The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Brandt at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. All members were in attendance.

Motion by Wortham, seconded by Peterson to accept the minutes of the November 12th Board Meeting as presented. Carried unanimous.

Jackie Clark asked the Board what their position would be regarding accepting the attachment of additional area adjacent to the west township border. Supervisor Brandt explained the process and said that the Board has maintained a neutral position on previous attachment requests. Each detachment petition is evaluated by the state to determine if the request is valid and justified.

Dave Johnson asked the Board when the review process would start for setting the proposed 2015 Budget for the township. Brandt explained the process was beginning and would continue until the budget proposal is presented and voted on at the Annual Meeting in March.

Supervisor Brandt presented the Road and Bridge report as follows:

1. The maintenance crew had finished mowing right-of-ways.
2. The crew had been snowplowing a lot with the several recent snowfalls.
3. No response has been received yet regarding the Boyd’s Lodge sign issue.
4. Maintenance had resolved several minor equipment issues.
5. Brandt was reviewing the county’s policy prohibiting snowplowers from putting snow piles in road right of way. This practice can create safety and maintenance issues, so the township should approve and publish a similar policy. He will confirm with county and have the attorney draft a resolution for the Board to consider.
6. A property owner on Woodcrest Road had asked when the township would accept the road and begin providing maintenance service. Brandt explained that the policy had been to accept the road when it met the township standards and that there were permanent residences on the road.
7. Brandt gave an update on planning for reconstruction of Nelson Road. The engineering was ongoing and Brandt had met with the Pequot Lakes City Council representative. The project construction cost were getting too high, so the standards had been lowered to allow a 40 mph criteria rather than the 50 mph level they were using. The current design has a 22’ road surface with 1’ shoulders. The Pequot Council was unsure when they could give go ahead for their share of the costs, but they may have to postpone until 2015. The city will conduct the bidding to meet their requirements and then the township will share costs equally. Motion by Wortham to proceed with planning and bidding process as presented, second by Peterson. Carried unanimous.
8. There were no safety incidents.

Mike Clasen commented that the roads in Timothy Township are overgrown and could damage department vehicles. Brandt said they had been contacted and are working to clear them.

Chief Clasen presented the Fire Department report as follows.

1. There had been 5 calls during the month including 2 fires, 2 false alarms, and one medical. There has been a total of 111 calls this year.
2. Last month’s drills were firefighter challenge including SCBA, search & rescue and collapses.
3. The department is still working on the sale of Engine 15 with a department in northern Minnesota.
4. Clasen had prepared the payroll for the department year 2013 which ends November 30th.
5. Clasen would like to move forward with purchase of tables and chairs for new classroom. The clerk presented a revised bid totaling $5647.98.
6. Have ordered the new Jaws of Life from Genesis and it should arrive before end of the week. The cost is $25,000 and would be paid from the non-budget fund. System includes the pump, a cutter, a spreader, and jaws. Old equipment would be moved to Station 2.
7. The tracks for the Rescue Gator have been installed and is in service.
8. The department had received a letter of resignation from Isaac Wannebo that takes affect on December 4, 2013.
9. Request for board to make change to the department bylaws. The participation requirement is currently 50%, but would like to move it up to 66%. The board will review and approve at the January meeting.
10. Also would like to set membership at 27 persons for 2014. This would be a trial period for one year to see how the change affects the department.
11. Will start putting together a truck committee after first of the year for the new pumper/tanker truck to replace E15 and E16. Would like to submit order by end of 2014 and take delivery in 2015.
12. The department Christmas Party to be held on December 14th at Lucky’s Tavern in Pequot.
13. The annual officer elections were held and there are no changes.
14. There were no safety incidents.

Dave Johnson recounted a medical incident with one of his neighbors and commented that the First Responders were on scene quickly and handled the situation professionally. He said it was wonderful to have that benefit in the community.

Supervisor Brandt asked Chief Clasen if he could attend a meeting with Jim Schultz regarding the Firewise Program. Clasen said he will try to set something up in January.

The Transfer Station/Recycling Center reports was as follows:

1. Station is running in the black.
2. The station is now open on Saturdays only.
3. The aluminum cage had been emptied and the aluminum sold for a total of $440.
4. The 2014 permits had been ordered from the printer.

There was nothing new for Park and Recreation.

Supervisor Brandt reported on planning & zoning issues:

1. Brandt has been working on the Trout Lake Camp CUP request. The hearing for this has been delayed again and is now scheduled to come before the CWC Planning Commission on 1-16-2014. Brandt was waiting for additional info to be submitted by the camp and would distribute the info to the board members.
2. Brandt has reviewed the Parrington variance request on Ossiwinimakee Lake to allow addition within lake setback area. Motion by Brandt to recommend approval with no conditions, second by Wortham. Carried unanimous.
3. Discussion of the James & Steve Michels variance request. Property has received 10 variances in the past and now is requesting variances to allow addition of deck and doubling of house size to include 8 bedrooms. Size of addition does not allow septic to be included on site and would be routed under the road into area across. County has suggested that garage size be restricted to allow septic on site.

Supervisors Peterson and Brandt attended the Minnesota Association of Townships Annual Conference.

Motion by Peterson, second by Wortham to accept the treasurer’s report for November as presented. Report includes receipts #4577 through #4592 totaling $157,813.74 and disbursements #PERA103113 through #SVC112913 for total of $316,752.61. Carried unanimous.

Motion by Wortham, second by Peterson to approve the December claims as presented; claims #18858 through #18907 totaling $91,344.04. Carried unanimous.

The clerk reported that the annual audit had been scheduled to start on January 27th. The filing period for the 2014 election would be open from December 31st through January 14th. The Annual Meeting and Election is on March 11th.

Brandt was arranging to get an additional account login for the county GIS system which will allow access to additional property and zoning information.

Brandt will be scheduling the Big Island wood cutting and splitting soon and asked for volunteers.

A Christmas gathering will be held for the supervisors and employees at the Brandt home on December 23rd.

Discussion of employee annual wage increases was held. Current and past wages were reviewed. Motion by Wortham, second by Peterson to increase wage as discussed effective January 1, 2014. Increase is approximately 3% over current.Carried unanimous.

There being no further business to transact, the meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.

John Plein,
Ideal Township Clerk
November 22nd, 2013