Stanton Town Hall
31186 40th Avenue Way, Cannon Falls, MN 55009
Board Chair Joyce Moorhouse called
the meeting to order. Others present
included Vice Chair Dave Garner, Supervisor Vince Cockriel, Clerk Betts Top and
Treasurer Kenneth Ebert. Deputy clerk
Cheryle Peters was also present in the audience.
Meeting was called to order at
7:00 P.M.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Joyce called to reveal any
conflicts of interest.
None were heard.
Approval of Agenda
Vince Cockriel made a motion to
approve the agenda
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave requested that the resolution date and place be filled in.
Dave Garner made a motion to
approve the minutes as corrected
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Approval of Minutes from Fall Road Trip 10-3-07
Dave Garner made a motion to
approve as submitted
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Treasurer’s Report
Ken reported:
|
Funds/Accounts |
Amount |
Notes |
|
Current Investments CD –Road
& Bridge |
$ 70,342.13 |
Matures 10-26-07 |
|
Receipts |
$ 157.39 |
|
|
Disbursements |
$ 5,055.02 |
|
|
Liquid Assets as of 8/31/07 |
$ 118,515.69 |
|
Dave Garner made a motion to
approve the Treasurer’s Report as submitted.
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Ken mentioned that the electric
bill (Goodhue County REA) billing cycle was on the 16th of each
month. Many times we did not get the
bill until after our meeting. Some times
we did receive a late penalty. He
talked to REA and their suggestion was to: 1. do a monthly estimate payment or
2. do a Budget payment. Other townships
did this type of payment. He
recommended the Budget Plan paying about $105.00 a month. He needed the board’s permission to set up a
Budget Plan.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to
authorize the treasurer to set up a monthly Budget Plan and readdress the
subject next year if necessary.
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the
motion.
Motion passed 3/0
Building Permits
Catherine was called
forward but was not present at the time.
Vince Cockriel made
a motion to issue a zoning certificate to James Dolezal for 2 additions to his
current building.
Dave Garner seconded
the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Permit fee of
$114.00 was paid.
Dave Garner made a
motion to issue a zoning certificate to Ray Wynne for a 10 x 16 foot shed.
Vince Cockriel
seconded the motion.
Motion passed 3/0
Permit fee of
$100.00 was paid
Catherine Thompson
appeared at this time.
She was requesting a
permit for a replacement garage 32 x 24 x 10 feet. Estimated cost was $12,400.00.
Catherine presented site plans.
All setbacks were
met.
Vince Cockriel made
a motion to issue a zoning certificate to Catherine Thompson for a 32 x 24 x 10
foot replacement garage.
Dave Garner seconded
the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Permit fee of
$102.00 was paid.
4. Kevin Raway – request a
public hearing for 59th, 303rd, and 304th
street paving.
Joyce stated Mr. Raway was out of
town and she was representing him and his request. She had spoken with the township’s attorney and he recommended
drawing up paperwork for the project.
It would be best to have the public hearing in December to give time to
process the paperwork, i.e. getting 100% of resident signatures on the roads
being paved. He (Mr. Raway) should
also, at the same time, ask to be a designated area. This would protect the
township in the future if they decided to resurface it or whatever. This needed to be done by January 2008.
Discussion ensued regarding the
process of the project.
Dave Garner made a motion to
proceed with the paving of 59th, 303rd, 304th streets and
have our attorney draw up paperwork and schedule a Public Hearing for December
in front of the Board. Also to designate the area as separate, and to have the
attorney draw up the paperwork for the project.
It was decided Kevin Raway would
be responsible for getting all the signatures of all the residents on the legal
documentation from the township’s attorney.
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Discussion ensued regarding how
far down the paving could possibly go, which might include the private property
of the Rounds residence and the Sandstrom residence.
The clerk was requested to contact
the two residences (Rounds and Sandstroms) and inform them of the project and
include a copy of the minutes to them.
Ask them if they wanted to be included in the project and advise them it
would be at their own cost.
Joyce asked, when they had the
Public Hearing, would it be necessary to have the township’s attorney present?
Dave replied he would prefer it.
The clerk would contact our
attorney to be present at the December meeting and public hearing.
Greater Southwest Holdings – Conditional Use Logging
Dave said he had received an email
from GSW Holdings stating they wanted to do some selective logging. The township needed to sign off on this
before the county would issue a conditional use permit. He responded back to them that they should
appear before the board.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to
table the issue until Greater Southwest Holdings appeared before the board.
Dave Garner seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
The clerk was advised to put the
issue on the November 20th board agenda and to also notify GSW Holdings.
Clerk Report
1. Bridge on 330th
St.
Betts
reported she had spoken to the County regarding the (replacement) bridge on 330th
street. They had informed her that it
was still on the list for 2009. John
Schueller had said the township would probably need to hire a consultant to see
what needed to be done. After the
bridge plan was done then a right of way would need to be done. She would be talking to Jim (Klevan) at the
county next week to get more precise information on what was needed.
