Board Chair, Bob Benson, called the meeting to order. Others present included Supervisor Joyce Moorhouse, Supervisor Dave Garner, Clerk Betts Top and Treasurer Kenneth Ebert.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Bob called to reveal any conflict of interest.
None was heard.
Minutes of the
6-20-06 Regular Board Meeting were reviewed.
Dave said on page
13, the word “polls” should be changed to “area”.
Clerk noted changes.
Joyce made a motion
to approve the 6-20-06 minutes with corrections.
Dave seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Minutes of the
6-27-06 Special Meeting were reviewed.
Dave made a motion
to approve the 6-27-06 minutes
Joyce seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Minutes of the
7-5-06 Special Meeting were reviewed.
Dave requested that
“Also present” persons should be removed from pages 1 and 4.
Clerk noted changes.
Item 3 on page 7,
change to read:
Board accepted changes to insulation around perimeter on vertical surface add to 2 “, horizontal, underneath the slab, reduce from 4” to 2”.
Joyce made a motion
to approve the 7-5-06 minutes with corrections.
Dave seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Ken gave treasurer’s
report
Current Investments
Building Fund $105,398.92
Road and Bridge Fund
$ 67,474.47
Total Investments $
172,873.39
Receipts $ 65,796.45
Disbursements $
55,350.23
Dave made a motion
to accept the treasurer’s report
Bob seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
1. Michael Holegate
of 30126 4th Avenue Way, Cannon Falls came forward.
He wanted a permit
for a garage. 28 x 34 feet. Cost
$5,000.
Mr. Holegate
presented a copy of his property and where the garage would be.
Dave advised him
that the county will want 100 foot setbacks.
Mr. Holgate said he
could adjust his plans to be within the limits.
Bob gave Mr.
Holegate a permit to fill in.
2. Wendy Carroll,
32740 Stanton Trail, Cannon Falls, MN came forward.
Ms. Carroll
explained the history of her business, how it was a home business that grew and
now she needed a conditional use permit. She has had the business for about 15
years working out of her home. Her bank had also told her she is financially
able to move. Her biggest thing is she
needs time to find a place, but she is looking to relocate it.
Dave said the
business was started as a home occupation business, which was perfectly
legal. But it no longer conforms to the
standards we have in our ordinance, which makes it non-conforming. What we can do is come to an agreement,
which could say within 1 year she would relocate her business. She would be nonconforming during this time
but he thought it would be only fair to give her that amount of time to find
another location.
We would like to
accommodate her. At the end of a year
she would have to agree to be relocated at that time or close her business.
Joyce asked if this
was her busy season now.
Ms. Carroll said it
was busy now. Between August and
October, or February and March would be the opportune time to move. She wanted the board to know she was working
hard to find another place. If within 1
year she had bought the land, could she still come to the board and they would
allow her more time to build or whatever.
If she didn’t make the 1-year she wanted to know if the board would work
with her until she got it done.
Joyce asked would
nine months or April 1, 2007 would work.
Could we say by then you would have gotten a lot or something. Then come back at that time and say you
needed to extend this until my building is up.
Ms. Carroll felt she
couldn’t get a building built during the winter. She might find the property, and get the plans done, but getting
the footings in and such would not get done in the winter. She doesn’t want to move very far from where
she is. She has good employees and
doesn’t want to lose them.
Joyce asked if she
had thought of renting in the meantime.
Ms. Carroll that
would entail her moving thousands of little items, and then to move again would
be hard. She had called the county to get the definition of a variance and a
conditional use permit. She said she
didn’t know if the county wouldn’t give her one.
Dave said a
conditional use is letting you do something that is in our zoning, but that we
put conditions on it. If it’s not
allowed, it’s not allowed. We can’t give a conditional use permit if it’s not
allowed. We can’t give a conditional
use for something that’s non-conforming. We could go to August 1 of 2007, and
give you a whole year.
Joyce said she would
like to give her 9 months to find a place to build and then go from there. She just didn’t want Ms. Carroll to come
back in August and say she hadn’t even
found a lot. If it’s a building you’re building then you
will get a permit and then have time to finish it.
Dave mentioned she
was non-conforming and if she wanted to be conforming she would have to get
back to 1 employee. He asked Ms.
Carroll if she could be moved in a year more or less.
