The meeting was called to order by Chairman Peterson at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. All Board members, the Clerk, Chief Schultz, and twelve residents were in attendance.

Motion by Bilek, seconded by Johnson to accept the minutes of the December 14^th Board Meeting, and the January 6^th Special Reorganizational Meeting as presented. Carried unanimous.

Tom Watson gave a report on the Northern Crow Wing Lake Associations plan to coordinate efforts of lake association groups, the County, and State to improve water quality and aquatic invasive species monitoring. The Association has made recommendations to the County and is working to increase coverage of lake access monitoring. Several residents made comments on the plan. The association will be asking for participation of municipalities as the group progresses.

Chairman Peterson gave the Planning & Zoning as follows:

1. There had been two permits issued in December.
2. There were no variance requests to review.
3. Chairman Peterson presented the Road and Bridge report as follows:
4. The crew have been plowing and sanding roads as needed.
5. The crew was working on repairing dumpsters for the Transfer Station and will build a couple more as it is cheaper to build them than to purchase.
6. The crew has been clearing down trees and limbs.
7. Ken Athmann has submitted his resignation and will be done on January 15^th. The Board will start the process to hire a replacement.
8. There were no safety incidents.

Chief Schultz gave the Fire Department report as follows:

1. There had been 4 emergency runs during December; 1 false alarm and 3 first responder calls. Total year-to-date is 4 runs; 1 fire and 3 first responder.
2. Training on cold water rescue was held.
3. The new Rescue Pumper truck is ready and can be delivered as soon as financing is in place.
4. The old rescue van will be put up for auction. Once the new truck is here, they will move the old truck to be on display at the auction company’s location in St Cloud.
5. The new SCBA compressor to be installed next week and will try to coordinate install when new truck is in place.
6. A new set of extrication tools will come with the new truck. The current set, purchased two years ago, will be moved to Station II. Will look into selling the oldest set that is now at Station II.
7. The Clerk presented three donations that had been received recently; $1700 from the Ideal Community Service Organization to be used for First Responder bags; $5000 from the Lakes Area Medical Development Association for First Responder use as needed; and $1000 from Peter Schenck for fire equipment.
8. There were no safety incidents.

Bill Wortham commented that the Fire Department did an excellent job hosting the department’s Christmas Party held last month at the Town Hall.

Chairman Peterson presented information on proposals from several banks for the new fire truck financing. First National Bank of Walker’s proposal offered the lowest rate at 3.25% and the lowest total cost at $23,780.15. First annual payment of $76,859.63 is due on delivery. Motion by Peterson, second by Bilek to accept the proposal from First National Bank of Walker. Carried unanimous. Motion by Johnson, second by Bilek to authorize Chairman Peterson and Clerk Plein to be signatories for the Certificate of Indebtedness. Carried unanimous. Motion by Peterson, second by Johnson to transfer $15,000 from the General fund to the Capital Projects fund to cover the truck payment and the remaining costs associated with the emergency siren project.

Supervisor Bilek presented the Transfer Station/Recycling Center report as follows:

1. Things are being kept well organized and looking sharp.
2. Sales of 2016 permits has been brisk with 75 sold the first Saturday and 32 sold on the second Saturday.
3. Bilek will look into getting bids and contracts set up for the haulers.

There was nothing to report for Parks & Recreation. MJ Schneider asked about the community garden idea that was discussed earlier in the year. Peterson said it is still being considered and funds had been budgeted for the project in 2016. He will work with Supervisor Johnson to make a presentation at the Township Annual Meeting to assess the resident’s feelings on the idea.

Motion by Bilek, second by Johnson to accept the treasurer’s report for December as presented. Report includes receipts #5029 through #5045 totaling $945,155.66 and disbursements #TRX120215 through #TRX123115 for total of $660,047.68 including $554,000 of operating funds transfers. Carried unanimous.

Motion by Johnson, second by Bilek to approve the January claims as presented; claims #42253 through #42288 totaling $20,104.56. Carried unanimous.

A discussion of the Township Comprehensive Plan took place. Peterson noted that Bill Wortham has 15 years experience with the Township and was intimately involved with developing the plan in 2004. Motion by Peterson, second by Bilek to retain Wortham as a consultant at $15/hour to work on a update of the Comp Plan and other projects as needed. Carried unanimous. Supervisor Johnson has been assigned to be responsible for the Comp Plan and will work with Wortham to set up a committee of residents to review and revise the plan.

Peterson presented a road sign policy document that he had received from the Township Association and modified to our needs. He felt it was a good policy that had been used by several other townships to comply with road sign regulations. Motion by Peterson, second by Bilek to adopt the policy as presented. Carried unanimous.

The Clerk presented a series of correspondence as follows:

1. Under the current policy, only the Clerk-Treasurer and Deputy is automatically bonded. To cover the other employees, Commercial Crime coverage could be added at a cost of $95 per year. Coverage was limited to $5000 per incident but would cover all employees automatically. The Clerk will contact the agency to have the coverage added.
2. The Clerk will submit the annual report of indebtedness as required by the February 1^st deadline. There is no indebtedness as of December 31, 2015.
3. Certification of Trained Members as required for the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization Meeting has been completed and will be submitted by the February 1^st deadline. Two members are currently trained.
4. Election dates for 2016 were presented. Under state statute, no school activities or public meetings are to be held on these dates.
5. a.      Political Party Precinct Caucuses – Tuesday March 1^st;
6. b.     Annual March Township Election – Tuesday March 8^th (inclement weather date is March 15^th);
7. c.      State Primary Election – Tuesday August 9^th;
8. d.     State General Election – Tuesday November 8^th.
9. A letter and rate sheet from Northland Press. Designation of legal newspaper will be approved at the Township Annual Meeting.

Upcoming calendar items were reviewed as follows:

1. Going-away gathering for Ken Athmann on Friday January 15^th at 2pm;
2. Preliminary 2017 Budget Levy Meeting on Tuesday January 26^th at 9am;
3. February Board Meeting on Monday February 8^th at 7pm;
4. March Board Meeting on Monday March 7^th at 7pm, held early to be prior to Annual Meeting.
5. Annual Township Election and Meeting on Tuesday March 8^th. Polling from 5 pm until 8 pm; Annual Meeting at 8 pm;
6. MAT Spring Short Course on Monday March 21^st from 8 am to 3 pm at the Breezy Point Convention Center.

There being no further business to transact, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.

 

John Plein,
Ideal Township Clerk

January 12^th, 2016