MP10-12
ANNUAL MEETING          
Maine Prairie Township          
March 9, 2010
 
The Annual Town Meeting and Election was held on March 9, 2010 at the Kimball Area Fire and Rescue Hall.  The Polls opened at 12:00 noon and closed at 8:00 p.m. with the business meeting following the counting of the ballots at 8:30 p.m.
 
Clerk Terre Harff opened the Maine Prairie Township Annual Meeting with the Pledge to the American Flag.  Clerk Harff, called for nominations to elect a moderator to run the meeting.  A motion was made and seconded to nominate Larry Schneider as moderator.  Motion carried
 
Moderator Schneider presented the results of the election for a three (3) year term Supervisor:
            Total Ballot count was 141votes
                        James Unterberger received 50 votes
                        Ron Kuechle received 91 votes
                        No Write in Votes
            Ronald Kuechle won the election for next supervisor
 
Moderator Schneider called for the residents to review the minutes of the March 17, 2009 annual meeting.  John Wicker/John Gohman made a motion to accept the minutes as presented.  Motion carried
 
Moderator Schneider called for the residents to review the Treasurers report.  Clerk Harff explained that the Certificate of Deposit for the town hall came due and was not put back into a CD because of the low interest rates.  She reported on what the interest rates were for all savings accounts.   A motion made by Bob Pike/Chuck Froehling to approve the Treasurer’s report.  Motion carried.
 
Moderator Schneider called for Old Business:
 
Dust Guarding was tried on 6.2 miles and the board feels confident that dust guarding saves the township money in lost gravel.  They will continue to follow this practice.  Alot of land was sprayed this year but some areas in the North side of the township will need to be done. 
 
Road Projects for 2009: Powder Ridge Road became a problem because of the water that seeped through the first lay of tar.  It needed to be dug up and they needed to lay a blanket down to stop the water seepage.  This repair was shared but had an over-run from the contracted price.  Carnelian Lake Road was reclaimed and tarred.  Part of this was paid by the residents.  Residents seem to be happy with the road.  163rd Street’s hill was cut down and re-tarred.  The board has withheld some of the payment until it is re-inspected this spring. Elmer Haus asked if anything can be done with frost boils.  It was explained there are a lot of frost boils this time of year but all roads get reviewed on the road tour this spring. 
 
City of Rockville Judgment: John Wicker explained that the boundary lines are approved by both entities.  There was a slight change by mutual agreement but working with the City of Rockville seems to be going well.  There is a road agreement in place for the line roads and the fire contracts have been approved with corrections.  It was explained that the township took over the 2009 expenses, as requested in the judge’s decree.  The City of Rockville agreed to pay ½ these expenses for 2009. 
MP10-13
Town Hall Land:  The paperwork is done and the 5.3 acres is in the townships name.  The land was donated by Dennis and Gretchen Kuseske in memory of Bill and Alma Kuseske.  The land is where the original site of the Town of Maine Prairie began.  Time frame for building a town hall was discussed.  It was asked if there are any grants available.  It was suggested to form a committee to check into how we progress from here.  It was suggested to hang the blue prints in the hall during the Comprehensive Growth Hearing. 
 
Policing the Township:  It was suggested to put this back on the agenda this year because during the canvassing at the comprehensive growth meeting, it showed that people were interested in more police presence in the township.  Erin Gutwasser is interested in more policing and would like to see the township contract with the city.  Her concern is for the traffic during the winter at Powder Ridge Rd and 93rd Ave.  Jim Unterberger said that ticketing is not the answer; it is the presence of police on duty that will slow down the traffic.  John Wicker called Stearns County and he got two different responses.  Kimball Police Chief, Jim Frilstade, explained how it works for Fair Haven.  They contract for 15 hours a week and they get a cut in the fines that are collected.  They work with Stearns County on calls that come out.  Frilstade explained they have 2 full time and 3 part time officers and they are working hard at getting the SMART program working.  This program gives a person with a minor violation like seat belt, passing lane violation ect, a chance to attend schooling to right their wrong.  If they don’t receive another violation in 6 months, and they attend the classes, they will not get a written violation on their record.  John Wicker was concerned that we pay for the county sheriff’s department and by setting up a contract with the City of Kimball; we would be paying for two patrolling entities.  Jim Unterberger made a motion to try it for 10 hours a month for 1 year, seconded by Dennis Loewen.  Discussions lead to a concern that it was not worthwhile at 10 hours a month.  Assistant Officer Chris Langness, explained that it would be a person to person contact, everyday type patrol calls, and the dispatcher would designate the calls to the area.  Frilstade felt his call time is 4 minutes or less.  If he is on another call, the dispatcher would assign it to someone else.  Bonnie Hoskins would like to see it 10 hours per week rather than per month.  Unterberger rescinded his motion as did Loewen.  Dennis Loewen/Duane Finger made a motion to table this until the next regular board meeting.  Motion carried.
 
