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.
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:
Joyce
requested under New Business: add #3.Vehicles Parked by Old Town Hall Salt Shed
Dave requested under Old Business:
add #2. Annexation
Vince wanted to address the tree
trimming and removal
Betts said under Old Business #1.
Clearing Stanton Roadsides should cover that but would add “Tree Trimming” to
it.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to
approve the agenda as corrected
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave Garner made a motion to
approve the 8/21/07 minutes with the corrections noted.
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 |
|
|
Receipts |
$ 552.99 |
|
|
Disbursements |
$ 11,435.55 |
|
|
Liquid Assets as of 8/31/07 |
$ 123,413.32 |
|
Dave Garner made a motion to
approve the Treasurer’s Report as submitted
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
1. Wendy Carroll of 32740 Stanton
Trial, Cannon Falls came forward.
Wendy
informed the board she was closing on her land purchase with her lawyer next
Thursday (9-27-07). She presented the
land survey to the board members for viewing.
A copy was kept for the clerk to file. She said she had not heard back
from the SBA regarding her loan, and because of that she had secured a
different loan as a backup. She
requested that she have an extension on her October 1st date. She hoped to be out of where she was by
December 31, 2007.
Joyce
asked if she planned on closing down at any point.
Wendy
replied No, they were just ready to kick into winter.
Vince
asked if she would be moving things off site before December 31st?
Wendy
said just as soon as they could they would. All the summer items were now being
put in packing boxes for the move.
Vince
asked with regards to the semi-trailers; would they be off site before the very
end of the year?
Wendy
replied the ones with her rods in it, that trailer she hoped to take with
her. The other two she would probably
sell back to the gentleman on 52 that she bought them from.
Joyce
asked if (where she was moving) was a part of Dennison.
Wendy
replied yes.
Joyce
asked if she knew what her address was going to be there.
Wendy
replied nothing more than County Road 9.
Joyce
wanted to know when the builder would start.
Wendy
said she had to first close on the land, then get a few permits, and when she
had those she would have the excavator start moving dirt. She wanted to get the cement poured in
October.
Vince
Cockriel made a motion to give Wendy Carroll an extension on the closing of her
business until December 31, 2007.
Dave
Garner seconded the motion
Motion
passed 3/0
Wendy
said she would keep emailing the board and come back at the December meeting if
there were any problems.
2. Brian and Linda Valek of 32928 8th
Ave. Way, Dennison, Section 29 came forward to request a permit for building a
porch onto the front of their house.
The Valek’s presented a site plan and building plan. The estimated cost would be $14,800.00. The dimensions were 12’ x 35’. Setbacks would be met.
Vince
Cockriel made a motion to approve the permit for Brain and Linda Valek for the
addition of a porch onto the front of their house.
Joyce
Moorhouse seconded the motion
Motion
passed 3/0
Permit
fee of $105.00 was paid.
Culvert Report
Mark
Henry came forward to report on the culverts he had been cleaning for the
township.
Mark
explained the work he had done on cleaning the culvert at 23rd and
310th also Prairie Creek culverts.
He mentioned that 23rd and 310th had the common “driving
over the edge” problem and he had reset the corner marker.
Dave
noted that we should put some more reflectors around that corner by the culvert
on both sides.
Mark
continued that he made downstream drainage in that area also. The Prairie Creek clearage had been done and
he had notified the DNR of his work. He
took out 3 tandem loads of gravel, etc. and got it cleaned. The sedimentation bank was cut and slopped
back. That area was also seeded and
blanketed. Regarding the Boy Scout camp
area, which had been done, he felt we needed to go 75 feet north into that
property to have a place for water to flow, but their permission would be
needed. There would probably be 3-4
tandem loads of material that could be removed for better drainage.
Joyce
said she could talk to them (Boy Scouts).
She asked Mark if there could be an estimate of what that would cost.
Mark
said he could call the clerk and give her a cost, that maybe it would be about
$500.00.
On 35th
Ave the culvert was very short, being a 24 foot pipe. It was too short to put
any ends on. He had not cleaned it out but would recommend if it needed
replacing to use a 40 foot pipe. He
would do his best to clean it out. Mark
recommended that future culverts be 24 inch pipes as this would give twice the
capacity of current pipes.
Vince
stated that if the pipe (on 35th street) stayed plugged it should be
replaced next year.
A
decision should be made this year, next year or right away. He would like to see it replaced.
Dave
felt it was important to open it and look at replacement next year. It had been closed a long time.
Vince
said he noticed that both ends had been crushed.
Mark
said there was nothing to tie to at this point. He would do his best to open it up.
He would
spend an hour or two. More than that he would not keep working on it.
Joyce
asked that he give his results to the clerk and then maybe they would elect to
do the replacement in the spring.
Clerk Report
1. Copy Fees – Info from Townships
Betts
reported that 4 of 11 township clerks had emailed her back with her question
about Copying fees. Replies ranged from
having no policy to charging 25 cents a copy.
Discussion
ensued about how many copies and what charges could be made.
