat landing down at Father Baragas. Karl Crawford stated that he would move the gravel. R. Anderson made a motion to approve Karl Crawford to move the gravel at his hourly rate. B. Martinson seconded. Motion Carried.

Cemetery: Bruce reported that he was at the cemetery marking lots for people that are interested in buying them. Skip Lamb, resident of Schroeder, reported to Bruce that he would want to buy the remainder of 4 lots of block 19. Peter Knudsen has been contacted to rake the cemetery. Citizens of Schroeder requested water to be closer to planters. Bruce stated that he is looking into putting a structure around the water tank to help beautify the cemetery. He is going to contact the North House Folk School to see if they will design the structure at a low cost.

Recreation: A Port a Potty was set to be put out on Mother’s Day weekend and Tina would follow up with Anna if it is not out yet. Down at Father Baragas boat launch there has been a problem with erosion which is getting to the bank. Bruce stated an idea to have Chuck VanDoren take care of that. T.McKeever made a motion to have Chuck VanDoren take care of the erosion with the exception to keep the work under $500.00. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Maintenance: Rick has been in touch with Pete Borson on the siding project. Rick stated that he is unsure of when we can continue with the siding project due to schedule conflicts. It has been decided to put the kitchen remodel on hold so the outdoor projects can be completed. Rick received a bid from Jerry Star to replace the gutters in the back of the building for $2,200.00. T. McKeever made a motion to approve Jerry Star taking care of the gutters in the back of the building. R. Anderson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Bruce mentioned an option to ask Tim Goettl to work on the bathroom remodel as the previous person kept putting it off. T. McKeever made a motion to approve Bruce working with another local plumbing company under the same scope of work listed for the bathroom remodel. R. Anderson seconded. Motion Carried Unanimously.

Other Business: Rick started off with the Schroeder Area Historical Society supervisor report. At the annual meeting it was asked for letters to be sent by the public if they had any feelings or comments regarding the donation of the Schroeder Area Historical Society. Some letters were received. It was requested that $5,000 for next year to be donated. The historical society listed the statute 138.053 in their request. Rick felt that their request does not fit the statute even though the statute allows the town to give money to the historical society. This statute has a cap amount and expresses what the money should be used for. In the request, it states that the money would be for tourism related. This is not allowed under the statute stated in the request. According to Braidy Powers, our levy of $50,000 is the ad valorem tax. If multiplied by the percentage stated in the statute, only $1209,00 maximum can be given to the society. The statute states that it must be for historical work. Due to these circumstances R. Anderson made a motion to deny the $5,000 request from the Schroeder Area Historical Society. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

For further reference, all letters received from the town citizens will be acknowledged under correspondence.

Rick reported that he holds the liquor license for Temperance Traders Inc. in which they are selling. Heather West is applying for the liquor license under Temperance Liquors LLC. Rick states that he will be abstaining from the approval of transfer but would like to make a motion to agree of the support of the transfer under a condition that it will be based on a successful closing date of May 18, 2020. R. Anderson made that motion. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. T. McKeever asked for approval to transfer liquor licenses from Rick Anderson to Heather West. B. Martinson made the approval. T. McKeever seconded. Motion Carried Unanimously with R. Anderson abstaining. It was stated by a township citizen that the township of Schroeder has a lot of newly identified property. Meaning; some properties are named under the township of Schroeder and not the actual property owner. It is greatly encouraged for landowners of Schroeder to check out the county parcel mapping system. The county will be contacted by Schroeder Township to see why this is.

Correspondence: Sent- None

Received– Emails from Cathy Johnson, Charles and Deidre Muggley in opposition to the financial support of the Schroeder Area Historical Society. Received a letter from Cook County Soil and Water Conservation. It was stated that they will need to reach out to the homeowner’s association for the request that they are asking for.

Public Comments: None

R. Anderson moved to adjourn. B. Martinson seconded. Motion carried. Adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Anna Green, Clerk