Attendance: Colby Abazs, Russ Vance, Honor Schauland, Paul Hartshorn, Doug Perfetto, Mike Nikula, Amy Nikula, Kaare Melby, Terri Perfetto, Dave Geist, Danielle Hefferan, Anna Lasky, Lise Abazs, David Abazs, Stacy Breden, Vaughn Hoff, Christine McCarthy, Jonathan Beaichane.
Paul called the Regular Meeting of the Crystal Bay Town Board to order at 7:00 pm with the Pledge of allegiance.
MOTION: To approve the Agenda. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To approve the Regular April Meeting Minutes as amended. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike , Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To approve the May Special Board Meeting Minutes as amended. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike , Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To approve the Appeals and Equalization Meeting. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Russ, Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To approve paying all bills and claims due. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
The board reviewed correspondence received by the Town.
Reports
Clerks Odds and Ends: Colby
Recently the City of Silver Bay sent out letters inviting leaders of cities and townships in our area. The meeting will take place tomorrow at 1:00pm at the Silver Bay City Hall. I am wondering if you could check with your administrator and board to see if any of them are planning on attending? A response would be greatly appreciated.
Cartway Payment Update
Breezy Lane Bill for the Town portion of the work on the culvert replacement.
Road and Bridge: Doug
Hours for plow install can be claimed for insurance.
Doug will gather records as well as Paul who helped with the install. There was also some driving time to go get the plow.
Doug did a road review of where work is needed, report attached.
Dumptruck needs to be inspected and repairs. Mechanics say $1700 or so of work depending on amount of parts needed, $1000 for parts, $500 for labor, and $250 for the certification. Some of the work is needed to be able to pass the road inspection to be able to use the truck on the roads.
MOTION: Get and put into action a formal estimate of repairs of the Town Dumptruck, not to exceed $2000, to get the vehicle DOT certified. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Backhoe needs work done. The county will haul it down to the shop for no cost. The shop will not come do an on site inspection.
DNR Hydrologist will come talk to use at next meeting about the Salverson Road Washout. There might be some grant money to help with it. Lake County Soil and Water is going to try and get us some culverts work done.
Doug collected prices for new culverts Lake County will cost $23/ft delivered, Duluth company is $33/ft+delivery. Total cost for the high priority culverts $4305.63.
MOTION: to purchase from Lake County the high priority culverts for an expected $4305.63. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Russ, Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: To call a Special Board Meeting for the annual road tour for June 2nd at 8am. The meeting will meet at the Town Garage and then be on the road along the plow route. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Community Center: Honor
Received a grant for awnings and coverings to extend the covered space of the outdoor areas. Still working on the wood fired oven under the pavilion.
Will work with the County to get the extra buildings permitted.
Cemetery: Vaughn
Cemetery had a couple trees fall down on the road and a local person cleaned them up. Consideration of installing an extendable flag pole as a replacement.
MOTION: to buy a new extendable flag pole to replace the failing one at the Cemetery. Motioned by Mike, Seconded by Paul, Passed by unanimous consent.
Housing Project: Erik
Old Business
Grader Major Repair Payment
MOTION: to direct our Lawyer to work with NSFCU to prepare a Certificate of Indebtedness to cover the grader purchase and repair costs for action at the next Regular Board Meeting. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
New Business
Interview with Lawyers
Peter Tiede(651-964-2518): $265/hr for Towns. No retainers or such. Lots of town clients who work with on an as needed basis. Certificate of Indebtedness(CI) would likely be less than $1500 depending on complexity. Bank may prefer to have their own lawyers do the paperwork but we could still have Peter represent us. The Bank working with Friburger, they know their stuff. TImeframe for a CI is a couple weeks once put in motion. Based out of White Bear Lake and travel does add to the cost if in person work is needed. Having a Lawyer from out of town can be a benefit to get the skills but also someone who is separate from local politics.
Troy Gilchrist(800-788-8201): Does Not interview, 30+ lawyers in the office. Pete is a great guy as well. Troy 230/hr standard rate, bond rate might be slightly higher. Flat rate for certification of indebtedness(CI) can sometimes be $3000 but not if more complicated like our situation.