Dave
Garner made a motion to have Stanton’s Copying Policy as follows: for any copy
request of any public document that the person first be directed to our website
for digital information there. If that
was not possible then the clerk would fulfill the request for the past 3 years
that 1 copy would be provided of 1 document under 100 pages for free per year,
over 100 pages would be $ .25 per page.
Non-Stanton residents would be charged a flat fee of .25 per page.
Vince
Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion
passed 3/0
2. Legal Funds – Goodhue Townships
Betts
reported she had sent 11 emails out to township clerks asking if they had a
Legal Fund and she had 2 replies. One
said they used their Miscellaneous fund if they had legal fees and the other
reply just said they had no Legal Fund.
3. Levy Funds – Stanton Filed
Betts
reported she had filed the 2008 Levy with the county and showed it to the
board.
Joyce
read from the filed Levy:
General
Fund: $ 73,000.00
Road and
Bridge Fund: $ 77,000.00
Fire
Fund $ 8,000.00
Total
$158,000.00
4. Goodhue County Levies
Betts
provided a document of 2007 Levies and Tax breakdown for all the townships in
Goodhue County for the board to view per request from the continuation of the
annual meeting. She said she would have the 2008 Levies for townships next
month. The figures the county provided were not exact Levy amounts but each
township listed seemed to be a variant of their Levy as shown with Stanton,
which should have been as $182,000.00 but on the breakdown was shown as
$169,468.00.
Joyce
read the document breakdown aloud stating that Stanton township seemed to have
the
5th
highest Levy of all the townships.
Florence
Township was the highest at $197,192.00
Cannon
Falls Township $ 195,896.00
Welch
Township $187,542.00
Roscoe
Township was $ 181,192.00
Stanton
Township was $169,468.00
Haycreek
Township was next $160,534.00
The
lowest was Belvidere Township was lowest at $104,141.00
Vince
asked population-wise where did we stand.
Betts
said she thought Stanton was the 3rd most populated.
5. Spreadsheet for Permits
Betts
reported at the last Planning Commission meeting it was suggested having a
spreadsheet for all permits granted by Stanton Township. She had created a sample spreadsheet and
wanted the boards feed back on it. She said she was open for additions to it
from the board.
Joyce
thought it would be good to add a column of Permit Fees to show what had been
paid.
Ken
mentioned that information was already collected in the CTAS software.
Dave
asked why duplicate the efforts if it was already in CTAS.
Joyce
said it would be a way of keeping track of permits and what was being built.
Vince
asked if CTAS did all of this (data on the spreadsheet) of just the permit fee?
Ken
replied it contained the name of the person, the check #, the date and the
amount of the check.
Joyce
explained the reason for this was that the Planning Commission could use
information about when a permit expired.
Vince
said he thought it would be valuable, and if we were going to have the
spreadsheet it wouldn’t hurt to have the Fee in there also. It would help the Planning Commission.
Betts
added she didn’t see it taking her more than 3-4 minutes to enter the
information a month.
Joyce
Moorhouse made a motion that the clerk do a spreadsheet on Township Zoning and
Goodhue County Permits.
Vince
seconded the motion
Motion
passed 3/0
6. Grants and Funding
Betts
reported she had done research on getting Grants and Funding from the State.
She had found quite a few places to request money from and would start
requesting information. She wanted the
board to know this and if they had any information or leads on other funds to
let her know.
7. Treasurer Reports on
Stanton’s Website
Betts
said she had contacted MAT, per request, and asked them about posting the
Treasurer’s Report on our website. She
gave the reply to Joyce, and she read the response aloud.
From Kent Sulem of the Minnesota
Association of Townships.
“As to publishing the treasurer’s
report, you are not required to do so.
What you choose to place on the website is an internal matter for the
board. If you do opt to post it, you
can post anything that does not reveal private data (i.e. social security
numbers, reason for use of sick leave, etc.)”
Dave
felt the main issue was already in the minutes.
Joyce
and Vince agreed.
8. CF School District – Ad Hoc
Meeting at Stanton Town Hall
Betts
reported a representative of the Cannon Falls School District Ad Hoc Committee
had requested having a presentation at our town hall for an hour on the School
Referendum coming up to the public.
Betts wanted to know if she needed permission from the board. The group wanted to come an hour before the
next board meeting October 16th at 6 pm and it would be done before the board
meeting began.
Joyce
added that they wanted to do a display about the proposed additions onto the
school.
Dave
recommended we waive all fees for the presentation and to also publish it in
the newspaper so the citizens could come and see what their school district was
up to.
Dave
Garner made a motion to waive all fees for the School Referendum presentation
and to put a notice in the newspaper.
Vince
Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion
passed 3/0
9. Guard Rails 310th
Street
Betts
reported Mr. Hanson had called her and told her that since the 35W bridge
collapse they had been very busy but that he expected H & R Construction
could get to the guard rails in the first part of October.
1. Resolution for Stop sign 23rd Ave and 310th
St.
Joyce stated there was a
resolution for the stop sign to be put in at the corner of 23rd Ave
and 310th street. It was
recommended by MAT.