Joyce said it has
been non-conforming for some time.
Ms. Carroll asked if
Goodhue County gives me a conditional use permit am I OK then.
Dave said without
the townships approval she probably wouldn’t get it.
Joyce asked how many
acres she had.
Ms. Carroll said she
had 10, but owns more land around her, 20 acres on one side and another 20
acres in a partnership.
Dave asked if she
would agree to such an agreement.
Ms. Carroll said
well, yes, but she would need to know if she signed it for a year and then came
to the board and said she had the land but needed more time to put up the
building would the board give it to her.
That’s what she wanted to know.
Dave felt if we
didn’t give her a hard deadline she might just keep pushing it off and
off. Because we had done this before
and it has happened. He said if you get
your land and come back in 6 months and show us your building plans, then
August 2007 you would have to be done. If you want a moveable deadline then we
need to have steps along the way. We
can’t give you a year and then have you come back and say you are still looking
and need another year. We can’t do
that.
Joyce reiterated she
would like to give Ms. Carroll until April 1, 2007 to find a location and once
she’s found a location then she could come in with her building plans and get a
building permit and then start building.
There is a time limit with the permit, and then within that time you
would get your building built. 1 year
to complete that building would be about it.
Bob said he felt we
should give her 9 months to get some land and then present building plans and
give her a 6-month extension.
Dave asked if she
weren’t done by then what would we do.
Joyce answered she
would have to stop operations. That would be 15 months.
You should certainly
have your building up by October (2007).
Dave told Ms.
Carroll that you need to have your building permit by April 1st, if
you don’t that would mean you have to stop your business. That’s what we’re talking about.
Joyce asked Ms.
Carroll if she would agree to that.
Dave added that we
have to get this all in writing. He
suggested our lawyer look at it.
Joyce asked Ms.
Carroll if she was agreeable to that.
Ms. Carroll said
right, and are we going to do 9 months to sign it or what.
Dave said we are
giving dates now.
Joyce added April 1st.
Dave said April 1st
to have a purchase agreement, and a viable building permit to the township, and
then 6 months to get the building and be moved. He continued and said we would get this to our attorney, then
next month we’ll sign it. We will give
you a copy if you want your attorney to look at it.
Ms. Carroll said she
had to go to the county and needed to take something.
Joyce said Betts
could send a copy of the unapproved minutes to Ms. Carroll.
Dave made a motion
that the clerk would put the requirements into an email to Tom Scott and have
him draw up an agreement between Wendy Carroll and the Township stating the
facts.
Joyce seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave said when we
get it back from Tom, Wendy should get a copy of it so she can take it to her
lawyer.
Bob agreed.
Dave continued
saying that next month it can be approved and we can sign it.
Mr. Holegate came
forward with his completed building permit.
Dave asked how much
the building would cost.
Mr. Holegate
answered $10,000.
Dave made a motion
to grant Mr. Holegate a building permit for his garage.
Joyce seconded it
Motion passed 3/0
Clerk Report
Betts reported that
the new voting machine, the AutoMark, for people with disabilities had been
picked up and she had made arrangements with Cannon Falls Township to share
facilities to do training with the public.
Goodhue county had contacted her recently and announced that due to the
cost of having a demo card put in each machine, $100.00, they would do the
training now over in Red Wing. The
second thing was her judges. She had
all her election judges except for 1, she had 8 but wanted 9. She needed a motion from the board for her
judges to be approved.
Joyce asked John
Miller, in the audience, if he would be interested in being an election judge.
Betts asked John if
he would be a judge.
John said he had
done it before and would be a judge. When was the training.
Betts answered the
17th of August, about 2 ½ hours, maybe 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Betts thanked John.
John Miller was
added to the list.
Joyce made a motion
to approve the election judges: Phyllis Emery, Marilyn Hines, Betty Pelkey, Ken
Ebert, Evelyn Sulzman, Susan Carlson, Joyce Moorhouse, Elizabeth Top and John
Miller.
Dave seconded the motion
Motion passed 3/0
Betts said the
Planning Commission wanted an updated copy of the Goodhue County Zoning
Ordinance. She downloaded the .pdf
file, which was 176 pages, and then she decided to see if she could get a hard
copy and the county said they would mail her one for $15.00. She didn’t mind printing one off but felt it
would be cheaper to have one sent to her.
