During their meeting Monday night, the Palmer Twp. board of supervisors discussed the installation of security cameras at Palmer Park.

Although the park hasn’t had many major incidences over the years, recently its three spring-loaded toys were stolen. The township is replacing them at the cost of around $3,000.

“It’s a matter of security and liability for the township,” said Chairman Mike Ganz. “We’ll get some written bids and go from there.”

Another discussion was held on the best place to locate the Clear Lake Lions’ new Palmer Park building; the board will ask for additional input from citizens.

Palmer Day went well despite the rain.

Road Report

Bids were opened at an earlier date for the Cedar Point and 54th Street projects; the cost for both projects was just under $300,000. Midsota was awarded the Cedar Point project, which is a reclaim and replace. Work began last week.

Schendzielos was awarded the 54th Street project. The ROW has been marked, after the poles have been moved dirt work will begin. The road will be tarred in the spring.

Stuart McDowell approached the board to discuss the Cedar Point project. He stated he lives on the road and when it was first paved he lost six feet of his driveway. After another project several years later he lost another foot, and now they’re taking yet one more foot.

“I don’t have anywhere else to park my vehicles,” said McDowell. “It would help greatly if they would recenter that stretch of road, it’s pushed all the way to the east. Even if they corrected it two feet it would eliminate the whole problem with my cars and snow removal from the road.”

He showed the board a photo of the issue. 

“I understand but we’re trying to maintain the road,” said Ganz. “It would be a matter of whether the engineer could stake again.”

He indicated he would go out to the property the next day to begin looking at potential options that might be able to alleviate McDowell’s problem.

A motion carried approving striping of township roads not to exceed $5,000. Clerk Kelly McCann will obtain quotes; Ganz was authorized to sign the contract.

New Business

The board received a request from David Adlin for a shoreland setback variance for his 55th Street property; he was on a plane and couldn’t get to the meeting in time.

Adlin wants to enclose a small area on his home that is close to the lake and add an entryway onto the front. Because there is a lot of concrete on the property already some will need to be converted back to pervious material.

Supervisor Steve Demeules said he had already been in contact with Soil and Water and informed the board they’re all in agreement concerning runoff management. The board agreed to send positive comments to the county.

Terrance Jenson’s request for a preliminary and final simple plat for Jenson Oaks was again on the agenda. 5.8 acres are being split from the original 80 acres for a house. Although the matter appeared to be pretty straightforward the board had questions, but because Jenson wasn’t in attendance, they tabled the request.

Due to a representative once again not attending the meeting, the board tabled the request for a second time.

Other Business

The township’s original website has gone obsolete, McCann has been working on a free Vistaprint trial to create a new one. Three packages are offered and there is no contract. The board decided to start with the $5 per month package and upgrade if needed in the future.

A suggestion was made to look into Wix as another website option; McCann indicated she will do so.

A motion carried to accept the 99th Ave. dedication from Rengel.

The sheriff reported 60 calls for service for August, including five medicals, two boat warnings and one property damage of a car that was vandalized.

The fire department reported 12 calls for service, including three in Palmer Twp., which were two medical and one downed powerline. They also stated the new compressor has been installed for Station 2; Station 1 in Clear Lake will be installed soon. The old compressors will go up for auction.

The next Palmer Twp. meeting will be Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.