Joyce read aloud:
“ RESOLUTION TO ERECT A STOP AHEAD SIGN ON 23RD AVENUE
WAY AND A STOP SIGN ON 23RD AVENUE WAY AND 310TH STREETS.
WHEREAS, 23rd Avenue way has a downward slope towards 310th
street
WHEREAS, it is difficult to see cross traffic at 23rd Avenue
Way and 310th Street intersection
WHEREAS, in winter months snow and ice may accumulate making the surface
on 23rd Avenue Way slippery into the intersection of 310th
Street.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the town board of ____Stanton_______, _Goodhue_____
County, Minnesota that a Stop Ahead sign and a Stop sign be erected on the
above described road(s) or road segment(s) in accordance with the Minnesota Uniform
Manual on Traffic Control Devices and replace the Yield sign”
Passed
this ______18th_____ day of ______September__________, 2007.
Vince Cockriel made a resolution
to accept the resolution as read
Dave Garner seconded the
resolution
Resolution was passed 3/0
Ad Hoc Committee Report
Mark Dubbels reported the
committee had studied the MN Statute 414.031 and 414.033 regarding
Annexation. It was reviewed line by
line on the overhead from the State’s website.
The homework was to do more research on Annexation and what was required
by a municipality to take land from a township that adjoins it. There had been email correspondence with the
Department of Boundaries and they had informed them about different situations
of filing for annexation. That
information was discussed. The next
meeting would be at the Town Hall on October 2nd at 7:00 PM.
Vince stated he wanted to thank
Mark and the Ad Hoc Committee for all the hard work they had done.
Meetings Attended
Vince
reported he had attended the ADA meeting at Cannon Falls last week and the
Cannon Falls Public Hearing on Annexation.
Joyce
reported she had attended the Hwy 52 Project meeting. They were still on Tech Memo 5.
She also attended the Cannon Falls Public Hearing and spoke at that about
Annexation.
Dave
reported on his attendance of the America’s Town Meeting in Washington DC which
was paid for by the Association of Townships on September 4-7th. He spoke about the many meetings he
attended and emphasized how important the up and coming Census would be. He said we did have a contact at the White
House who was the Associate Director and whose job was to take cities and
townships perspective into the White House and represent us to the White House.
He could be contacted through the switchboard and his name was Wade Lairsen.
Dave continued and listed what he learned were MAT’s main issues: Tax Relief for Public Office persons,
Unfunded Local Mandates, Federal Tax Benefits to Recruit and Retain Volunteer
First Responders.
Old
Business
1.
Clearing of Stanton Road Sides and Tree Trimming
Discussion ensued regarding a fall road trip and what needed to be done
with issues on township roads.
It was decided to have a road trip Wednesday, October 3rd,
2007 at 3:30 PM. The board supervisors,
clerk and Tom or Dan would attend.
Betts said she would post the meeting.
2.
Annexation
Discussion ensued regarding possible actions and future meetings with
Cannon Falls for the topic of Annexation. Events such as Highway 52 project and
the Annexation of 120 acres were important in decision making.
It was decided to wait and put the topic on the next agenda.
Dave Garner made a motion to have Stanton Township approach the City of
Cannon Falls with a proposal that we hold meetings on and discuss a
Comprehensive Orderly Annexation Agreement.
Time frame to be determined.
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion
Motion passed 2/1 (Joyce
Moorhouse voted Nay)
New
Business
1. 2008
Budget
It was decided to move the 2008 Budget discussion to the October agenda.
2.
Township Drive by Old Town Hall
Joyce spoke of the driveway by the salt shed being blocked with
vehicles. It seemed to be the people
living in front of the salt shed. She requested the clerk send a letter to the
people. Also to post a “No Parking” sign there.
Betts said she would send the letter and have a sign put up by the salt
shed.
Dave Garner made a motion to pay Mark Dubbels $50.00 for moderating the
Continuation of the Annual Meeting.
Vince seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave Garner made a motion to reduce meeting pay to $10.00 a month for all
meetings attended for both the Planning Commission and the Board members.
There was no second to the motion
Vote: Motion failed 1 / 2
Joyce said that Zeke Pederson had started the landscaping and she had
taken pictures of the event.
Discussion ensued regarding taking pictures at the end of the project and
notifying the Beacon and MAT.
Upcoming
Meetings
Joyce announced a Highway 52 meeting in Cannon Falls at 9:00 AM Sept. 19th.
Also the LUCA meeting for Census training for herself and the clerk
October 19th in St. Paul.
A fall Township Road Trip on October 3rd for the board
supervisors, clerk and maintenance person.
A Public Hearing in Cannon Falls on Annexation by Ordinance on October 4th,
possibly at 7:30 PM, she wasn’t positive of the time.
Dave Garner made a motion to distribute the Mail
Vince Cockriel seconded the motion.
Motion passed 3/0
Mail was distributed.
Dave Garner made a motion to Pay Claims
Joyce Moorhouse seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Claims were paid
Ken requested that anyone turning in claims please provide a complete
address so the check will always contain that information.
Dave recommended that checks should not be printed without the proper information.
Vince Cockriel made a motion to adjourn
Dave Garner seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Meeting adjourned at 9:37 PM