The Schmiesing family have begun the process of selling  their 100+ acres of land to the east of Rush Lake along 115th Ave. SE. Nick Anderson of Bogart, Pederson & Associates presented a preliminary play to the board and the public and included the details of how many lots and what roads are affected by the site.

 

Forty-one lots are being proposed to the west of 115th Ave. SE, south and southwest of 50th St., north of Co. Rd. 16 and 57th St. SE.

 

Each lot would be 150-ft. wide and 250-ft. deep with 40,000 square feet of buildable area.

 

Anderson mentioned that through studies, the development would introduce over 400 new vehicle trips through the area, heading to St. Cloud or towards Becker.

 

Sherburne County Commissioner Felix Schmiesing was in attendance as it is his family that is developing the land. He listened to the presentation and helped answer any questions the public had.

 

Much of the talk was about traffic loads. One resident suggested the township prohibit vehicles from turning a certain direction onto 57th St. so that he wouldn’t have to deal with all the excess traffic.

 

Others spoke about how it was going to affect some of the shoreline properties, the flood plains, drainage and wildlife issues.

 

Chairman Mike Ganz reminded the people in attendance that this was just a preliminary plat of the development and will need to be brought back to the township once the county gets a look at it.

 

After further discussion with Attorney David Myers, the board voted to recommend approval for the development to the county zoning department.

 

 

Conrad Hoag of 4263 109th Ave. SE put in a request to have a variance approved for the construction of a new garage on his property.

 

Hoag said a fire last year took down an old detached garage he had at his home. Hoag told the board he was interested in upgrading the garage size to accommodate more property.

 

Hoag told the board he was looking at re-positioning the new garage to accommodate the size and will put in a new driveway. The problems he sees is he has a well-head in one area, a drainage field in another and a light pole in another. 

 

He said he already has a lot line agreement with his neighbor and indicated all his design ideas via an overhead. He also said he’d be losing some old trees should he be approved for the garage site.

 

The board said they were concerned with the driveway and slab obstructing parts of the roadway and right-of-way and some other issues including the rather large size of the new garage. 

 

Supervisor Steve Demueles said he wouldn’t be comfortable sending a letter of recommendation to the county unless Hoag came up with a better concept or reduced the size of the structure. His suggestion was to have the issue tabled until Hoag came back with a better plan.

 

The board approved tabling the issue.

 

 

Gravel is set to be put down on 113th St. for three to 3-1/2 miles. Clint Schiendzelos was told to shape the road first, then put the class five down.

 

It was reported all the signs in the township are up-to-date.

 

Clint also told the board that as soon as the blacktop mix is complete and ready to go, he plans to start filling potholes over the next couple weeks.

 

 

Demueles mentioned that Clear Lake now has four solar farms and looking to add more. He told the board the FD is expected to receive their new grass truck in June. He also said the fire contract was approved by the board and will go to the city for approval there.

 

 

Roger Johnson said clean-up day went well with 167 people participating (down from 180 over the last two years). Johnson said 27 car loads passed through with the township collecting 27 appliances and 51 mattresses and box springs amongst many other items.

 

 

Mitch Hoefer said the park has been fertilized and the water turned on for the season. He said the tractor is ready to be used for mowing and that playground equipment is planned to be installed Memorial Day weekend.

 

 

Demueles said the BLCA is having their annual picnic June 9. June 30 will be the parade and fireworks. Spraying of the lakes is scheduled to occur this week.

 

 

The sheriff’s department reported there wer 99 calls for service in Palmer Twp. for the month of April. Thirty-one of those calls were for traffic, two for theft, one for a crash, two for ATV problems and two for parking.

A resident asked if anything was being done about people parking at the lake landing in the fire lane. The sheriff’s deputy said he has been giving warnings and continues to monitor the situation.

 

 

The next Palmer Twp. Board meeting is June 11 at 7 p.m.