Dave agreed it
couldn’t be printed for $15.00
Betts asked if she
had permission to spend $15.00 for 1 copy of the Goodhue ordinance.
Dave made a motion
to purchase a copy of the Goodhue County Ordinance for the Planning Commission
access.
Bob seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Tom and Dan were not
present.
Dave said he had a
couple of things. Joe Vandenheuval had complained about a corner by his
house. He had put dirt in the hole and
would wait until it settled so that a cold patch could be put on it.
Betts said someone
had run into the stop sign at the end of Oxford Mill Road and Cty 24. She
called Dan and he went out and fixed it. In regards to the Guard Rail project,
she had tried to get the county to share in the expense but they said no it
wasn’t in their budget. Greg Issackson
from the county did tell her to contact H & R Construction, the county does
use them for guardrails. This was the same company who had given her a quote
over the phone of approximately $5,000.00.
The man she talked to said he could come out and do an more accurate
estimate.
Dave said we did not
have to have 2 bids on the guardrails, but to have the company give us a
written estimate first.
Dave made a motion
to spend the $5,000.00 or less to have the guardrails installed after we get a
written estimate.
Joyce seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave said he had
noticed some of the paddleboards when you come up to bridges can’t be seen
because the brush is over grown. We
need to cut that and the trees back to see the paddleboards. He noticed the ones on 310th
street going east, on the south side you can’t see the first paddle board. The other one was as you go past Dave
McKeag’s, that one is so overgrown you can’t see it at all either. It’s on 35th
Avenue.
Bob asked if there
was any other Road Report information.
None was heard.
Betts handed out
copies of an email to the board supervisors that she received from the Planning
Commission stating they unanimously recommended Paul Althoff to be approved by
the Board as their 5th member.
Joyce stated that
Kurt Ravoula also had shown interest in the position.
Bob said he had
talked to Kevin Whitson and he said he would be interested.
Dave said he didn’t
know Paul Althoff, he would not feel comfortable voting for someone he didn’t
know.
Bob said he thought
he should come in. We should contact them and have them come to our next
meeting.
Paul Schluter spoke
saying Vince Cockriel had shown interest also.
Betts asked if we
should put it on the agenda for next month.
Bob said yes,
contact Paul Althoff and ask him if he’s interested to be here. Also Vince
Cockriel, Kevin Whitson, and Kurt Ravoula.
Dave added any one
can come who is interested.
Betts said she would
write the people mentioned.
Planning Commission
unapproved minutes were reviewed from 7/11/06
Dave explained the
map on page 8, Land Use, is an approximation of where people are living. It basically is a map to show
population. Dave said he had a person
come up to him and specifically ask him to have his land area changed from
yellow to green, he owned 60 acres and farmed it, he wanted his section green
like his neighbors. He does live on the 60 acres.
It was discussed
that if you changed one, you would have to change everyone’s.
Joyce said figure 2
should remain “as is”. (Land Use Map)
Betts asked if we
could call it “Land Use Overview”
Joyce said yes, lets
call it “Land Use Overview”
Dave said top of
page 8, Novartis Seed Co, needed to be changed to Syngenta Seed Inc.
Betts said it was on
page 10 of her print off, under ‘Industrial/Research’ paragraph. She also asked about the table, which listed
“Vacant”.
Dave replied that
the map had been changed.
Betts said then
Vacant will be removed from the Table and the figures will be recalculated.
On the Water
Resources map Joanne Wood had asked if the white area up in the upper left hand
corner was the Maltby property.
Joyce said we would
have to ask the county if this had changed, or what zoning it was.
Betts said she would
call the county.
It was decided by
the Board to leave the Goals (in Community Vision) as it was.
On page 18 the board
discussed the paragraph “Establish minimum buildable areas…”
The board decided to
leave in the word “minimum”.
The board decided to
leave page 19 as it was.
It was decided to
add “Research” to page 20 under C.
Agricultural Land Uses
Joyce pointed out
that this section was Goodhue County definitions. This part tells us we need to be compatible with the County.
Dave said we could
add “Research” into ordinance later.
The Board agreed.
Page 23 was
reviewed. It was decided to insert a
paragraph in Transportation about Stanton Airport as it is a transportation
business.
