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

ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP BOARD - MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, May 12, 2011

      Board Minutes

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

Members Absent:

Guests: Deputy Val Coe, Dan Zemkie, Art Reckinger, Richard Freese, Mark Orvidas, Brad Thatcher, Bruce Borgerding, Jeff Robertson and Tish Torchia.

Gary Donovan called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

Minutes – Doug Butler made a motion to approve the April 14, 2011 minutes. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Richard Freese, Director, Public Works - Lenny Laures introduced Richard Freese, the City of Rochester Public Works Director to talk about the needed work on 40th street. With the proposed development on the north side of 40th street, the board was interested to see if the city had any plans or interest in upgrading the road. Richard said because of the slow down in residential construction, the city has no current plans for 40th street. If the township decides to upgrade the road or make substantial improvements, and the city decides to annex 40th street into the city, the city could reimburse the township proportionally for the extended life of the road.

Richard will draft an agreement between the City and Rochester Township outlining a cost sharing agreement determining a pro rate share paid by the city and reimbursement of the repair costs if it is annexed prior to the extended life provided by the repair. The reason for this agreement is to alleviate any concern the town might have in spending township funds to upgrade a road and than have the city annex it in.

Lenny brought up another shared road 48th st where there is ditch work to be done on the city side of the road. Richard said the city would be willing to provide material and labor to assist the town to correct the slope of the ditch.

West Hill Drive is another concern for the township, we provide road that serves city residents as well as our township residents. The agreement with the developer was he would pay for a proportional share of maintenance of West Hill Drive and when enough homes are sold it would be turned over to the Property Association for them to pay. The board asked Richard if the city could help collect those fees if needed. Richard said he would look into it, but thought it would be between the township and the home owners and out of the hands of the city.

Swimming Pool Cover - Brad Thatcher and Mike Orvidas wanted to know if they could get the county to change its ordinance requiring a fence around swimming pools to read “a fence or approved swimming pool cover”, if the township would go with what the county rules were, if changed to allow a pool cover in lieu of a fence, or go with a stricter ordinance still requiring a fence. The indicaton of the board was that they would follow the county board ordinances and not be stricter. Lenny suggested that they contact the county staff enforcing this ordinance and try get them to support their viewpoint on fences vs pool covers.

McGhie and Betts Final Bill - Dan Zemke came to the board to discuss their final bill for their work on Meadow Crossing Road. The board agreed to pay the bid amount for the project and any other agreed upon amount requested because of changes. Gary S. and Dan will compare statements to determine the final payment status.

Head Wall Meeting – Douglas Butler presented a headwall ordinance language (for discussion) Three options- One, do nothing, he doesn’t recommend that-- 2nd, grandfather in all headwalls prior to ordinance, and deal with the most severe-- 3rd, repeal the headwall ordinance.

Brenda commented that the county grandfathers things in all the time, and we could do it. Art Reckinger said he has researched this for two months, safety is everyone’s concern, the state guidelines relates to the speed. You need a guardrail where speed is authorized at 40 MPH or greater.

Art Reckinger recommended that we leave the current ordinance in place and start working on a revised head wall ordinance that takes into account the new information.

Douglas Butler made a motion that we go ahead with a meeting on May 23rd and present a revised ordinance direction. Douglas withdrew his motion.

Art suggested we suspend enforcement of the head wall ordinance, rewrite the ordinance, and withdraw the letters.

The following were discussed;

1. Suspend enforcement of the head wall ordinance.

2. We are going to rewrite the ordinance

3. Withdraw the letter

4. Form an adhoc committee (two board members)

Douglas Butler moved that we suspend enforcement of the head wall ordinance until further notice. Brenda Dicken seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Jeff Orth made a motion that we retract the letters and present a plan on how we are going to proceed at the meeting on the 23rd. Douglas Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

We will send a letter to retract our previous letter and invite individuals to the May 23rd

Meeting.

Jeff Orth made a motion to have Art Reckinger serve as a temporary consultant on the head wall issue. Motion died for lack of second.

Jeff Orth suggested a motion to suspend the enforcement pending a rewrite of the ordinance of the headwall ordinance, and retract the letter. Motion died for lack of a motion.

Val Coe - Ivr Lille fence has been compromised again and the cows have been getting out. Val called him and he fixed the fence. Boulder Creek had a few suspicious individuals messing around a new unoccupied house on Builder Point. Lenny said that animal control will not come out to the township unless a County Sheriff calls them because the animal was determined dangerous. There were two runners from the Von Wald center.

Burning Barrel issue - Jeff said a neighbor is burning in platted area, Val Coe is going to stop and talk to the individual.

Treasurer’s Report – Jeff Orth 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 – Brenda Dicken made a motion to approve claims # 1962 – 1970 for $9,897.54. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on passed.

JPB Claims – Jeff Orth made a motion to approve claims # 2059 – 2082 for $14,578.21. Brian Mueller seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Jeff Orth suggested that we invite OSHA representative in for a compliance audit. It was discussed and left as is.

Lenny maintenance report - Chris was out for corrective surgery. Dealing with frost boils. Tough winter on roads. Reviewed the mowing policy for the township. Bid for $15,000 from Bargens for crack filling. Lenny got some quotes for work on 31st Avenue for a hoe.

Brian made a motion to authorize Lenny to hire a contractor to do ditch cleaning on 31st Ave. Brenda seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Jeff Orth suggested that Lenny get an estimate from them on what they feel it would cost to do the work as outlined.

Gary Donovan will contact Homer Thompkins to see if any lots were sold in the Mayowood addition and if so a $3,500.00 payment is due for each lot as identified in the Cost Share Contract.

Jeff Orth made a motion to hire Bargen for crack filing up to $15,000 for 2012. Douglas Butler seconded the motion; it was voted on and passed.

Board of Adj – No meeting.

Planning and Zoning – no meeting

TCPA - Brenda suggested that we put a line item in the budget for TCPA for services. They lost about $6,000 last month.

Meeting Adjourned - 10:20PM adjourned Brian Mueller and Douglas Butler.

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