Discussion
ensued regarding what the township was responsible for in replacing the bridge.
The
clerk was requested to ask the county what the cost was, if it had changed or
could change.
2. Guardrails on 310th St.
Betts
reported that she had spoken with H & R Construction and they said due to
the rain this week they were not able to do the guardrails but planned on doing
them next week.
3. 2008 Levies from County
Betts
reported she had received a file from the county which compiled the levies from
all the townships for 2008. It had also
listed the 2007 levies and so she had made a chart comparing them. She passed out copies to each board member.
4. Culvert Excavation on 310th
St.
Betts
reported that she had talked with the (Soil and Water Conservation Dept.)
County and they would be out in the next week or two to take a closer look at
the culvert situation by the Boy Scout Camp and the culvert drainage conditions
there. They advised not doing anything
until next June or July 2008. He wanted
to know how often did it over flow.
Joyce
replied every time Prairie Creek over flowed.
Usually 1-2 times a year.
Dave
added they always had drainage problems going through there.
Betts
also wanted to know over the past years how often it was a problem.
Dave
said it was a constant problem.
Betts
said she would inform the county of that information.
5. AutoMark – 2008 Elections
Betts
reported that the AutoMark usage had been put off for 2 more years and would
not be required in the March township elections.
On
another topic she added that Mark Henry had examined the two areas where the
township wanted the two culverts replaced.
He recommended that the board needed to make a motion to make the clerk
the temporary agent to close the roads while work was being done. Each culvert would take about 1 day.
Joyce
asked that the subject be moved under the Road Report.
1. Road Grading – Tom’s Sked.
Betts reported she had spoken with
Tom and he was waiting for some decent weather. He told her he would try to get started on the grading this
weekend, and more the following weekend, although in the past it had been done
at the end of October. He said he would
call her if he could not get to it.
2. Bid for 2 Culvert Replacements
Joyce read aloud the bids from
Mark Henry. One was for the centerline
culvert on 35th Avenue, 40 foot long with a 24 inch diameter at a
price of $1,500.00. The other was for a
centerline culvert on Stanton Trail, 52 feet long with a 24 inch diameter at a
price of $1,950.00. She noted that Mark
recommended that the township needed to have a temporary agent to notify the
county and schools of the temporary road closings.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to
authorize both culverts be replaced and that the chair authorize the clerk to
handle the road closings.
Dave Garner seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
3. Town Hall and 323rd Rock
Betts reported that Hernke’s had
applied rock to the places where the county had done blacktopping; the town
hall parking lot and on 323rd Street. The cost was $ 1,904.72.
Mr. Hernke was very prompt in getting this done.
4. Sealcoating 2008 – Request from County
Betts presented a letter from Greg
Isakson, the county engineer, asking if the township wanted to partner with the
county for 2008.
Dave felt we should mention our
project to them ( 59th, 303th and 304th streets).
Betts said she would contact John
Schueller and advise him.
Dave wanted to interject that we
needed to contact the county for the new Town Hall permit update. The one we had currently was temporary.
Betts said she would contact the
county.
Ad Hoc Committee Report
Betts said Mark had called and
could not make the meeting tonight.
Their next meeting was Monday,
November 5th, 2007.
Meetings Attended
Vince reported he had attended the regular board meeting (9-18-07) and
the road trip on October 3rd.
He also attended the Cannon Falls meeting
Joyce reported she attended the same board and road trip meetings, along
with the Hwy. 52 meeting.
At the last meeting she attended they did decide to go with the southern
route with a bridge over County 24. The
moratorium over there would probably now be lifted for building.
There would be an Open House on the 24th of October, 5-7 pm would
be the evening hours.
Dave reported he also had attended the Board Road Trip and the Cannon
Falls meeting.
Ken reported he had attended the CAPX 20/20 meeting in Northfield. There were 4 different corridors they were
working on. The one affecting us would
be SE from Twin Cities to Rochester/LaCrosse.
They were working on getting Certification of Need study. Preferred routing would be along corridors
like Highway 52. The several things
that could affect us were shown on a map indicating lines going over Lake
Byllesby and the corner of the township by Hwy 52. Nothing had been determined yet.
2009 was the date for routing design.
2010-2015 was when construction was planned to begin.
Old
Business
1.
Annexation Meetings
Betts reported she had spoken with Mayor Weibel and he was interested in
meeting with Cannon Falls Township and Stanton Township. She had corresponded with Keith Smiley and
he said he agreed to the meetings.
Dave felt it was a good time to take advantage of this opportunity to
send a representative to Cannon Falls.
He preferred sending 1 board member and 1 planning commission member and
possibly the clerk to take minutes and verify everything. He was comfortable sending Vince Cockriel
and Mark Dubbels of the Planning Commission.
