Maine Prairie Township
Board Meeting
April 8, 2008
Chair Loewen opened the board meeting with the pledge to the flag. He recessed to Planning & Zoning at 7:05 p.m. Loewen recessed the Planning & Zoning meeting at 7:15 and reconvened to the town board meeting.
Board members present: Supervisors John Wicker, Jim Unterberger, & Dennis Loewen, Clerk/Treasurer Terre Harff, Deputy Clerk Beverly Adolph. Others present Chuck Froehling, Mary Mueller, Larry Sheetz, Lonnie Hendricks and representatives of Hardrives, Mid MN and Knife River, all present for Road Bidding.
Chair Loewen asked if there were any additions or corrections to the March minutes. With none Supervisors Wicker/Unterberger made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s report was reviewed. Clerk Harff said that she has mastered the investment program for CTAS but the program still does not give true value of township so she will continue to do Excel but monitor CTAS entries. Supervisors Wicker/Unterberger made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Motion carried.
Chair Loewen did not contact Jerry Finch, because of all the meetings with the City of Rockville. Tabled until May.
Short Course: Supervisors felt the clerk’s class was interesting; supervisor’s class was a repeat of what they have had in the past. Supervisor Wicker would take the clerks class again.
Weed Meeting: Supervisor Unterberger felt it was really interesting and literature was taken to share. Clerk Harff also has a video and John Waldorf, Weed inspector for Stearns Co., sent a weed book. There are new weeds to be looking for. County will be sending letters to John & Kevin Donnay concerning their weeds.
Board of Appeals: April 14, 2008, 3:00 p.m. Clerk gave supervisors a copy of the new law change from the State of MN concerning supervisors abstaining from making tax change decisions on relative’s parcels.
Town Officers Association Dinner Meeting: April 25th at 7:00 p.m., clerk must send for reservation by the 16th. Supervisor Loewen said that he will not be able to attend. Supervisor Wicker will call to confirm.
Township Website: Mary Mueller came before the board explaining what is needed to start a website. Domain name needs to be reserved at a cost of $150 for 10 years at Net Work Solutions. The board liked the domain name as “Maineprairietownship.com. DiversiCom will be the host company at $10.00 a month and it will cost about $500.00 to start it up. Some discussion was a link to Stearns Co for ordinances, legal notices on home page and policies should be listed. Supervisors Unterberger/Wicker made a motion to proceed with the website. Motion carried. Clerk Harff will work with Mary sometime after the May meeting so the board can discuss what is wanted on the Website.
City of Rockville: Reviewed what the township wants on fact sheets to be handed out at the continuation of the annual meeting. Some discussion was Expenses: Road Maintenance & Fire Protection. Income: Tax revenue, Gas & Gravel Tax. Clerk Harff presented information gathered about road maintenance for the past 3 years for the township. With information gathered Clerk Harff will type the information up and have it reviewed by Supervisor Wicker before making copies. Supervisor Loewen will bring maps of the detachment area. Supervisor Unterberger will contact Lawyer Thede to ask for his presence at the annual meeting.
The board meeting was recessed at 8:30 to open the road bids.
The bids were to add bituminous onto 2.5 + miles of road. Three roads were to be bid separately. Road 103rd St, 1.7 miles from Co Rd 150 S to township line, 127th St, .3 miles from Co Rd 150 and 120th St, 1.9 miles from 103rd St W to stop sign. Work to include: fine grade existing materials in preparation for bituminous (gravel to be provided by the township), Furnish and place 1.5 inch base course (type MV3), Furnish and place 1.5 inch wear course (type MV3), and Taper shoulders with class 5 upon completion of bituminous. Bidding required a bid bond and upon acceptance a certificate of insurance and a performance bond.
Bids were turned in from Mid MN Hot Mix, Inc, Knife River and Hardrives,Inc.
Company Road Bid Price
Mid MN Hot Mix 103rd St $163,350.00
127th St 27,150.00
120th St 199,350.00
Total and Lowest Bid $382,650.00
Knife River 103rd St $167,392.06
127th St 28,741.77
120th St 197,123.87
Total $393,257.70
Hardrives 103rd St $180,299.46
127th St 29,472.00
120th St 221,120.10
Total $439,891.56
Because the supervisors did not have the approval from the residents on
127th to help pay 1/3rd the cost for their road, it was tabled until the
information could be gathered. The 6 residents on 127th St would have to
come up with $9,000.00. The residents have until May 1st to make their
decision. It was also discussed that the township could not afford to do
both 103rd and 120th. The board felt that 120th should be done in 2009.
