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

ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP BOARD - MEETING MINUTES

July 12, 2007

Present: Brian Mueller, Jeff Orth, Gary Swenson, Gary Donovan, Brenda Dicken, and Douglas Butler

Guests: Gary Pedersen and Dennis and Sherrie Bowe

Brenda Dicken called the meeting at 7:02PM

June Minutes - Douglas Bulter made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed

Planning Commission – Gary Donovan reported that Mr. and Mrs. Denny Bowe presented a request for a zone change and General Development Plan. The board needs to approve the zone change and approve the GDP. The county is also asking the Bowe’s to change their driveway over to the new projected road and close the current access from their property to CR#25.

Zone Change – The Bowe’s made a request to re-zone their property, approximately 74 acres, from A3 to R1. Gary Donovan made a motion to grant the application to change the 73 acres of Bowe Property from A3 to R1. Douglas Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

General Development Plan - Douglas Butler made a motion to accept the GDP as revised on 6/18/2007 and recommened for approval to the board. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Gary Donovan made a motion to send a letter to the county engineer requesting a meeting to discuss the Town Boards request to delete condition #1 of the letter from Kevin Harmes dated July 3, 2007 regarding access to the Bowe property to County RD # 25. Douglas Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on, and passed.

Gary Pedersen said he would be happy to come out and meet with the parties too.

New Business:

County Road Services Charges - Douglas Butler made a motion to approve the agreement for county services. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Bamber Valley Road Gravel Pit - The board received a letter from Homer Tompkins saying that he will not open the pit until he gets an approved conditional use permit from the Township. The Board also received a letter from Bruce Ryan saying he will withdraw his appeal application due to the letter from Homer Tompkins III stating that he will not reactivate the mining pit on Bamber Valley Road unless he applies for a conditional use permit from the township first.

Brian Mueller made a motion to accept the letters from Homer Thompkins III and Bruce Ryan that resolve the Bamber Valley Gravel Pit issue. Gary Donovan seconded the motion; it was voted for and approved.

Gary Donovan suggested that we ask Homer Thompkins III to revise his letter to state that if the property is sold that he notifies the future owners of this agreement with the township on the CUP.

Report from Deputy Valerie Coe – Deputy Valerie Coe reported there were a few robberies in the Township and gave the township the incident report for the month.

Road Report – Mike reported they are caught up on the mowing; they are now working on small jobs around the township. Mike brought up Swensen’s request to have Meadow Crossing Road applied with dust control. His request is to see if the township is interested in sharing the cost with the neighbors requested. At the present time we are done for the year. The clerk will notify Swensens of the timing and we will work on the policy for next year. The approximate cost would be $xxx.xx.

Treasurer’s Report:

Douglas Butler made a motion to approve the treasures report. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

RT claims - Gary Donovan made a motion to approve the July claims # 444 – 457 for $29,863.84. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

JPB Claims –Jeff Orth made a motion to approve the July claims # 844 – 867 for $10,312.34. Douglas Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Jeff Orth moved that we accept Joe Vroman as the deputy Clerk/treasurer. Doug Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Gary Swenson informed the board that he had received a notice from MATITS that our building was not insured to its appraised value. The board has to decide if we want to insure our building at it’s full appraised value of $974,000, rather than the $300,000 construction value that it is now insured at. Swenson will get more information from MATITS on options available.

Gary Donovan made a motion to allow the school board to use our facility on September 25, from 6AM – 8 PM for both the Rochester Township and City Ward #1 without fee. Jeff Orth seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Board of Adjustment - Jeff Orth reported that we had a variance request from Patrick and Joan Dean to build a fence. The Variance was granted (No. V-07-01).

TCPA Report – Brenda Dicken said that the Vice Chair has moved, and Paul Gerber agreed to fill the position until the next election.

LGA Report - Brenda Dicken talked to Kent Sulem about merging the current LGA mission into MATTs.

Status of SWPPP application - Brenda Dicken reported that she sent in the final storm water document and hoped that it would be accepted.

Headwall / ROW obstruction study – Gary Donovan reported that he talked to Michel Gowan and will work on the Headwall / ROW inventory as soon as his schedule allows.

TCPA letter dealing with garage sale problem on Conway Court - Brenda reported that she did get a copy of the letter Roger Irhke sent to the resident running the garage sales.

Township Picnic plans – Plans were discussed and assignments made – Jeff, potato salad; Brenda, beans; Lenny, pop; Gary S., coolers; Gary Donovan – Ice, and Brenda and Doug will purchase supplies at Sam’s Club.

Meeting Adjourned - Brenda Dicken made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:05PM. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gary Swenson, Clerk

Brenda Dicken, Chair

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

Home | Officials | Agendas | Annual Meeting Information | Minutes | Annual Reports | Budgets