4111 11th Avenue SW - Rochester, Minnesota 55902 - Tel. (507) 282-6488

ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP BOARD - MEETING MINUTES

ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP BOARD

Rochester Town Hall

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Board Minutes

Members Present: Gary Donovan, Brenda Dicken, Brian Mueller, Jeff Orth, Lenny Laures and Gary Swenson. Members Absent: Douglas Butler

The meeting was called to order by Brian Mueller at 7 PM.

Jeff Orth made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 10, 2009 board meeting as amended. Brenda Dicken seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Annual Meeting – The board discussed the annual meeting minutes and suggested that we add to the discussion on our reserve. The reserve was at $320,000 but reduced because of the expenses related to the salt/sand shed and road expenses greater than budgeted.

CPDC – City Annexation Request

Debra Poire – Brenda Dicken will send out a second letter detailing what has to be done with that debris. Kyle Davis does the clean up on properties like this.

Cairnbrae Cul-de-Sac – Gary Swenson contacted Home Federal Bank regarding the status of the Carinbrae Letter of Credit. The bank said they will be renewing the LOC before April 28th, 2009 and will make the appropriate reduction at that time.

New Business:

TCPA moved in and everyone is settled. Brenda and Lenny discussed the TCPA meeting which was held last night. TCPA decided to bill members an additional assessment to cover the 2008 loss of $27,000. Jeff Orth in discussion said he would like to see a plan on how TCPA will handle this budget problem, this expense is un-budgeted and will affect our budget. He would like to see a plan showing what would happen if this trend continues. Brenda Dicken made a motion that we pay the $6,424.79 Assessment to TCPA to keep it going with a request for a business plan for the future. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it voted on and passed.

Matt Fowler was let go by GGG, Inc.. He would like to contract with the townships to do septic inspections and will do them for $100 less than our current inspector. TCPA is now requiring that a septic inspector either be a Licensed Engineer (PE) or have one on their staff. Jeff Orth made a motion that we recommend to accept Matt Fowlers proposal. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Deputy Val Coe – Val mentioned an incident that happened in Cascade Township where the city refused to take a dog, and the animal was then taken to Dr. Predmore. Val now has a document that states the townships do have an agreement that they would take animals. The county has four spaces available, if all are filled there would be no space available.

Val reviewed calls in the township during the past month.

Treasurer - Gary Donovan made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Brenda Dicken seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

TREASURER's REPORT

RT Claims – Jeff Orth made a motion to approve Rochester Township claims #760 to 772 for $25,179.63. Brenda Dicken seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

JPB Claims – Brenda Dicken made a motion to approve JPB claims #1353 to 1377 for $14,396.70. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Maintenance Supervisor – Lenny Laures reported they have been working on cleaning up the upstairs. He said we need to determine if there is eight inches of rock on the road and the center line is marked on the new part of Meadow Crossing road (used to be part of Old Valley Road). Oil cooler split on the 06 Mack truck, Lenny went back to the factory and they paid for the repair part (about $800), our cost was for labor of about $400.

Board of Adjustment -No meeting

P&Z Commission - No meeting

Aggregate Tax - Lenny said the county wants to change the aggregate fee. Under the new plan the townships will have to pay 21 cents per yard and it will be distributed back to the county and the township that the pit is in. Under the new plan the townships without pits will not get any funds, yet the trucks could be driving on our roads. Under a new law 42% has to go back to the townships with the pits. The balance of the aggregate fee goes to the county.

Electronic Burning Permit - The electronic permit was discussed. Jeff Orth will contact the DNR and get the time limit on the permits clarified. Jeff Orth made motion that after discussing this with the DNR, that if we can’t issue a current style paper permit beyond 3 days, we should go electronic (new program). If not we will send a letter opting out of the program. Brenda seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Jeff Orth made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 PM. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gary Swenson, Clerk

Brian Mueller, Chair

Rochester Township - 4111 11th Avenue SW - Rochester, Minnesota 55902 - Tel. (507) 282-6488