NORTHERN TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS – Monday, April 11, 2022. Northern Town Hall, 445 Town Hall Road NW, Bemidji, MN.
PRESENT: Supervisors Jess Frenzel, Chris Lahn, Mike Kelly and Gary Barnard. Treasurer Doug Kranich, Road Supervisor Tim Vigen, and Clerk Mary Israelson. Absent; Curt Blumhagen. See sign-in sheet for guests.
MINUTES: A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Barnard, to approve the minutes of the March 28, 2022, meeting as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
VISTORS:
ROAD REPORT:
Vigen asked that consideration be made to blacktop the approach at Centerpoint Court. He reported that BBI will be doing blacktop work at the Dollar General store across the road, and this might be an opportune time to have this little bit of work done. This topic has come up in the past, due to Centerpoint Crt being a gravel road and having the approach blacktopped would help the grading, since the grader must back up onto Irvine Ave presently. There had been discussion in the past to present information to the property owners along the street, to see if there was interest to blacktop the entire street, but that has not happened. The property owners would be responsible for the entire cost since it is classified as a development road. It was felt that the entrance alone would be considered at this time, and Tim will talk with BBI about a quote.
Snow – It keeps coming!! There was a wet/heavy snowfall last week, and the gravel roads were in bad condition. It is so difficult to plow them when they are so soft, and it is not normally done, but some work was attempted at a very slow pace.
Tavistock/S. Movil Lake Rd – Work continues on this project, as well as the right-of-way easements that will be needed. Discussions need to take place with Kath Molitor regarding the issues with the trees along her property, as well as the possibility of using her property for storage of the reclaim from the road.
TOWNSHIP/CITY EXTENSION OF SERVICES:
Lahn reported that there has been work done on two (2) separate Federal grant sources, one through Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar that would need to be spent in 2023, and the other with Congressman Pete Stauber, that would be a combined application with the Beltrami County road project. County Hwy Engineer Bruce Hasbargen has been working on the latter application.
Meeting with City of Bemidji – This committee meeting is scheduled to be held Thursday, April 21st at 9:00 a.m. The Clerk had asked that the meeting be held at the town hall, but she will find out where it will be. The focus of the meeting will hopefully be on what type of services the City will be able to provide us, and the costs. Kelly and Lahn will attend the meeting, due to the fact that the City preferred that a quorum not be attending.
Letter to the residents – a draft of the letter was presented and it was agreed to send it out as soon as possible.
JOINT PLANNING BOARD (JPB) REPORT:
There has been nothing new since the last meeting, with a meeting scheduled for this week. Jess indicated that he would not be able to attend the May 11th meeting, and would like someone to take his place.
RURAL FIRE ASSOCIATION (RFA) REPORT:
Blumhagen was absent, but there are two (2) meetings upcoming; one is a joint meeting for all of the RFA entities on April 21st, and the another is the regular quarterly meeting on April 28th.
BEMIDJI RURAL ANIMAL CONTROL (BRACO):
The regular quarterly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27th. Lahn is the representative for it.
BELTRAMI ASSOCIATION OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS (BATO):
The semi-annual meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26th. Barnard is the representative for it.
TREASURER REPORT:
Bills – Kranich presented the bills payable with check numbers 11137 to 11158 totaling $41,791.35, with the larger payments to; JPB contribution – $14,275.75 (per quarter), Johnson Construction for winter road mnt – $3,757.50, and Freeberg & Grund, Inc for the work on Tavistock – $7,925.00. A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Lahn, to pay the bills as presented, and it carried unanimously.
Treasurer Report – Cash by Fund balances are; Revenue – $255,624.39, Road & Bridge – $682,618.43, Rural Fire – $14,358.90, and Sewer District Waville – $14,472.33, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Federal COVID Relief funds – $201,521.83, for a total of $1,168,595.88. A motion was offered by Barnard, seconded by Kelly, and carried, to approve the report as presented.
Certificates of Deposit – Kranich recommended that the maturing CDs be placed in one 30 day CD for $260,000 at .70% at Security Bank. Consent was given for the investments.
ARPA – Kranich reported that the first report is due to be completed by the end of April, and will be working on that.
Audit – The Clerk and Treasurer will be working with Miller McDonald on this during the coming weeks.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Report from Advanced Utility Solutions on the Waville Wastewater System, 2) copy of ad that will run four (4) times for the bids on the garages, 3) email from director of Heartland School disappointed with the maintenance of their road following snow, 4) letter of support from the City of Bemidji for the Pete Stauber funding request, 5) copy of the application to Stauber, 6) notice of Rural Fire meetings on April 21st and 28th.
OTHER:
Garage – The ads will run in the Pioneer four (4) times and was placed on our township website. Also, copies were mailed to several contractors. There are copies of the specs available, if anyone knows someone who might be interested in bidding the work.
With no further business forthcoming, the meeting was adjourned at 7:18 p.m.