Supervisor Norm Leslie informed the board that the wood chips at the Lions Park playground were worn down and needed to be replaced. He showed the board a few different options, recommending they use dried tamarack, as he believed it would last longer. 

The board also considered using shredded rubber tires instead of wood chips, as they would last a very long time, but the idea was a non-starter. The rubber was known to become hot in the summer, and would cost about $70,000, as opposed to the $15,000 price tag of the tamarack. 

Leslie later mentioned that he had been out with the town’s park maintenance person, and they got the park ready to go for the summer, including getting the new trail signs put up. 

Finally, Leslie noted that the food distribution at Lions Park went well, with over 270 people coming to pick up food. Food from the Big Lake Food Shelf is distributed at the park on the third Monday of every month. Supervisor Bruce Aubol stated that several people asked him how to qualify to receive food. No one needs to qualify. All anyone has to do to receive food is to show up and get whatever they need. People are also encouraged to pick up food for friends, family, or neighbors who are struggling. The important thing is to make sure the food goes where it is needed. 

Fire Report

Captain Tim Davis of the BLFD was on hand to give the fire department update for the month. He reported that it was a slow month with only two fires: one building fire and one grass fire. 

In total, there were seven calls for the township.

Davis told the board he was taking Chief Hansen’s place in giving them the monthly report because the chief was on hand for the graduation of two new firefighters, Shane Roy and Jason White.

Open Forum

Bret Collier spoke during open forum, urging the township to consider hand counting only during the 2022 election season. He presented information on the county’s voting machines, stating that the machines were outdated, running on Windows 7, and hadn’t had any security updates. He noted that he, and some other concerned citizens, had already brought this up at a county meeting, but that the township had the right to choose to not use voting machines. 

Roads

After the spring road tour, the road committee was happy to announce there was less cracking on the roads during the hard winter than they had expected. They had some workers fill in some of the larger pot holes. The road committee is still working on a summary of the road tour to present to the board. 

The planned roundabout on Co. Rd. 43 and 205th Ave./Glenwood Ave. will not be completed this year, as the county is hoping to receive funding for the project.