Alexandria Township
Alexandria,
Minnesota 56308
Minutes
of the meeting of 12-03-2007
A regular meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of Alexandria Township was held on the 3rd Day of
December 2007 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
ROLL CALL: Supervisors present were Bryon Alstead, Louis
Ross, Joel Dahlheimer, Jim Casper, and Roger Thalman. Also present were Clerk Gregg Raisanen and
Mona Billmark, Treasurer. As said
members formed a quorum and the meeting was reconvened by Chairman Thalman at
7:35PM.
Ross, seconded by Alstead, made
a motion to adopt the agenda as presented.
Motion carried unanimously.
CITIZEN CONCERN’S: The board received numerous citizen
complaints regarding snowplowing after the recent snow event. A list of the complaints received was
summarized by the office and distributed to the board. The most common complaint received was the
timeliness of the snow removal- some residents had not been plowed until at
least 5 pm on Sunday when it quit snowing at approximately 10:00 pm Saturday
evening. Other residents expressed
concern about the width of the road; in some cases the snow bank was 4-5 ft.
away from the mailboxes. The snow had
not been winged back away from the road surface by Monday PM. Citizen’s complained about the equipment that
was used to plow snow; a pickup and plow was used which required numerous trips
down the road to make the road wide enough.
Another complaint was the intersections where the snow was not removed
adequately. Chairman Thalman presented a
photo of an intersection at Ridgeview Terrace and Parkview Road that had not
been cleaned by 3:00 PM on Monday.
Douglas County public works contacted the township office expressing
concern about the inadequacy of snow removal at the intersection of township
and county roads. The last area of
concern was the lack of salt/sand at intersections. Clerk Raisanen reported that just prior to
tonight’s meeting he viewed intersections in his neighborhood and found no
evidence of any salt/sand that had been applied. Clerk Raisanen reported that he had spoken
with the clerk of LaGrand Township regarding their snow removal. She had informed him that they have two
trucks with plows, wings, and sanding equipment and one road grader and 66
miles of roads. The operators had begin
plowing snow at approximately 10:30 PM Saturday and had finished with the first
pass and sanding by 8:00 AM Sunday morning.
Chad and Julie Rubner, representing Canyon Contracting reported that
they had had an equipment breakdown, which delayed them from completing the job
in a timely manner and used a pickup truck with a plow and a tractor with a
plow to remove snow. They reported that
the company had begun plowing at 6:30 pm on Saturday and had stopped at 2:30 AM
and resumed at 7:00 AM on Sunday. They
were in the process of purchasing another truck with a plow this evening. As far as the sanding, they could not comment
since they were not responsible for this; another employee was completing the
job.
Ross, seconded by Alstead, made
a motion to authorize Supervisor Dahlheimer to inspect Canyon Contracting
equipment in the morning to ensure that they have the proper snow removal
equipment to complete the conditions of the contract. Attorney Michelle Clark informed the board
that as a result of the complaints received and the observations of the board,
Canyon Contracting has materially breached the contract and the contract can be
terminated. She indicated that the
Health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Township are at risk. Supervisor Dahlheimer inquired if the
township is liable in the event of an emergency. Attorney Clark responded that the board could
be at risk if they were aware of an issue regarding the health and safety of
residents and took no action. Motion
carried unanimously.
Attorney Clark informed the
board that the emergency power act would allow the chairman to call an
emergency meeting should the necessity arise.
PLANNNING AND ZONING:
The board considered the
conditional use permit to allow shoreline alteration on a steep slope located
at 304 E. Lake Geneva Road submitted by Mark and Carmon Watkins. Zoning Administrator Oleson reported that the
planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the permit with 6
conditions. Supervisor Casper questioned
if there was any agreement with the adjoining landowner since the entrance to
the drainage is on an adjacent property.
Zoning Administrator Oleson reported that this is private project and it
is a benefit to both properties so therefore he was not concerned. Alstead, seconded by Ross, made a motion to
accept the planning commission recommendation and approve the Conditional Use
Permit to allow shoreline alteration on a steep slope located at 304 E. Lake
Geneva Road submitted by Mark and Carmon Watkins. Motion for:
Alstead, Ross, Casper, Dahlheimer, Thalman. Motion against: None.
Motion carried unanimously.
The board considered the
application for a Preliminary plat of
“Second addition to Rambows Subdivision” to subdivide a parcel of land
into 3 single-family residential lots located at 2701 50th Ave.
submitted by Arlynn Johnson. Zoning
Administrator Oleson reported that the planning commission unanimously
recommended approval of the permit with the condition that the applicant receive
written approval from ALASD of the proposed easement across lot 1 to provide
sewer service to lot 2. Alstead,
seconded by Ross, made a motion to accept the planning commission
recommendation and approve the preliminary plat of “ Second addition to Rambows
Subdivision” to subdivide a parcel of land into 3 single-family residential
lots located at 2701 50th Ave. submitted by Arlynn Johnson with the
condition as noted. Motion for: Alstead, Ross, Casper, Dahlheimer, Thalman.
Motion against: None. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator Oleson
reported that the planning commission tabled discussion regarding potential
amendments to the Alexandria Township Comprehensive plan to identify additional
areas appropriate for commercial/light industrial uses. The planning commission wants additional time
to view the area and to allow time to determine other legal nonconforming uses
in the township.
The board considered the
recommendation of the planning commission to amend the zoning ordinance to allow
for improvement and/ or expansion to legal, nonconforming uses on a
case-by-case basis. The planning
commission recommended that the amendment included language similar to what the
City of Alexandria’s zoning ordinance included.
