Palmer Township has been presented with a petition asking for a road vacation on 103rd ave. SE in the plat of Schendzielos Estates by Clint Schendzielos.  Following a discussion, the board approved an order for a public hearing on the matter to be held Mon., July 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Palmer Town Hall, at which time the board will meet and act upon the petition.

 

According to documents presented by township attorney David Meyers, the township board has 30 days in which to make an order “describing as nearly as practicable the road proposed to be established, altered, or vacated and the several tracts of land through which it passes, and fixing a time and place when and where it will meet to act upon the petition.”  Notice must be served to affected landowners, and presented to the commissioner of natural resources for evaluation.

 

Any owner or occupant may appeal the any award of damages within 40 days of an award of damages by the supervisors to the county district court administrator and to have a judicial review of damages, need and purpose of the road vacation.

 

Terrence Vander Eyk of Bogart-Pederson Engineering appeared before the board to discuss a preliminary bid for construction on 48th st. The project involves a 1,575-ft. section between CSAH 6 and East End in the township, and includes creation of a 22-ft. wide pavement surfaced with shouldering.

 

The bid includes an estimate of $65,282.50 for construction and $5,000 in engineering costs for a total of $70,282.50.  Vander Eyk informed the board that the earthwork quantities are “very approximate” at the present time, and that a cross-section survey would be required before an actual determination of contact values would be possible.

 

Chairman Mike Ganz suggested separate bids be created, with one involving road work and the other only the shouldering operation.  Meyers also asked if the township was in possession of a road order for the project area.

 

The matter remains under consideration until a subsequent meeting.

 

The board approve a bid from contractor Jeff Rhodes for a $5,772 seal-coating and paint-striping project on the town hall/fire hall parking lot, and a further $1,750 for a similar project in the Sherburne Oaks area.

 

Lake Improvement District

Briggs Lake Chain Association President Dan Merchant informed the board the group is moving forward with a new plan to create a Lake Improvement District, this time involving only Briggs Lake, Rush Lake and Lake Julia residents.

 

Earlier this year, the Sherburne County Board had declined to use their authority to create a LID because far less than 50 percent of the property owners on Big Elk Lake stated that they would be in favor of the proposal.  More than 50 per cent of the property owners on Briggs Lake, Rush Lake, and Lake Julia had polled favorable on the LID proposal.

 

Merchant said the LID would have no effect on the current lake association, since the LID would operate with funds from property taxes, and the BLCA is operated by donations only.

 

The board received a donation of $10,000 from the Clear Lake Lion’s Club that will fund work on a new well in Palmer Park.

 

The board voted to return a positive comment on a request for input from the Sherburne County Zoning Office in regard to solar energy farms in the county.  Supervisor Steve Demeules added the comment should include a notation asking for a 1,000-ft. setback from recreational lakes, instead of the current 300-ft. requirement.

 

The sheriff’s report indicated that the department had used grant funding to conduct an additional 12 hours of water patrol during the Memorial Day weekend, which resulted in two “No Wake” warnings and one citation for having two rods active while fishing.

Treasurer Roger Johnson reported that the annual Clean-Up Day had fewer participants this year, 157 compared with 185 in 2014.