Category: Minutes

Supervisors Present: Mark Freeman, Rick Fry, Brian Landstrom

Treasurer Present: Keith Stoneburner

Others: Marialice Arndt, Township Clerk

3 Residents

The meeting was called to order by Chair Freeman at 7:30 PM.

Regular Business

May board minutes read and approved by Supervisors Freeman & Landstrom.

Treasurer Report

Treasures report approved by Freeman & Fry.

Old Business

911 Address Signs

Sharon Lewerer, Information Specialist, at the non-emergency 911 number 218-726-2920, addressing division at St Louis County advises that if residents request 911 signs they would cost $25.00. Pequaywan board discussed safety and felt that fire fighters and first responders are not hindered by current signage and suggest residents that wish to have the new style sign contact the County for assistance.

Township Sign

Freeman will contact local resident Bob Hirsch to see if he could produce and if he would be interested in developing a new town sign. Also, Mike Degrio, of Northern Graphics & Highland Signs ( 727-1294 or 722-7086) has been met with and will produce a graphic layout and email a couple of designs for a new sign. The graphics will be reviewed at the July meeting along with discussing response from Hirsch.

Advisory Speed sign

Fry will check with County about proper placement of signs cautioning drivers of children at play, bikers, ATV riders, and walkers.

∙ Landstrom moved to authorize Fry to purchase signs cautioning drivers of children at play, bikers, ATV riders and walkers to be placed on West Branch Road. Freeman seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried.

Grant Application

The HAVA grant for polling place handicap accessible was to have been awarded on June 7^th. The administrator of the grant was contacted on June 13^th and she advised that the final decisions had not been made yet and a letter would be mailed on Friday June 16^th.

∙ Fry moved to accept John Lucia’s proposal as written for the handicap accessible improvements. Freeman seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried.

∙ Fry moved to authorize the handicap accessible improvements to be done after notification of HAVA grant award. Freeman seconded. All ayes, motion carried.

County Yard Waste Managment Site

A call was made to the South St Louis Count Land Manager John Thompson at 218-625-3700 (5713 Old Miller Truck Hwy, Duluth, MN 55811) to inquire about an agreement for a yard waste managment site on County property. Forester Roff within that office advised that a letter from Pequaywan making a request for county land use for yard waste management would start the procedure. A copy of the agreement letter that North Star is working under was reviewed to deem the criteria they work under. Roff proposed the gravel pit off Hwy 44 to be a logical site.

∙ Freeman moved to authorize Arndt to write a letter requesting the use of County land for a yard waste management site for the residents of Pequaywan. Landstrom seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried.

Pequaywan.com Speed advisory

Sue Johnson has honored our request and posted a slow down notice on her website.

Rezoning

Pequaywan supervisors agree to support requesting the County to rezone R5 lake properties to R4 for lakes that are less than 80 acres and are 10′ or less in depth for new construction. This would change the current guidelines of 200′ of shoreline and 2 ½ acres to 300′ frontage and 4 ½ acres. Fry will contact County to confirm procedure of postings for public meeting and this matter will be discussed further at the July town meeting.

Meeting Dates

July Monthly Meeting August 8^th 7:30 PM

∙ Freeman moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 PM. Landstrom seconded, motion carried.

Supervisors Present: Mark Freeman, Rick Fry, Brian Landstrom

Treasurer Present: Keith Stoneburner

Others: Marialice Arndt, Township Clerk Excused

The meeting was called to order by Chair Freeman at 7:30 PM.

Regular Business

April board minutes read and approved by Supervisors Freeman & Landstrom

Treasurer Report

Treasures report approved by Freeman & Landstrom

Old Business

Township Sign

No progress on township sign.

Board of Appeals

Board of Appeals was held On May 3^rd with 3 people appealing

Grant Application

Arndt filed a grant application for the handicap access improvements. Town board will wait to see how much of the grant is awarded before getting started on improvement.

New Business/Information Items

Calls will be made to the county for help with proper signage on West Branch Road.

Sue Johnson will be contacted to request placing a notice concerning speed on her website.

A letter will be prepared to be presented to the Lake Association about speed on West Branch Road.

Placement of new style 911 sign is normally initiated by the fire department. No action was taken by the Town Board at this time. Estimated cost of 911 signs is $20,000. Clearing the area around current 911 signs would help with visibility.

The tax overcharge situation has not been resolved. It was suggested that the Township Association attorney be contacted about any problems that might be caused by a zero charge for township taxes next year and to see if there would be any adverse problems.

Meeting Dates

July Monthly Meeting July 11^th 7:30 PM

∙ Freeman moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:06 PM. Landstrom seconded, motion carried.

Prepared by Rick Fry, Supervisor

Supervisors Present: Mark Freeman, Rick Fry

Supervisor Absent: Brian Landstrom

Treasurer Excused: Keith Stoneburner

Others Present: Marialice Arndt, Township Clerk

6 Residents

The meeting was called to order by Chair Freeman and the Oath of Office was taken by Freeman and Arndt.

Regular Business

Approval of March Monthly Meeting Minutes

∙ Freeman moved to approve the March minutes as reported, Fry seconded. Motion carried.