Zoning Administrator Oleson presented the board proposed language to
allow for legal, nonconforming uses.
Supervisor Ross expressed concern that this new language would not
discourage continued non-conforming uses from continuing. Zoning Administrator Oleson indicated that the
language would allow some flexibility in administering legal nonconforming uses
and would not make situations worse.
Casper, seconded by Alstead, made a motion to accept the planning
commission recommendation to amend the interim zoning ordinance to allow for
improvement and/or expansion to legal, nonconforming uses on a case-by-case
basis and to approved the language presented by Zoning Administrator Oleson in
the staff report. Motion for: Alstead, Ross, Casper, Dahlheimer, Thalman.
Motion against: None. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator Oleson
reported that the planning commission tabled discussion regarding rezoning of
property or a portion of property, from Urban Residential to Commercial-Rural
or light industrial until or if the comprehensive land use plan is amended to
include additional areas.
The board considered the
conditional use permit application to allow light industrial use of a building
in the Urban Residential District on a property located at 3801 Hazel Hill Road
submitted by Kathy Hodges. Zoning
Administrator Oleson reported that the planning commission unanimously
recommended approval with 7 conditions.
Supervisor Casper questioned if the new building will be used for
electronic recycling since her application mentions 44 additional
materials. Ms Hodges indicated that the
plan is to move the electronic recycling inside the new building. Ms Hodge presented a landscaping plan of two
rows of 5-7 ft. spruce trees to meet the screening condition. She indicated that her facility is one of 22
in the state of MN, which is a certified electronic recycler. No material is burned at the facility and she
has fire suppression equipment. In
addition, she has a bailer for metal siding on site. Supervisor Ross questioned whether finding of
fact No. 6, which indicated that, this use is in conformance with the
Comprehensive land use plan of the township.
Zoning Administrator Oleson indicated that the existing use is
different; however, the conditional use process allows the township to manage
legal non-conforming uses. Casper,
seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to approve the conditional use permit
submitted by Kathy Hodges to allow light industrial use of a building in the
Urban Residential District on a property located at 3801 Hazel Hill Road with
the 7 conditions recommended and the addition of another condition to not allow
the expansion of land area for the operation.
Motion for: Alstead, Ross,
Casper, Dahlheimer, Thalman. Motion against:
None. Motion carried unanimously.
The board discussed the final
plat of Piepho Pines located along CR 17.
Zoning administrator Oleson reported that the plat has met all the
conditions for final plat approval. Engineer Kuhn reported that estimated cost
for inspection was higher than the actual cost.
Dahlheimer, seconded by Alstead, made a motion to approve the final plat
of Piepho Pines and to charge the developer the actual cost of
inspections. Motion carried unanimously.
The board discussed the
inspection fee for new plats in the subdivision ordinance. The board made the recommendation to charge
actual costs with Engineer Kuhn providing an estimate not to exceed to the
developer.
Zoning Administrator Oleson
reported that a public hearing of the planning commission has been scheduled on
December 17, 2007 at 6:30 to discuss zoning and subdivision ordinances to
replace the interim ordinances.
ENGINEER’S REPORT:
Engineer Kuhn presented the
board a copy of the new fee schedule for engineering services for 2008. Ross, seconded by Casper, made a motion to
contract with Widseth, Smith, and Nolting for engineering services in 2008 and
authorized Clerk Raisanen to sign a contract.
Motion carried unanimously.
Clerk Raisanen reported that the
following blacktop projects should be considered in 2008: Queens Road to the Natures Edge subdivision
and Erickson Heritage replacement.
Engineer Kuhn recommended that Le Homme Dieu Heights and a portion of
Maple Drive should be overlaid. Alstead,
seconded by Dahlheimer, made a motion to authorize Engineer Kuhn to develop
cost estimates for the blacktop projects.
Motion carried unanimously
The board discussed the status
of the roads into little Norway, 3rd addition and Geneva Estates
East and the status of maintenance on these roads. Engineer Kuhn reported that the road into
Little Norway, 3rd addition was just finished and the developer
would be responsible for plowing this winter. Clerk Raisanen will send Mark
Anderson a notice of this action. The
roads into Geneva Estates East have been constructed for over one year however
the final layer of blacktop was just installed and there are a few minor
improvements that need to be made before township acceptance. The board was in consensus to plow snow this
winter on these roads since they have been constructed for more than one year.
Engineer Kuhn reported that the
Developer of the Geneva Estates 5th addition has constructed the
stormwater basin and has installed erosion control measures. Construction will continue in the spring.
OLD BUSINESS: Chairman Thalman and Zoning Administrator Oleson reported that their meeting with the City of Alexandria regarding the building code application procedure when well and both parties agreed that there will be one application for the city building permit and the township’s land use permit in all areas of the township. The application procedure will be finalized in the near future.
NEW BUSINESS: The board discussed road maintenance in Lake Jessie Meadows. There is currently no maintenance into this PUD.
Alstead, seconded by Dahlheimer,
made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2007 regular board
meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Dahlheimer seconded by Alstead,
made a motion to authorize payment of claims 7380-7399 in the amount of
$14,959.18 and net payroll in the amount of $4,450.34 for a total amount of
$19,409.52 and to authorize the transfer of $19,000.00 from the savings into
the checking account. Motion carried unanimously.
Being no further business, Dahlheimer, seconded by Alstead, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 9:30PM.
Respectfully
Submitted.....
Approved this _____ day of________, 2007
_______________________________ ______________________________
Gregg Raisanen, Clerk Roger
Thalman, Chairman