OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRANT VALLEY TOWNSHIP ANNUAL MEETING, TUESDAY, MARCH
17, 2009.
The Annual Meeting of
the Town of Grant Valley was held at the Grant Valley Town Hall on the third Tuesday
in March 2009, that being the 17th day, beginning at 8:15 p.m. Sixteen (16) residents were present. The meeting was originally scheduled for the
second Tuesday in March but a snow storm prevented that and thus the alternate
date was used.
The meeting was
convened by Clerk Schmidt followed by the pledge to the flag.
MODERATOR CHOSEN:
Nominations were opened for Moderator and Matt Boyer made a motion to nominate Tom Lloyd as Moderator. Ed Rauch seconded said nomination. No other nominations were made. Moderator Lloyd was given the Moderator’s Oath and took the chair.
TELLERS APPOINTED:
Moderator Lloyd appointed John Huderle, Gerald Maertens and Matt Boyer to serve as Tellers for the evening.
2008 ANNUAL
MEETING MINUTES:
The Clerk read the 2008 Annual Meeting Minutes. Matt Boyer made a motion to accept the 2008 Annual Meeting Minutes with the correction of the following: deleting the extra Fire Fund levy motion as there were two listed and inserting the Road and Bridge Fund levy being set motioned by John Huderle to set the Road and Bridge Fund at $211,600.00 and being seconded by Lester Hiltz. John Huderle seconded motion and it carried on unanimous voice call vote.
TREASURERS REPORT:
Jim Heltzer made a motion, seconded by Russell Hiltz to waive the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried on unanimous voice call vote.
SUPERVISOR’S
REPORTS:
Matt Boyer thanked everyone for another great year. We got some things accomplished this year. Gerald Miller's corner did get worked on and is having a little trouble keeping the shape and in the course of maintaining it there have been some setbacks but we will continue to work on that. 15th Street was paved and it has been very quiet from those residents since then. We are still working on the Boot Lake Road and that project will eat up most of our money if it is done this year but it is important because of the safety issues. An advertisement for this project was just done and Freeburg and Grund is the firm working on this. Bids will be opened just prior to our April meeting. The engineers estimate was about 145,000.00 but that is yet to be determined. This won't affect the maintaining of the roads or spot graveling. There has been some recent flooding and Russell Hiltz and Ed Rauch have been out fighting the flooding. There will be quite a bit of culvert work this year after this flooding. We have had a terrible time finding the culverts so some marking needs to be done. No new developments have come in yet. One resident came to talk to the board about a future development on Adam Schmitt's old property. There are some homes being built on the HRDC development on the Grant Valley Road.
John Huderle indicated he felt the remainder of the Grant Valley Road and down the Archery Road should have the tarring finished since there was a new development coming in there again. Matt Boyer indicated that the board is still not convinced that tarring would be financially beneficial and it would not be done this year as there would not be enough funds. He also indicated that he would like to have the developments filled up with more homes so we aren't having all the concrete trucks, etc. on our new tar. The Boot Lake Road will not be paved after the work is done as there are not that many residents on that road. There is a fair amount of cut through traffic on that road.
Jim Heltzer indicated that the Governor cut about $320,000.00 out of monies going to the county for roads and that money goes to the townships so we might not get as much money as normal also.
Matt Boyer also reported on the Ronglien Park project and it is pretty much completed and he felt if there were residents that did not have a chance to go down there yet that they should make a visit as it is a very nice park and a great road now.
Ed Rauch reported on Animal Control and BATO. Ed thanked all of the election judges that helped out with the big election last fall and we had 205 new registrations. Ed indicated that he attends the BATO “Beltrami Association of Township Officers” meetings which meet quarterly. They have commissioners come out, the sheriff and some other people who update them on what is going on around the area. He also reported on Animal Control. Grant Valley had 85 complaints, 1 animal bite which was a mailman and that dog was quarantined, 6 citations were issued and 12 animals were impounded. Animal Control is going well and he would like to see the numbers come down. We are still the third busiest township so if the numbers come down it will mean the animal control is working. The boarding fees are going to go up as will the impound fees. Ed wanted everyone to know that the Animal Control Officer, Dolf Corvelli, will be gone the end of June for 2 weeks and Dolf has arranged the sheriff department's help when he is gone. All in all animal control is going well in our township
Russ Hiltz reported on the fire association and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting tonight. Another tanker was purchased back in September by the association for $152,000.00. It was paid for in September and won't be delivered until April or May but a 7% discount was given for paying for it early. The MN Dot building is now coming down and everywhere they looked was too expensive for monthly rent, approximately $1,500.00. John Magnuson called the association and indicated he had a building in his yard that he would fix up and rent out for $600.00 a month so that is where the second station went. Russ indicated that John takes very good care of the station. The townships of Schoolcraft, Fern and Lake Hattie want to join the association. This would cut down on the existing townships payment to the association. Russ also touched base on the burning permits and in the township Dan Ewert, Harold Bohlmann, Pete's west and Pete's South give out burning permits. The fire department has to be at the airport ½ hour before Mesabi lands and 15 minutes after they leave for every flight. The airport pays approximately $100,000.00 to the fire department for this. Grant Valley had 16 total calls this year, 5 of those were fires, 1 was a false alarm, 2 were good intent and rescues were the other. Last year the calls were 17. Grant Valley is at about $34,000.00 for this year and our levy is $33,000.00. The fire association levies for the current year and the township levies for the next year.
