NORTHERN TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS – Monday, April 10, 2023. Northern Town Hall, 445 Town Hall Road NW, Bemidji, MN.
PRESENT: Supervisors Jess, Frenzel, Mike Kelly, Curt Blumhagen, Gary Barnard, and Chris Lahn. Treasurer Doug Kranich, Road Supervisor Tim Vigen and Clerk Mary Israelson. See sign-in sheet for guests.
MINUTES: A motion was offered by Blumhagen, and seconded by Kelly, to approve the minutes of the March 27, 2023, meeting as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
VISTORS:
Wayne Coombs, asked the status of the Planning Administrator position. Frenzel reported that the Board is still working with the candidate that had recently turned down the proposal offered to him for the job.
ROAD BLACKTOPPING BID:
Two (2) bids were received for the blacktopping phase of the Tavistock/S. Movil Lake Road reconstruction project:
Mark Sand & Gravel – $307,899.00, and Knife River Materials – $345,290.35. A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Barnard, to accept the low bid from Mark Sand & Gravel for $307,899.00. The motion carried unanimously.
UTILITY EXTENSION REPORT:
The joint meeting was held with the City of Bemidji and it was agreed to explore the concept of a sewer/water district. It was suggested that a smaller committee meet to talk more about this idea, and Frenzel indicated that he would talk with the Mayor about setting a meeting.
ROAD REPORT:
Vigen reported that there was more snow and more plowing this last week.
Tree/brushing – Vigen recommends that another 40 hrs of work by Lofgren Landscaping, at $250/hr, be approved for this year. A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Blumhagen, to approve that recommendation. The motion carried unanimously.
Crack Filling – Vigen will be driving the roads soon to prepare a list of roads that he feels need to be crack filled. He will also be looking at some of the intersections to determine any needs for doing some radius repair with reclaim materials.
Grading – If the weather continues to improve, Johnson will be doing some grading of the gravel roads. Kelly asked that Tavistock/S.Movil Lake road be done.
ELLIOT ROAD AGREEMENT:
A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Blumhagen, to approve the agreement with the City of Bemidji for the routine maintenance of Elliot Road, involving mostly the snowplowing. The motion carried unanimously. The City will start the maintenance May 1st and continue for two (2) years. Any work planned that is outside the normal maintenance, would be approved first.
JOINT PLANNING BOARD (JPB) REPORT:
Kelly will attend for Frenzel this week. Some of the cases involve an amendment of the ordinance for the Industrial Park, new daycare by St. Philip’s Church, and a revokation of a IUP.
RURAL FIRE ASSOCIATION (RFA) REPORT:
Blumhagen reported that there are two (2) meetings scheduled this month, one is a Long Range Planning meeting and a regular quarterly meeting.
TREASURER REPORT:
Bills – Kranich reported that two (2) checks were added last month for the C.D.s approved at that meeting (#11459 & 1140), and this month’s bills are payable with check numbers 11461 to 11484, totaling $63,406.66. The larger items include; GBAJPB quarterly payment of $14,275.75, Iverson Reuvers for $1,579.00, Johnson Construction – $17,652.20, Freeberg & Grund – $4,530.00, and Murray Surveying for work on Fairgrounds Road – $6,835.00. A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Lahn, to pay the bills as presented with the exception of the AIS payment, for further discussion. The motion carried unanimously.
Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) – Kelly would like the $2,000 contribution reconsidered, due to the reduction of hours of inspecting boats at accesses and the fact that the Northwoods Public Access is mostly in the City of Bemidji. They are gearing to spend more funds on education this year. It was suggested that the $2,000 be reduced to $1,000 this year, with indication that it will be re-addressed next year with the intent to eliminate the donation. A motion was offered by Kelly, and seconded by Blumhagen, to accept that recommendation and to re-issue the check to Beltrami County Environmental Services for AIS use, for $1,000. The motion carried unanimously.
Treasurer Report: Cash by Fund balances are; Revenue – $214,070.40, Road & Bridge – $862,664.16, Rural Fire – $4,506.53, Sewer District Waville – $12,175.03, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds – $233,134.37, for a total of $1,326,550.49. A motion was offered by Blumhagen, seconded by Barnard, and carried, to approve the report as presented.
Certificates of Deposit: Kranich recommended that $220,000 of the maturing CD be reinvested for 30 days at Security Bank at 4.15%. Consensus was given.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Bid tabulation for the Tavistock/S. Movil paving project, 2) Notice of the request for quotes for lawn care for the year, 3) correspondence regarding documents needed for the Fairgrounds Rd ROW, 4) notes from Chairman Frenzel following the joint meeting with the City of Bemidji, 5) call from Deer Path property owner regarding his concerns with the special assessment details for that road, 6) suggestion from Clerk regarding a lockable cabinet for the meeting room to store equipment, etc, 7) request from Clerk to replace the 30+ year old stove in the kitchen.
Lawn Care – The quotes for lawn care will be reviewed at the next Board meeting on April 24th.
OTHER:
Contributions – This will be put on the Agenda for the next meeting, contingent on all Supervisors being present.
Wild Plum Road – Frenzel will follow up with the contact from MNDOT.
Office Remodeling – The property sub-committee will start looking at this concept.
With no further business forthcoming, the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.