March 14, 2006
The Annual Town Meeting and Election was held on March 14, 2006 at the Kimball Area Fire and Rescue Hall. The Polls opened at 12:00 noon and closed at 8:00 p.m. with the business meeting following the counting of the ballots at 8:30 p.m.
Chair Unterberger opened the Maine Prairie Township Annual Meeting with the Pledge to the American Flag. Clerk, Terre Harff, called for nominations to elect a moderator to run the meeting. A motion was made and seconded to nominate Gary Woods as moderator. Motion carried
Moderator Woods presented the results of the election for a three (3)
year term Supervisor:
Total Ballot count was 78
Dennis Loewen 62
Brent Nehring 13
Steve Gohlman 1
Keith Donnay 1
Spoiled Ballots 1
Dennis Loewen was elected to a three year term.
Moderator Gary Woods called for Clerk Harff to read the minutes of the March 8, 2005 annual meeting. Dennis Loewen/Joe Krippner made a motion to accept the minutes as read. Motion carried
Moderator Woods called for the Treasurers report. Clerk Harff gave the treasurers report. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s report. Motion carried.
First item on the agenda was taking care of the township road ditches. Jim Unterberger explained it is up to the residents to take care of their own road right-a-way. The township did spray about 2/3rds of the township road ditches, especially the over-hanging trees and noxious weeds. Some mowing was done. John Wicker felt that we would be better making two passes with the mower. The discussion was to continue spraying the rest of the township this year.
Hwy 55 Detour: Jim Unterberger thanked the residents for being so understanding for something that was out of the townships control. The township kept track of all the extra costs on the gravel roads that were damaged because of the detour. A bill was sent to the State of MN Hwy Dept., payment was received in the amount of $29,400.00.
Site Permits: The electric companies will now need to get a permit to put cable into the road right-a-way. Jim Unterberger explained we asked for that so we can keep track of where they bury the cable, if a road is up for rebuilding, the cable can remain in-tack. Jim explained the trouble we have had in the past. He also explained that a site permit is needed if you plan to build. The assessor goes around; if they see a building not on their records, the county and township will charge an after-the-fact permit and those charges can get pretty high. Jim said the township has not had much of a problem this year. One other permit needed is the “Dig A Hole – Get a Permit”. This is a required from the state if you disturb more than one acre. Joe Krippner asked about removing a stump – Jim said not to disturb more than an acre.
Projected Road Projects: The Township is looking at rebuilding a 175th Street and 126th Ave over by Goodner Lake. Jim Unterberger explained that Luxemburg Township approached us with plans to black top 165th street from Co Rd 2 next year. It would be cheaper for both townships to combine the two jobs. Joe asked if that was the road past Gary Linn’s, Jim confirmed it was. Before the black topping could be done, the roads would have to be rebuilt and the low land could be a problem.
Fire Contracts: Jim Unterberger commended the Kimball Fire Department for doing a great job. Moderator Woods called on Tom Ehlinger to report how they came out after the accident and what their upcoming fund raisers are. Tom said that everything is getting back to normal; Mark Dockery was injured the most with some scars incurred. The equipment van is the vehicle they are working at getting next. The cost is around $150,000.00 with $50,000.00 coming out of the Fire Department funds. The rest was raised with fund raiser and donations. If a higher amount was donated, their names were put on the truck. There were 228 business donators that helped raised $168,000.00. One of the other projects was to replace the chassis on the ’87 Pumper truck. He said that is already in the budget. The Fire contract for Kimball in 2006-2007 is $39,623.89. Clerk Harff said that she will not know what the Watkins and Rockville Fire contracts will be but they should not be much higher than this past year. The contracts for 2005 were around $8,200.00. Dennis Loewen/Joe Krippner made a motion to accept the projected Fire Contract Budget.
Farming the road right-a-way is still a big problem within the township. Complaints have come in concerning the plowing of snow across the road in the Greely development. Jim Unterberger said the City of Kimball takes care of that road. Pat Hinkemeyer and Christy Janski complained on the size of rock used to sand the roads and their tar is broken up from the plowing. John Wicker said he did go out and look, the size was more like pit run rock. Dean Hinkemeyer said they winged it out too much when plowing. Roland Donnay said that it was hard to plow this year because it really never froze.