Russ wanted to remind everyone not to snowplow snow into the ditches but push it back as they have been chiseling out culverts for two days. 15-16 culverts were froze up. He thanked Gordy Pierce for all his help on the roads also. John Huderle asked about the fire permits if you could get them on the internet and Russ felt that it was alright to do this but you had to register on the computer each time you do burn then.
He indicated that we weren’t asking for any increase in the general fund, a small increase in the Road and Bridge fund and also a small increase in the fire fund.
DONATIONS:
No one was present from the Historical Society, the Northern Valley Honor Flight, the Mounted Posse, or the Lakes Area Dive Team so no action was taken on those requests.
Bemidji Public Library – Jim Heltzer spoke on behalf of the Library and asked that we donate $200.00 which is the same as last year. The computers are a useful resource for looking for jobs and filling out unemployment forms, etc. The clerk reported that we had over 400 residents with current library cards as stated in the Library’s letter.
Senior Center – Jim Heltzer reported on the senior center also and asked for $325.00 this year. Townships and the United way are the main sources of revenue to keep the center going. Tax preparation is a great resource there also and you don't have to pay for the service. It is done three days a week. Last year they did over 1,000 tax returns. There are lots of other resources down there also.
First Responders - John Huderle thanked everyone and asked for 1,000.00 again this year. Their main replacement now is radios. One radio takes $2,000.00 and so it takes 2 years to get one radio. Some funds are also used for day to day items they need. He indicated there is a fundraiser this weekend and encouraged anyone who could go to do so. Their main thing they are raising funds for is their radios. Shirley Maertens asked for John to review the squads and he reported that the squads were West, Northwest, Blackduck and East Squad. The West which is Grant Valley’s squad, runs from the middle of downtown Bemidji up toward the golf course and includes Grant Valley, Eckles, half of Bemidji Township, Jones, Solway, Lammers, Buzzle and Northern. He indicated that Grant Valley is the best at donating by far.
Matt Boyer wanted to remind everyone that we had budgeted $1,500.00 for the donations this year.
David Kaupp made a motion to donate 1,000.00 to the First Responders. Jim Heltzer seconded motion. Paper ballots were used to vote and the motion was approved on a vote of 16 yes and 0 no.
Jim Heltzer made a motion to donate $325.00 to the Senior Center. Jerry Maertens seconded motion. Shilrey Maertens indicated that she felt we should keep the budget at $1,500.00 and not go over that. Paper ballots were used to vote and the motion was approved on a vote of 14 yes and 2 no.
Shirley Maertens made a motion to donate $175.00 to the Bemidji Public Library. Gordon Pierce seconded motion. Paper ballots were used to vote and the motion was approved on a vote of 14 yes and 2 no.
OTHER BUSINESS:
The Clerk read the election results. We had 19 voters and 18 votes were cast for Matthew Boyer for Supervisor and 18 votes were cast for Lynn Boyer for Treasurer. The other ballot was left blank.
Russell Hiltz asked Jim Heltzer to touch base on the Wilton Hill project. Jim has been attempting to get the gravel company out of there and a park put in its place. The state will trade with the county the same value of land on the west end of the county. The county would like to put in a sliding hill, skiing hill, fishing, swimming, toilets, picnic areas, etc. There is a list of potential uses and they would like the input of everyone. The county is going to try to get grants and try to get some money to get this thing off the ground. The county has a park fund and Jim will be trying to get money from there also. Shirley Maertens added she felt the sliding hill sounded wonderful, but it bothers her when we develop something and it gets metrofied and she will not be going to Ronglien Park when the hordes start showing up. She would like to caution everyone on moving fast with this project because Ronglien isn't fun to her anymore with all the people there. David Kaupp felt there was one stumbling block because a lot of residents use that area for deer hunting and he felt there weren’t going to be any park goers while deer hunters are going through. Jim Heltzer felt that was a good point and he would put that on the list of things they are reviewing. John Huderle asked how many acres were in there and Jim Heltzer indicated over 2,000. Jerry Maertens indicated that some land exchanges have been denied and he asked that Grant Valley sign on for support by possibly passing a resolution and that might help the exchange. Russ Hiltz indicated he looked on the map and that there were about 4,000 acres.
SETTING OF LEVIES:
Matt Boyer made a motion to set the General Fund Levy at $45,500.00. David Kaupp seconded motion. Paper ballots were used and the vote was approved on a vote of 16 yes and 0 no.
Jim Heltzer made a motion to set the Road and Bridge Fund at $216,600.00. Shirley Maertens seconded motion. Paper ballots were used and the vote was approved on a vote of 16 yes, 0 no.
Jerry Maertens made a motion to set the Fire Fund at $35,000.00. Jim Heltzer seconded motion. Paper ballots were used and the vote was approved on a vote of 16 yes, 0 no.
Ed Rauch made a motion to set the 2010 Annual Meeting at 8:15 p.m. at the Grant Valley Town Hall on the 9th day of March, that being the second Tuesday. Matt Boyer seconded motion and it carried on unanimous voice call vote.
Ed Rauch made a motion to adjourn. Russell Hiltz seconded said motion and it carried on unanimous voice call vote. Meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Angela Schmidt, Clerk
3/19/09