Approval of March Bills and Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer’s Report provided prior to the meeting and mailed with supervisors per diem.

Old Business

Lakeshore Land Re-zoning

Fry reported on the information he gathered from St Louis County Planning and Zoning concerning possible re-zoning of lakeshore properties. He was advised that re-zoning should be considered township wide providing sound reasoning for the proposed changes. Further it would be helpful that if re-zoning was requested that adjoining townships joined Pequaywan in the request for re-zoning. Re-zoning changes must be presented as a request and is not automatically authorized and would pertain to new development only. If a meeting was to be convened to discuss re-zoning the meeting would need to be posted and public input taken. The current DNR regulations are 30-40 years old with current zoning of Res-5 being 2 ½ acres and 200′ of frontage. Re-zoning to Res 4 would require 4 ½ acres with 300′ of frontage. The DNR considers “literal area” of a lake to be the acreage that is 15′ or less in depth. One example of this was given as Big Pequaywan having acreage of 418 but has “literal area” of 240 acres. The advantages of Res 4 include less impact on the environment, better water quality and more privacy. One disadvantage would be less profit margin for the development. Fry was advised that many communities are considering re-zoning of lake property and he will continue gathering information to be presented at the May meeting.

Burning Site

Freeman inquired if any information was available from the Pequaywan Fire Department’s desire to manage a burning site. Ron Sluka advised that he consulted with the DNR Two Harbors division and the party he talked with had no knowledge of any grant funding. The DRN advised that anyone can get a permit but cautioned about fencing, establishing responsibility etc. Sluka’s understanding is that the fire department would not be interested in taking on this project. This topic will be discussed at the May 20^th Lake Association Meeting.

Emergency 911 Sign Costs

Freeman will make a call again to 911 to inquire if perhaps funding is available for this. It was discussed that placement requirements would need to be strictly adhered to and the issue of calling prior to digging could prove time consuming. Discussion was had that new construction (septic design) seems to entitle homeowner to new sign without cost.

New Township Sign

Fry was unsuccessful in meeting with contact to discuss new township sign.

New Business/Information Items

The Auto Mark (disability voting equipment) is tentatively scheduled for delivery the end of May. The purchase is made by St Louis County who will provide training and will advise of delivery/pick-up information. Initial cost of operation and maintenance should be covered until 2010 by funds set aside for HAVA according to the Auditor’s office.

The Board of Appeals and Equalization is tentatively scheduled for May 3^rd 7-8 PM at the Fire Hall. This appeals process is an opportunity for homeowners to question the value or tax category their property is given.

Freeman advised that an error has been made on the township portion of the 2006 tax statements. A correction letter had been mailed to the County but the County advises that it was never received. It will be discussed at a future meeting but it appears that a possible legal solution is to skip one year of assessment to bring the balance back to zero. Letters to homeowners may be written to clarify the situation and also a letter may be written to Commissioner Peg Sweeney to draw attention to the shortcomings witnessed while trying to resolve this matter with the County.

Freeman advised that a discussion will need to be held with Contractor John Lucia to set in motion bringing the Fire Hall up to standards for handicap assessibility.

Authorization to Purchase Tape Recorder

∙ Fry moves to authorize Arndt to purchase a tape recorder with the expense not to exceed $100.00. Freeman seconded, motion carried.

It was noted that the tape recordings made of meetings by the Board are solely intended for the purpose of assisting the clerk to develop accurate minutes. Such tapes are not part of the Township’s official records.

Fry reported that he has received a complaint about speeding vehicles. As the township has no enforcement of speed signs he notes that a advisory sign could be posted to alert drivers and make them more aware. He will check into the cost of an advisory sign. He noted that the legal speed on a township road is 35 MPH and an advisory sign would be 20 MPH.

Fry also noted that he will be sweeping roads on the morning of April 21^st.

Meeting Dates

May Monthly Meeting scheduled for May 9^th 7:30 PM

Board of Appeals & Equalization May 3^rd 7-8 PM Pequaywan Fire hall

∙ Freeman moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 PM. Fry seconded, motion carried.

Sue Johnson , Township Clerk, calls meeting to order at 8:30 pm. Johnson gave the election results with Mark Freeman being reelected as Township Supervisor and Marialice Arndt was elected as Town Clerk as a write-in candidate. Richard Arndt was elected to be monitor for the Annual Meeting. Richard Arndt motions to waive the February meeting minutes. Rick Fry seconds the motion. Motion carries. A motion is made by Richard Arndt to accept the levy of $23,000 for 2007. The levy would include $1500 for Road & Bridges, $7800 for the General Fund, $8800 for Fire and First Responder, $4900 for Other including accessor’s fees etc. Ron Sluka seconds the motion. Motion carried. A motion is made by Richard Arndt to accept the current township meeting time as 7:30 pm the second Tuesday of the month. Marialice Arndt seconds the motion. Motion carries. Rick Fry motions to adjourn. Mark Freeman seconds the motion. Motion carries and the meeting adjourned.

Prepared by Sue Johnson, Town Clerk