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 Peterson, seconded by Brandt to accept the minutes of the February 18th Board Meeting as presented. Carried unanimous.

Terry Johnson approached the board for info regarding the Madison CUP request on Ossiwinimakee Road. He asked if the facility would be consistent with the township Comprehensive Plan and what the board’s position was on the request. He expressed concern for safety of motorists, pedestrians, and for those riding horses on the road which has limited room. He said that safety could be compromised with vehicles, horses, walkers, and trucks hauling hay all sharing the road there. He also was concerned that the property would be sold and the permits would then pass to new owners who could expand the commercial activities allowed under the permit. He was already concerned that the commercial nature of the facility did not fit well in the neighborhood.

Supervisor Brandt said he had attended the DRT meeting on the request at the county. Dave Johnson questioned why the request was made now when the property was up for sale. Mike Clasen commented that there were many questions to answer including possible runoff, signage for the facility, and riding horses on private property on route to the trails on the state forest land across County Road 39. Supervisor Wortham commented that commercial activity in that area was not acceptable & not consistent with the township’s comprehensive plan, and that any current un-permitted activity should cease. Brandt commented that the size of the lot to be sold that would carry the CUP was not provided and may not meet requirements for lot size based on the number of animals on the property.

Supervisor Brandt presented the Road and Bridge report as follows:

1. R&R Schultz had taken down the fire department communication tower. Snow & ice from the roof had pushed it over and was about to topple the tower. They were able to come over quickly and remove the tower before any further damage occurred. The communication equipment has been replaced and tested.
2. Brandt had met with representatives of the county highway department, Trout Lake Camp, and a signage company to discuss placement of user-activated flashing amber warning signs at the camp crosswalk near the County Road 134 and Trout Lake Drive intersection. The county and the camp will move ahead with installation.
3. The maintenance crew’s been plowing, sanding, and scraping on warmer days. Roads are in good shape.
4. Had issue with drifting on Arrowhead Drive, so the crew plowed a parallel road in the field to collect drifting snow. Seemed to work well.
5. Brandt spoke with Mike Schwieters regarding the placement of signage at the Boyd Lodge check-in facility. Schwieters plans to correct the placement as requested as soon as weather permits.
6. Brandt announced an informational meeting regarding the oil pipeline proposed to pass through part of Timothy Township. The meeting is to be held Wednesday March 13th at 6pm at the Pine River School. He plans to attend.
7. There will be a meeting about the FireWise program on March 12th with Chief Clasen, representatives of the DNR, and Jim Schultz. The meeting will provide information on the program and how it can help communities prepare and prevent wildfires from damaging structures.
8. The township had received a request from the county for permission to sell tax forfeit land in the township. Motion by Brandt, second by Wortham to approve the request.
9. There were no safety incidents.

Chief Clasen presented the fire department report as follows:

1. There had been one fire call and one medical call during February.
2. Last month’s drill was for CPR re-certification.
3. The 1st Responders had completed their 16 hour refresher training last month.
4. Working on revision of the department bylaws as discussed. Hope to have revised set sometime this month and will forward to the clerk for distribution.
5. Luke Hanson and Tom Osborn have completed their Firefighter II course and are working on their 1st Responder training. The department now has 19 1st Responders out of the 27 members.
6. Last month, we installed an app called Active911 on all firefighters’ cell phones. This app gives us the ability to send a message back to the department as to whether or not the member is able to attend the call. It also monitors your movement on a mapping system to show each member’s location and the location of the call. The system gathers information for the call report which must be filed with the State Fire Marshall office.
7. The statewide 800Mhz communication systems have some changes coming soon which will change the channels used. Granite Communications will make the changes to our system as required and to check the communications tower. Cost will be covered by the fire department budget.
8. Would like to have People’s Security come in and give us some ideas regarding ways to better secure the fire hall and community center.
9. Need the help of the maintenance department to keep the hydrants clear at Mud Lake, Trout Lake and Mcguires.
10. Are in the process of updating technology for the fire hall to include new routers, iPad’s and a laptop.
11. The truck committee has been putting together the specifications for a new rescue pumper that will replace E15 and R16. Would like to go for bids this spring if possible. The timeline for construction of the truck is 9-10 months and will cost about $400-$450k.
12. Clasen expressed thanks for the new lighting in the back stairway, but that the power for some circuits was still off in old part of building.
13. Clasen reported that the bathroom had backed up again. The clerk will have Fyle’s come again to thaw the line.
14. Asked to have the maintenance guys discard the old sink and cabinets that were piled in first bay.
15. There were no safety incidents.

The Transfer Station/Recycling Center report was as follows:

1. Supervisor Brandt and the clerk had attended a meeting at the county regarding the recycling program. There are 14 programs in the county funded by the SCORE program that have shown a wide variety of cost per ton collected. The county has been providing about half of the funds for the local programs, and is looking to tie the funding of the local programs to the cost per ton that the county’s own program achieves. Ideal’s program has been operating at a slightly higher cost per ton than the county program. Starting in 2015, the SCORE funding provided by the county will be calculated based on the tonnage collected at each program times the target rate of $142. If Ideal can increase the total tonnage reported, our SCORE funding can stay equal to this year’s or increase. The township has not been reporting the cardboard collected, so can increase total tonnage just by including those amounts. Otherwise, the township can look for ways to lower the costs to haul recycling away to make sure funding covers the operation.
2. During the meeting, learned that the station can accept more than 3 household hazardous items with one survey completed. The clerk will update the disposal guide to reflect this info.

There was nothing to report for Park and Recreation.

Supervisor Brandt reported on planning & zoning issues:

1. Reviewed the information regarding the Madison CUP discussed at February meeting. Motion by Wortham, second by Dave Peterson to recommend denial of the request as it was not consistent with the township’s comprehensive plan. Carried unanimous. Brandt will attend the county hearing on the matter.
2. Discussion of the Fagely variance request on Kimble Lake. Brandt had visited the site and was concerned about the proposed cart path down the bluff area. He felt it would be difficult to revegetate the area after construction and would add to the existing erosion problems at the site. Motion by Brandt, second by Wortham to recommend disapproval due to impact of the cart path upon the bluff area likely causing erosion that could impact that lake and exacerbate existing erosion problems. Carried unanimous. Brandt noted that the bluff setback variance for the addition to the home would be acceptable, but cannot give approval with the inclusion of the cart path.

Supervisor Brandt discussed the Board of Audit meeting held before the regular board meeting and the annual audit completed by Justin Mathias. The township continues to work toward implementing the recommendations included in the audit management letter.

A discussion took place regarding the town hall construction project and the remaining items to be done. Brandt had contacted Crow Wing Power to get information on the rebate program that could help with cost of updating the lighting throughout the building. The clerk had contacted Jim’s Electric for an estimate of the update. Brandt reported on the recent meetings with the architect and the contractor that covered the pending questions and issues. All of the change orders were discussed and agreed upon. A punch list has been prepared to track the remaining items. 

Motion by Wortham, second by Peterson to accept the treasurer’s report for February as presented. Report includes receipts #4617 through #4628 totaling $25,811.21 and disbursements #PERA021014 through #SVC022814 for total of $72,558.05. Carried unanimous.

Motion by Peterson, second by Wortham to approve the March claims as presented except claim #19082; claims #19069 through #19099 totaling $24,315.86. Carried unanimous.

There being no further business to transact, the meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.

John Plein,
Ideal Township Clerk
March 27th, 2014