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PREBLE TOWNSHIP Fillmore County, Minnesota
Preble Township Board Meeting Highlights The following topics were discussed at the regular meeting of the board of supervisors held on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, beginning at 4:30PM. Official minutes of this board meeting have not yet been approved.
Township officers attending the meeting were Gerald Peter, Brad Kelly, David Williams, David Larson and Charles Olson. Township road engineer Butch Obieglo attended the meeting. Township resident Paul Olson attended the meeting.
Gerald Peter, township president, called the meeting to order and led the discussion. Peter noted that the meeting was scheduled to start earlier than normal to allow the entire township board to attend the Fillmore County Township Association dinner meeting that begins at 6PM.
Topics Discussed
Treasurer's Report
Chuck Olson, treasurer, reported that the township checking account balance at Rushford State Bank was $81,739.85 as of August 31, 2011, after the payment of all August bills. Olson reported that $10,583.26 was expended by the township during August. Olson noted that $500 had been received from the Minnesota DNR, in payment of their share of rock applied to Coyote Road.
Outstanding Bills
The township board reviewed bills received by David Larson since the August meeting. The total amount of outstanding bills, excluding current wages, was $4,484.99. All outstanding bills were approved for payment.
Road Report
Butch Obieglo reported that he sprayed the shoulders of most roadways and rights-of-way during early September, and continued to grade most roads.
Wisel Cemetery
David Williams and Brad Kelly reported that they have completed the organization of the Wisel Cemetery Association, as a non-profit organization, designed to own, restore and maintain the historic Wisel Cemetery burial grounds in section 18 of the township. Title to and ownership of the burial grounds has been transferred by the Lerol family members to the Wisel Cemetery Association. The cemetery association intends to begin developing a restoration plan, and start work on the burial grounds in year 2012. The township board commended this effort, and voted to contribute $500 toward the burial ground restoration work.
Legislative Auditor Survey
David Williams reported that he completed the survey sent to all townships by the Minnesota Legislative Auditor seeking responses on the cost effectiveness of townships seeking consolidation and merger. Williams indicated that a few Minnesota legislators would like to eliminate township government, and are using this survey as a first step toward passing legislation making it easier to force townships to consolidate and merge. Kent Sulem, general counsel for the Minnesota Association of Townships, has been urging township boards to respond to the survey by indicating that townships do not need the state government to coerce townships toward consolidation or elimination. The Minnesota Association of Townships lobbyists and representatives of township boards will contact state legislators at the beginning of the next session in January to advocate their position of this issue.
Sales Tax Exemption
David Williams reported that the Minnesota Legislature passed a new law exempting townships from the state sales tax on most transactions, effective the end of September 2011.
Elimination of Market Value Residential Credit
David Larson and David Williams reported that the legislature eliminated the market value residential credit that has provided state financial assistance to local government. Effective year 2012, counties, cities and townships will not receive any funding from the state from the market value residential credit program. For year 2011, Preble Township has received $2,905 in financial assistance from this program. Next year, Preble Township will not receive this amount of funding since the market value residential credit program has now been eliminated. The township board discussed this reduction in the township budget for year 2012, and decided to not raise property taxes to fill this gap for next year.
Coyote Bounty Authorization
David Williams reported that the Minnesota Legislature passed a new law authorizing local government units, including townships, to enact a bounty program to reduce the coyote population in the area. The township board concluded that a coyote bounty program should be planned by multiple townships in the area, and deferred this topic for future discussion.
Highway 43 Bridge Replacement in Choice
Brad Kelly reported that he spoke with a chief engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDot). MnDot is planning to replace the bridge in Choice on Highway 43 next year. Highway 43 in Choice will be closed during this bridge replacement project, and traffic will be detoured off of Highway 43. Traffic from the north will be detoured at Bratsburg to the west on County Road 10 through Highland. Traffic from the south will be detoured at Tawney onto County Road 12 to the west. The engineer estimated the bridge replacement project will take approximately two months to complete. The township board will provide additional road information as it becomes available.
Fillmore County Unit of Townships
Gerald Peter advised that the annual Fillmore County Unit of Townships dinner meeting is scheduled for this evening, September 20th, and urged all members of the township board to attend the meeting.
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