Charles Craft explained that there is a way to do a study on 93rd Ave if there is a speeding issue.  MNDOT can do a traffic study at the townships request. 
 
Comprehensive Growth Plan: Announcement was made that the Comprehensive Growth hearing on March 25th to begin at 7:00 p.m.
 
With no other old business Moderator Schneider called for New Business.
 
Future Road Projects:  It was explained that many of our roads need to be crack sealed and seal coated.   It’s important to extend the life of the roads we have.  Some roads need to have their ditches fixed.  Bonnie Hoskins asked how many road miles are in the township, it was explained that we service about 77 miles of road and about 25 miles of that is tarred.  The township is not looking at resurfacing or tarring any road but to upkeep the roads that need it. 
 
93rd Ave Extension:  The board wanted to know if there is an interest in extending 93rd Ave to meet up with Elm Street in the City of Kimball.  It is something that is being reviewed and the cost would be very high.  It is about ¾ of a mile of farmland and it would be to construct a road from scratch.  Environmental studies and the purchase of the land would need to be researched before going forward.  The pros and cons were discussed:  Safety issues; emergency vehicles would be able to reach the Northern part of the
MP10-14
township faster,  school busses would stay away from Hwy 15.  The cons are it would increase more speed and speed is already a problem for 93rd Ave, cost of the project, and a question if it would leave the door open for annexation.  It was stated that it would need to be a joint venture with the City of Kimball.
 
Fire Contracts:  The motion from last year was to have fire districts set up for 2011.  It was explained that the contracted figures for the City of Watkins and City of Rockville fire contracts just came in the first week of March 2010.  Each City has a different way of calculating their contracts.  Tom Ehlinger feels it unfair that the residents of Maine Prairie would have to pay for any of the City of Rockville Fire Hall.  Ehlinger felt the Kimball Fire Dept has a lot of fund raisers to keep the cost down for Kimball.  John Wicker explained that there was an error in figures for the City of Rockville and the correction saved the township about $4,000.  The Maine Prairie North (known as the detachment area) will be assessed on their taxes for the City Hall Bldg and the Fire Hall.  It is only the residents on the North side of Goodner Lake that will be paying for the Fire Bldg.  Clerk Harff explained that we have paid for their servicing and fire hall in the past, now we just added the servicing of the Maine Prairie North.  Tom Ehlinger made a motion to table it for now and form a committee to review the figures, seconded by Elmer Haus.  Motion carried.  Jim Unterberger explained that the Watkins Fire Department saved $25,000 this year so the amount saved was rolled over to their equipment fund. 
 
Paying this year fire contracts:  The total amount of fire contracts this year is $65,500: a motion was made by Dennis Loewen to pay this year contracts, second by Bob Pike.  Motion carried. 
 
Donations:  Clerk Harff explained the audit picked up the fact that the township gave money to a 4-H group, it states in the law that you can’t give to a nonprofit group such as boy scouts, girl scouts, 4-H and Red Cross.  Harff explained that the other nonprofit organizations the township has given to in the past is acceptable because they are exempt from this law.  Harff explained that her replied on the audit was the township donated to this club because they help do community service work for the township. 
  
1)  Watkins Ambulance – Jeff Hilsgen reported they had 310 calls with 35 in Maine Prairie.  The ambulance service is using a collection agency and that has helped get the money due them.  They also received a grant of $45,000 for a new ambulance.   John Wicker made a motion to donate $3,000 again this year, seconded by Chuck Froehling.  Motion carried
 
2)  Community Education – Kris O’Brien thanked the board for the previous donation.  With the question about Obama’s Pre-K Federal Funding availability was again asked, she said that she would check into it and get back to the board. Tom Ehlinger made a motion to donate $1,500.00, same as last year, John Gohlman seconded, motion carried. 
 
3)  Kimball Community Playhouse – Mark Dockery explained the playhouse is celebrating 10 years this year.  The support from townships helps keep the cost of tickets down.  They had a real successful dinner show.  Many of Maine Prairie Township residents are in the productions.  The summer production is The Wizard of Oz.  John Gohlman made a motion to donate $1,000.00, the same as last year, seconded by Jeff Hilsgen, motion carried. 
 
 
Township Levy:  The board is requesting an increase of 2%, there has been  no increase in the last 2 years and the board looking at updating roads and policing, the township will need funds to do so.  The clerk was asked if more money was spent this past year than received.  She felt because we lost our allotments, it spent about $20,000 more last year than we took in.   Most of the money received is from the levies. We
MP10-15
do not receive state or federal aid.  A 2% increase would only be about $12,300, which would not be a large impact for its residents. Tom Ehlinger made a motion to increase the levy by 2%, seconded by Gene Merten.  Motion carried
 
Annual Meeting – Jim Unterberger made a motion to hold the next annual meeting on March 8, 2011, seconded by Jeff Hilsgen.  Motion carried.
 
Jeff Hilsgen made a motion to adjourn, Bob Pike seconded, motion carried. 
 
                  
 
Terre Harff   Clerk/Treasurer