Joyce said she felt it was a good time to enter into discussion with
Cannon Falls, possibly rotating board members for different meetings as it
would probably be a long term thing.
Dave said it was a whole process that needed to be followed with many
meetings and public hearings.
Joyce referred back to a list of 16 questions she had for the city from
2006. She felt some of the questions
were still pertinent.
Vince felt it was good to keep the lines of communication open without
rushing into anything. He wanted to
have as much township input as possible.
Dave felt it was important to put the 120 acres by ordinance behind us
and now approach Cannon Falls with an open mind and clean slate. He also felt it was important to work with
Cannon Falls Township and at the same time arrange to have Cannon Falls
Township, Cannon Falls City and Stanton Township at one meeting. To have all 3 parties sit down at one
table. He preferred we respond in a
positive motion to Mayor Weibel and the City of Cannon Falls.
Discussion ensued about possible ways of setting up meetings and
involving Cannon Falls Township.
Dave Garner made a motion to have Vince Cockriel and Mark Dubbels of the
Planning Commission be the township representatives for discussions with Cannon
Falls. (or Mark could assign another commission member)
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the motion.
Vince said he would be willing to go and represent the township.
Discussion ensued regarding process and direction of future meetings
regarding orderly annexation.
Motion passed 2/1 (Vince Cockriel
abstained)
Joyce called for any other comments.
Betts wanted to pass along that Mayor Weibel told her Thursdays were not
good nights for meetings.
Joyce said our representative would contact Keith Smiley about meetings
and then they would notify the clerk to contact the Mayor and send him a letter
about meetings in the near future.
Betts said until she heard from Vince she would not do anything.
Vince wanted to say for the record that he appreciated all the input,
mailings, emails, and notices made by the town people, that the board had
nothing to do with or were privy to, because all their work helped make him, as
a board member, get a feel for what our citizens were worrying about and what
they were thinking.
Joyce adding that their goal was to give everyone a voice.
Dave said it was better to come from the citizens and he congratulated
them also.
Joyce said she had had some contact with the people of the Cannon River
Watershed Partnership and they did look into these types of properties because
there were people who were willing to put up money to purchase them for
permanent parks and land preserves.
That may still be going forward, she didn’t know for sure.
Budget
and Cuts
Betts explained the topic was a carry over from last months meeting.
Ken gave out some budget reports to the board members. He said the reports showed the amounts spent
and budgeted so far. These reports
could help them decide where we should go up and where we should go down.
Ken was asked to give them another report for next month.
The clerk was advised to put “Budgets and Cuts” on the November board
agenda.
Joyce called for any other Old Business
None was heard.
New
Business
1.
Resolution from Cannon Valley Communications
Scott Johnson of Cannon Valley Communications and John Sonnek of BEVCOMM
came forward.
Scott explained back in 1998 Stanton had signed a resolution to grant a
cable franchise to Dakota Cable and they purchased Dakota Cable in 2000. The franchise ran 15 years and expired in
the year 2013. They had signed a
purchase agreement with BEVCOMM last August 2007 to transfer control for all of
Cannon Valley Communications. There was
an approval part in the original franchise stating that for them to transfer
the franchise to anybody they needed to have the townships approval. He had sent a resolution in September to the
township which needed to be approved.
John Sonnek said that in taking over the operations of Cannon Valley that
they would be keeping the same employees and current customers. In the next
year there would be no drastic changes in rates.
Dave Garner moved to suspend the reading of the resolution as they had
copies of it and to pass the resolution.
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Resolution passed 3/0
The chair and clerk signed the resolution.
The clerk notarized the resolution and it was numbered 2007-06. A copy was kept for the township.
Upcoming
Meetings
1. October 24, 2007 was the Cannon Falls Open House for the Hwy 52
Project.
2. MAT Annual Meeting on November 15-17th, 2007 in St. Cloud.
Betts said registration should be done individually and the township
would be billed if payment was not included.
She reported she would not be attending.
Joyce also reported she would not be attending due to a previous
commitment.
Vince said he had a previous commitment also and would be out of town.
Cheryle Peters, deputy clerk, was in the audience and was asked if she
would like to attend.
Discussion ensued about the Annual Meeting and also having Cheryle Peters
attend.
Dave Garner made a motion to have the Deputy Clerk attend if she wanted
and her expenses would be paid as the Clerk would not be attending.
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Cheryle was advised that she should make a decision by November 5th
to get the township discount.
Dave Garner made a motion to distribute the Mail
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Betts reported that the only mail she had gotten was from the electric
company from usage at the old town hall and equipment shed. She had told them we still wanted service
over there.
Joyce Moorhouse made a motion to pay claims
Dave Garner seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Claims were paid.
Betts was advised to put the topic of “Open House” on the November board
agenda.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to adjourn
Dave Garner seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Meeting adjourned at 9:26 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Top
Stanton Township Clerk