Costley(218-834-2194): Tim Costley, 20 years of experience, $200/hr, no set amount for CoL, no upfront retainer, Would show up in person but was last minute we got in touch.
In the interest of having an attorney representing the Town directly. MOTION: To develop a relationship with and have as our regular lawyer Peter Tiede. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Community Center Septic: Honor
Septic had an emergency failure. Tanks pumped and will continue regularly. Hope is to continue using the existing tanks as holding tanks. Many unknowns at this time, what is happening is known but working with Kyle to look into how to fix it. Timeline for repairs needs to be within a month or we will need to cap the tanks and then we have 10 months to fix it. There is an attempt to get two bids but with the emergency nature time is of utmost importance. There is currently no-one willing to service our area for porter potties. Building usage is limited while the failure is unfixed.
MOTION: to fix the septic system with utmost urgency at a cost not to exceed $25,000. The Town Clerk will work with Friends of Finland to inquire about if this might be covered by insurance and additionally will work to solicit an estimate for the repairs and if that estimate is deemed reasonable to move ahead with the repairs or to cap the system so that the issue can be looked into further. The pumping to keep the septic safe until repairs is a separate cost. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Recycling Trailer Conversation: David
The new version of the composting project is a region wide(Lake County, Cook County, Grand Portage) in Finland the goal is to get better recycling. Much of the grant money needs to be spent quickly so looking for input before finalizing the purchases. The proposal is to get a recycling trailer dedicated for Crystal Bay. There are considerations on getting lighting and/or cameras to help prevent some of the issues of past recycling attempts. Transportation wants to set up bi-weekly pickups done by the county where they exchange the trailer so as not to be hauling empty trailers on special trips. Looking for some commitment from the Township to support the ongoing monitoring of the trailer. With a camera the sheriff could follow up with folks that are improperly dumping. Location is up to us but somewhere that it can be monitored and the cameras/lights would work.
MOTION: To support a fresh attempt at having a regular recycling trailer staged in Crystal Bay which would be purchased entirely with grant dollars and have new methods for deterring detrimental dumping. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Short Term Vacation Housing Final Lake County Ordinance
3% total cap was the final Lake County wide approval. We currently have 4 in Crystal Bay and at 3% there could be 9 total so a total of 5 more. Also can’t be on inland lakes.
Road Gravel Purchase: Colby
MOTION: To proceed with joining the Lake County Gravel Bid for 4000 yards 3-inch minus, and 5000 yards of class one in the manner described in the County agreement(attached). Additionally if the bid for new gravel is accepted the Town will sell the current gravel pile to the County to offset some of the cost of the new gravel. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Paul. Passed by unanimous consent.
Cooper Road Closure: Colby
A contractor has been hired and construction will take place after July 1st. The road will be closed for 3-4 weeks. During that time, landowners on Cooper Road will not be able to drive to their homes. They will be able to park along Highway 1 and use the snowmobile trail with a 4-wheeler to get to their property. The Town will work with the contractor and emergency services to support staging of resources as deemed necessary during the closure.
Add Stacy to official accounts
In the interest in enabling the new Clerk to fulfill her duties the board MOTIONS to add Stacy Breden, incoming Clerk, and remove Colby Abazs, outgoing Clerk, from the Town Bank Account. As of June 30th the names on the bank account shall be Stacy Breden(Clerk), Danielle Hefferan(Treasurer), Paul Hartshorn(Chair). Additionally Stacy shall now be authorized as manager on all relevant Town accounts including but not limited to being an Account Manager for PERA. Motioned by Russ, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
Town Clerk Computer: Russ
In the interest of the Clerk having the equipment and supplies to fulfill the duties of the job. MOTION to authorize the Clerk to purchase a computer up to $1200. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Mike, Passed by unanimous consent.
MOTION: to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 pm until June 20, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at the Finland Community Center. Motioned by Paul, Seconded by Russ.
