The first meeting after the annual meeting, the board takes care to enact any decisions made by the township’s citizens at the annual meeting. This is referred to as the reorganizational meeting.
As a board, the supervisors again approved the levy set by the residents. Many of the items they discussed, board chair, official bank and newspaper, etc., were kept the same as last year. They looked at wages and compared them to other townships in the area. Upon reviewing how Palmer pays their staff compared to other townships, they decided to raise the wages of the clerk and treasurer from $20 to $25. They also slightly raised the rate for their maintenance staff from $19.50 to $20.
Roads Report
Supervisor Michael Ganz noted that the township was nervous about sending out plows to manage the snowfall earlier in the month, since the ground had already thawed. He stated that if the grounds are not frozen, it is possible to dig up chunks of the road on accident with the plows. However, the snow was heavy enough to necessitate plows, and everything worked out in the end.
One resident in attendance at the meeting noted the stop sign at 115th and 49th has been down for six weeks and asked when it would be put up again. The supervisors responded that they had been waiting for the ground to thaw, but now that the ground has thawed they would see about getting it back up as soon as possible.
Cleanup Day
Cleanup Day is scheduled for May 3. According to the board supervisors, several residents asked about pricing. A pricing chart for the event is available online.
Parks Report
During the recent park meeting, committee members discussed several items around the park.
Signs showing the map of the disc golf course will be posted around the course. Supervisor Ganz stated that the course is popular and being used consistently.
Anchored trash cans will be placed around the park. The park board also discussed putting out some new benches and tables.
Buckthorn has been an issue. The board spoke to a local resident in attendance about her experience hiring a team of goats to eat away the buckthorn on her property. She said it was a great experience and worked better than she had anticipated.
Weather permitting, the material for the pickleball court will be poured on April 26. It will take about a month to cure and will be ready for painting at the end of May or early June.
The board intended to get their new mower the day after the meeting.
New trees have been procured and are ready to be planted. The board was excited, knowing the trees would look very nice and offer much needed shade in about 20 years.
Registration for Palmer Ball (ages five and up) is open now. More information can be found at www.PalmerTownshipMN.org/community-activities-2.
An audio pronunciation for the full name of Two Inlets Park (Omashkooz Zaaga’igaans) is available on the county’s website for anyone who wants to hear it. Funding for the phase three decommission has not yet been secured for Two Inlets park. The phase three decommission will include removing the old barn. After going through it, it was determined the barn would not be valuable to sell as it is not in its original form, and there was nothing valuable inside.
An ATV safety training class for kids will take place May 16 and 17. The class fee is $10 and open for kids ages 10 and up. Adults 16 or older can take a class online. Those interested can call 612-865-0343 to register.
Fire Report
Fire Chief Ron Koren noted 17 calls for service last month, including two in the township. A resident in attendance at the meeting asked when the storage facility that burned down would be cleaned up, but Koren responded that it was up to the owner of the facility, not the fire department.
Lake Reports
The Briggs Lake Chain Association (BLCA) held a meeting featuring a presentation from Carp Solutions. Carp Solutions laid out everything they planned to do to control the carp problem in the lakes, including tagging fish, looking at migration patterns, and netting and removing fish. They will be ready to get started in May or June.
Water testing will begin in May.
On May 10, BLCA will have another event for members with a spring plant giveaway.
The association discussed whether to keep an AED machine near the lake. Currently, there is one located near the Briggs Lake launch on a private property. However, the property owner is interested in selling his home and a new buyer may not want the machine there. The machines cost a lot to maintain, as well. The machine can’t be moved to the launch because the DNR likely won’t want it there. Shelly Alger-Peyton, BLCA representative, said she planned to speak with homeowners near the Lake Julia launch to see if they were interested in keeping the machine on their property, but she wasn’t sure since they were new to the community and she didn’t know them well yet. Supervisor Ganz noted that if there was an emergency, most people would think to call 911 before looking for an AED machine.
The Three Lakes Improvement District (TLID) will be looking at their budget for next year at the annual meeting on August 16.