Page 24 –
Implementation Plan
Item 5
Dave said he
recalled having a discussion in depth with the planner about this item. The planner had explained why it needed to
be in there.
Joyce felt that we
could make recommendations to the county about something, but if the county
says no, then that’s it.
Dave said we have to
remember we’re talking about the Comp Plan and not Zoning.
The planner had a
good reason for putting it there and we should leave it. He convinced us once, why make him do it
again.
Dave said regarding
annexation he felt the Comp Plan was not the place to have that. He said the law was changed for now and only
120 acres could be taken in a 1-year period.
Joyce added State
Statute dictates it.
Dave said we will
have to give it (Comprehensive Plan) back to the Planning Commission with the
changes and it will have to go back before the public. The public should see the final draft. If they (the Planning Commission) go through
it and have no changes then it comes to the Board and we approve it.
Joyce asked how many
changes are we going to go through.
Dave answered as
many as it takes.
Joyce asked Betts to
put out a list of the items that were decided upon tonight and have that list
sent to her.
Dave made a motion
to do the changes to the Comprehensive Plan, have a second Public Hearing at
the August Planning Commission Meeting.
Bob seconded the
motion.
Motion passed 3/0
Betts noted that the
public hearing would be August 8, 2006 at 8:00 PM
Bob said the bonding
is regulated by the State Legislature, a Performance Bond. That is all we can accept.
Discussion ensued
regarding the exterior doors for the Town Hall.
Dave asked that the
RQF booklet be passed out to the board members.
Betts passed them
out.
Dave said he felt if
companies paid $20.00 for the last set of plans then we should send them copies
for free.
Betts said she
agreed and had a list of who bought plans.
Dave said the RFQ
will now be called the RFB, Request for Bid.
Starting on Page 1,
we will change the dates of publish
Page 2
No Changes
Page 3
Bid Information
Change the dates for
August 22, 2006. Rest of information
stays the same.
Bid Notice
Change dates to
August 22, 2006. Rest of information stay the same
Only publish in the
Beacon.
Page 4
Town Hall Completion
Change date to
November 15, 2006
Work Location
Add: The address is
31186 40th Avenue, Cannon Falls, MN 55009
Leave in the “location
is at the corner of ….”
Proposed Schedule
Change date to
November 15, 2006.
Page 5
Detailed Work Plan
Change item 6
6. Well has been
drilled.
Item 15 – remove
because we are getting only Steel Siding.
Item 16 – remove
because the windowsill is now on the plans
Page 6
Proposal Submittal
Change date to Aug
22, 2006
Add address and
directions
Betts asked about a
Bid Proposal Sheet for all the bidders. When she spoke to the architect they
said they give them out.
Dave said if the
architect gives them out fine, but he didn’t want to have to make one up.
Bob made a note to
ask the architect for a Bid Proposal Sheet when he next saw him.
Betts gave a copy of
the legal notice to bid to the board members.
Dave asked Betts if
she had a master copy of the RFQ.
Betts said she had a copy but didn’t know if it
was a master. She would prefer that
Dave do the corrections on the new one.
Dave said he would,
and send her a copy of the new one in the morning.
Dave made a motion
we advertise for bids in the Cannon Falls Beacon newspaper, to be published
next Tuesday (7/25/06)
Joyce seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Dave said when the
ad is out we should contact all the bidders we had last time.
Dave said he went to
1 day of short courses in Rochester.
Liability, Planning of Future of Townships. He did get his 4 year certificate for Board of Appeals and
Equalization training.
Joyce said she went
to the Summer Short Course in Rochester.
She attended Liability, Planning for the Future of Townships, Board of
Appeals and Equalization, and the PERA meeting.
June 21, she also
attended the Hwy 52 meeting in Cannon Falls.
Bob said he had
attended the Summer Short course in Rochester.
He took the Liability class and he learned about annexation.
Betts said she went
to the Summer Short course in Rochester.
Her whole day was spent at election training. She met many people and learned a lot from the more open and
relaxed environment than at the Minnesota Election training.
Betts said she is
going to training in Red Wing on the 26th of July for the AutoMark
and Election Judge training. Ken is
also going to the AutoMark and Judge training.
Bill Nelson came
forward. He said the county hadn’t received
the signed paper work from the April discussion we had. They said they haven’t
received anything from you. He needed to have something signed.
Dave asked what the
request was for.