MP08-13
Only one bid was turned in for maintenance of township roads from Hendricks
Sand & Gravel. Affidavit of Conflict of Interest was signed by Supervisor
Unterberger to refrain from discussion and voting on this bid.
Hendricks Sand & Gravel
Graders/Grading Roads $72.50 per hour Graders/Snow Removal $72.50 per hour
Trucks/Snow & Sanding $77.50 per hour Pickup Truck/Snow Plow $55.00 per hour
Bobcat with Blower $75.00 per hour Tractor/Snow Blower $75.00 per hour
Tractor/Road Ditch Mowing $75.00 per hour Salt/Sand $45.00 per yard
Hauling Bids for different sections of the township are on file with a Certificate of Insurance.
Chair Loewen recessed the town board meeting to reconvene the Planning meeting. Chair Loewen reconvened the town board meeting at 9:13 p.m.
LUCA: Clerk Harff called and asked for a time extension. Harff has a lot done but did not have it completed by April 5th. They felt if it were in by May, it would not be a problem.
Chair Loewen called for New Business
Reconvene Annual Meeting on April 15th : Supervisor Wicker will not be able to attend the Annual meeting because of family commitment. It will be posted to meet with the Peter Thede, the township lawyer at 5:00 p.m. the same night. Supervisor Unterberger felt the St Cloud Times should be notified. Supervisor Wicker said Tri Co News will have something in about the meeting.
Newsletter: Board tabled until we get more information about the
detachment area. Clerk Harff stated she usually has it out in April. She
also thinks it can be done cheaper this year through Kinkos.
Holy Cross in Pearl Lake applied for a Liquor License. Supervisors Wicker/Unterberger made a motion to accept Pearl Lake Liquor License. Motion carried.
Supervisor Wicker explained that he spoke with Jody Tiech about 145th St. Last year the township was approved for $150,000.00 grant for the 145th project. Since then, MN DOT is requesting a variance hearing because of the narrow width of the road. Wicker will continue to talk with Jody Tiech.
Dust Guarding: Supervisor Wicker will get quotes from Dust Guard Inc,
Ferrel Gas and Tri City Paving. Clerk Harff was asked to get the legal into
the paper. Discussion was weather to use Magnesium Chloride or Calcium
Chloride. Calcium Chloride is more expensive but better quality.
Clerk Harff asked about downloading a security program for the township
computer. She had quotes for 3 different downloads, Supervisor Wicker told
Harff to check out the stores in St Cloud, it could be cheaper.
Supervisor Wicker authorized a dog from 133rd St to be delivered to Tri Co Humane Society.
Clerk Harff asked who is interested in being an election judge for the November election. She will notify them as to when classes are.
The board asked Lonnie to remove the silk fencing on Edom road.
Clerk Harff explained that she received a bill from Trunk Hwy Coalition for State Highway 15. The board felt since the Highway 15 road work is not on schedule to be completed, there was no need to continue to be a part of the coalition.
Supervisor Unterberger felt the trees on the North side of 113th St by Frank Krippner’s need to be removed. The bid is about $3,000. Clerk Harff asked for a Certificate of Insurance. Supervisors Wicker/Lowen made a motion to cut all the trees on 113th with a suggestion the logs cut to 6’ length. Motion carried. Unterberger will contact Tri Co Tree Service.
Supervisors Unterberger/Wicker made a motion to accept the permits. Motion carried.
Bills were presented to the board:
Disbursements Check #
Hendricks Sand & Gravel Plowing & Sand $ 6,795.75 4288
DiversiCom March. Bill 41.52 4289
Tri Co News Election Legal’s 57.75 4290
PERA 1st Qtr Payroll 641.99 Ele Funds Transfer
IRS 1st Qtr Payroll 528.23 Ele Funds Transfer
KDV Auditors 2008 Audit 4,550.00 4291
North Star Engraving Plaque & Engraving 143.38 4292
MN Benefit Asso Life Insurance 325.00 4293
Kimball Veterinary Black Lab Boarding 97.50 4294
Alice Robinson Twp Election Wages 72.00 4295
Beverly Adolph Twp Election Wages 72.00 4296
Terre Harff Twp Election Wages 84.00 4297
Ron Albers Permits MP08-01 & 02 1,230.00 4298
Kinko’s Copy and mail Census 69.29 4299
Receipts Receipt #
Interest Earned Checking $ 135.18 Bank Statement
2006 CD Interest $ 18.91 Bank Statement
2007 CD Interest $ 34.27 Bank Statement
Money Market Interest $ 953.79 Bank Statement
Supervisors Wicker/Loewen made a motion to pay the bills. Motion carried
Supervisors Unterberger/ Loewen made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion carried.
Terre Harff, Maine Prairie Township, Clerk/Treasurer