Donations: Mary Johnson, Carol Newman and Duwayne Stanley came before the
meeting giving a bit of history of Maine Prairie Township. With the township
celebrating 150 years in 2006, this group from the Historical Society is
organizing events to celebrate its history. Mr Stanley shared some of the
township history, explained some of the events planned, and told of what
will be for sale as souvenirs. The group was asking for a donation to help
cover the cost of a history booklet and to help with the expenses of the up
coming events. Dates for the events are:
March 25th Kimball Expo
April 13th Kimball School
May 27th Maine Prairie Cemetery
June 24th Fair Haven Days
August 11-13th Kimball Days
Jim Unterberger/Dennis Loewen made a motion to donate $1,500.00 toward the
anniversary celebration. Motion carried
Watkins Ambulance: Jeff Hilsgren gave a report on what the Watkins Ambulance does for the township. He was asked if there are any projects coming up. He explained the ambulance is 5 years old; it is projected to replace it at 6 years, 80,000 miles. He said that will be decided at their annual meeting. Joe Krippner/ John Wicker made a motion to donate the same as last year, $1,500.00 to the Watkins Ambulance. Motion carried.
Community Education: Chris Obrien gave a report on how the last year’s donation helped the township with different kids programs, Sr Citizens bingo, summer camp, spring safety, kindergarten program and many more. Budget is $200,000.00 and much of that comes from donations from the area lions club, townships, state and federally funded tuitions for those who can not afford the programs. Bob Pike/Tom Ehlinger made a motion to donate $1,500.00 to the Community Education Dept. Motion carried.
Community Playhouse: Betty Nystrom Mancinie reported they plan on performing “Fiddler on the Roof” which will require a lot of children. The community playhouse has been active for 6 years; three years ago they started winter plays to help raise money for the musicals. She said that they are averaging about 600 people for their musicals. John Wicker asked if they will ever be self-supporting. Betty felt they don’t charge enough to be self-supporting. She said it costs about $10,000.00 - $12,000.00 to put on a play. Dennis Loewen asked what the play rights cost. Betty thought about $1,200.00. John Wicker has a problem using township money for entertainment. She explained that it gets the community involved and is a learning experience. Roland Donnay felt we should give them $500.00, the same as last year. Joe Krippner suggested going to the VFW in Watkins for donations. Pat Hinkelmeyer made a motion to increase it to $750.00 this year because it does get the community involved, Jim Unterberger seconded. Motion carried
Town Hall: John Wicker feels that a town hall is not needed at this time. Jim Unterberger suggested we look to the future. They asked Clerk Harff her feelings. She said that she does most of her work at home now. Her problem is she might need a file and it is at the hall. She doesn’t like to work in the office because it is too cold in the winter, she has a heater but by the time it gets warmed up, she is done. Roland Donnay asked how many townships have a hall. The cost of having a hall was discussed. Joe Krippner/Jeff Hilsgren made a motion to put $5,000.00 into the budget. Motion carried.
Shoreland Permits: If you live within 1000’ from the lake shore high water mark, you need to get your permit from the county. The township changed its ordinance this past year. If you had property on the lake, it was that you needed 2 acres before you could build a home. Jim Unterberger explained that people could not afford 2 acres on the lake anymore. So the township changed its ordinance to match what the county has and that is 40,000 sq ft. The rest of the township remains at 2 acres.
Moderator Woods called for any new business:
Bob Pike asked who takes care of the sirens. Jim Unterberger said the township doesn’t have any sirens that the county takes care of them.
Jim Unterberger asked who all gets the Tri Co News paper. With many raising their hands, he explained the trouble the township is having on reporting the township news. With the celebration coming up, Clerk Harff tried to have them write an article on the celebration, election, and what the township does. They felt it was not news worthy. With the amount of money the township spends on legal notices, it would be nice to have her cover some of the activities starting off with township days.
Budget for 2007: John Wicker felt that we could get by with the same as this year at $540,000.00. Jim Unterberger suggested increasing it by $20,000 - $30,000 because of the cost of fuel and the road projects this year. Pat Hinkemeyer said that the cost of living increase should also pertain to the township. She was also concerned that the township hall money is not in a savings if it can not be touched for anything else. Clerk Harff said that we have not received the money for 2006 but would check into a CD for the first year savings. Joe Krippner/Jeff Hilsgren made a motion to set the 2007 budget at $575,000.00. John Wicker voted no. Motion carried.
Jeff Hilsgren/Joe Krippner made a motion to hold the next annual meeting on March 13, 2007. Motion carried.
Joe Krippner/Jeff Hilsgren made a motion to adjourn the 2006 annual meeting. Motion carried.
Terre Harff Clerk/Treasurer