Bill said it was
from the meeting in April.
Dave said we didn’t
approve anything did we.
Bill said you said
you turned it over to the county.
Dave asked what are
you requesting now then.
Bill said something
saying you turned it over to the county.
Joyce said are you
asking for a building permit.
Bill said whatever has
to be done.
Joyce asked what are
you planning on doing.
Bill said for my two
buildings there.
Joyce said… and
you’re moving them. Do you have a site
plan where you’re moving them to. Can
you come to a Planning Commission meeting and show them your site plan.
Dave asked are you
saying you want a building permit now.
Bill said yes
Dave said then you
have to go through the whole building permit process. We didn’t abdicate that to the county. The only thing we took to
the county was the clean up stuff. We
still have jurisdiction over the building permits.
Bill said he had
specifically asked about the buildings.
Dave replied the
buildings are illegal right now and have been illegal since they were moved
in. You never had a permit to move them
in.
Bill said that’s
what he was trying to get ironed out.
Joyce said if you
are going to put the buildings on foundations and move them you need to come in
with a site plan so we know where they’re going to be to make sure the setbacks
are met.
Bill said the county
has all that.
Joyce continued
saying you need to get that to the township, so you get a sheet of paper which
shows what the cost is going to be, to move them and site them, and show the
size of the buildings and that you’re meeting all the setbacks. Then you can pay the cost which is probably
$50.00
Bill replied that’s
all done.
Joyce said you need
to have that plan with you when you request the permit from us.
Bill said OK. He’d bring that paper work to the county
then.
Joyce said you bring
it to the Planning Commission and their next meeting is August 8th
and ask for the permit. Then it will be
on the record and then it will come before us the following week. If you’ve met all the setbacks you should be
able to site your buildings.
Bill said thanks and
then left the meeting.
Dave made a motion
to distribute the mail
Joyce seconded the
motion
Motion passed 3/0
Betts said she had
received a letter from Dean K. Johnson, she had copies.
Betts distributed
the copies and asked for a short break.
Bob said yes she
could.
The board read the
correspondence from Mr. Johnson.
Dave made a motion
that we amend the letter from Mr. Dean K. Johnson into the official minutes of
this meeting. He continued and said he
would amend to put a clerks note on May 16th minutes referring to
these minutes. We would put a Clerks
Note right after Joyce’s response.
Bob seconded the
motion.
Motion passed 2/0
Joyce abstained.
Betts continued with
the mail. She asked where she should
put the demographics information from the State.
Dave said just to
file it.
Dave made a motion
to pay claims
Joyce seconded it.
Motion passed 3/0
Ken stated we had
$3, 425.75 in claims tonight. Ken
stated that it was noisy in the building tonight and was hard to hear what was
being said.
Claims were signed
by the chairman and the clerk.
Bob made a motion to
adjourn
Dave seconded it
Motion passed 3/0
Meeting was
adjourned at 10:35 PM.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean K. Johnson
32875 Stanton Trail
Cannon Falls, MN 55009
July 10, 2006
To: Clerk, Stanton Township
I write to respond to accusations made against me by Supervisor Joyce Moorhouse during the May 16, 2006 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Those accusations are recorded at page 14 of the minutes of that meeting. Please see the minutes of the June 20 meeting for an agreement by the Board that this letter may be joined with the May 16 minutes to be a part of the permanent record of township proceedings.
In summary, Joyce’s accusations were that, during work on a revision of
the township zoning ordinance, I had met privately with the township’s
consultant to advocate an ordinance provision which would benefit me personally.
I
did travel to Eden Prairie to meet alone with the consultant at his
offices. It was not a “private” meeting
in the sense of the accusation; the meeting was approved by the other members
of the Planning Commission and the Board approved implicitly when it paid me
for my time spent on the meeting.
I
did walk out on a meeting with the consultant, in exasperation over his failure
to include in the ordinance draft a provision which had been discussed with
him, first, by the Commission members and, then, by me at our meeting. That occurred during a public meeting of the
Planning Commission. By action of
the Planning Commission, the provision which the
consultant failed to include in his draft did become a part of the final
draft and was adopted by
the Board of Supervisors who were then in office; the provision now
appears at page 7 of the ordinance, as the second sentence of the Density
definition.
Signed,
Dean K. Johnson