During their recent meeting, the Palmer Town Board discussed the Northland Reliability Project.

Northland Reliability would like to use some township roads for their power lines.

The supervisors discussed their efforts in working with Northland Reliability so far, including some frustrations. They said they would come up with some fee if the project wished to use township roads so the township would receive compensation, if the project were to continue in this direction. 

Sheriff’s Report

Sgt. Zawacki gave the report for the sheriff’s department for the month. He noted an unusually slow month, with only 65 calls for service (there were 92 calls last year). Traffic stops and security checks were way down. There were however five fraud calls, but fortunately no one lost any money. 

A resident asked about what age kids have to be to drive ATVs and golf carts around without parental supervision. There was no clear answer as to an age limit, but it was noted that golf carts are not allowed on township roads. Zawacki said anyone with concerns should call the sheriff’s department immediately so an officer can investigate and give warnings to the kids and the parents. If needed, Zawacki said he would direct officers to crack down on these calls more. 

“If it seems out of sorts, call us,” Zawacki urged the audience.

Roads Report

Supervisor Stephen Demueles noted they were having a difficult time finding tar for the road projects, as well as working around schedules.

Supervisor Michael Ganz said mowing was completed before the forth.

Road signs finally arrived after a long delay. The supervisors talked about setting up a budget for replacing signs annually, since a lot of them are becoming worn out.

Ganz said the board couldn’t tell residents to remove dead trees, but it has become a problem with them falling on the township roads that the township then has to clean up. Supervisor Demeules said they were considering starting to send out bills for cleanup if the issue didn’t improve.

Fire Department

Demeules said the fire board was discussing the budget for next year, and it seems that the township portion of the fire budget will increase by about 16% next year in order to increase firefighter wages.

Fire Chief Ron Koren reported 32 calls for service last month, which was a busy month.

Parks Report

There has been high attendance at the park baseball games. Pickleball courts are completely finished and in use, though some people complained that their balls would run under the gate, and the board discussed a couple of solutions.

Two dead trees were taken down and the wood was donated to a local veteran.

A bill was sent out to the families of the kids who vandalized the park last month, but nothing had been heard back yet.

Lake Report

TLID reported finalizing details for the annual membership/budget meeting. The members who show up to the meeting will be able to vote on their tax assessment for the next year. The alum treatment has been delayed, so it will not have an impact on the budget next year. The carp treatment is moving forward slowly, and should be starting in August.

Open Forum

One resident raised concerns over the food waste dumpster, saying it stinks and attracts pests and is a nuisance to customers of local businesses and pedestrians walking by. 

Ganz replied that they were trying to play ball with the county and help them out, and many people have signed up to use it. 

The first week it was up, the county did forget to dump it, but since then it has been dumped weekly.

After some discussion, the board noted the comments as heard.