Meeting Minutes September 23, 2020
Download the .pdf copy of the meeting minutes here.
TOWNSHIP OF CLAY
CLAY TOWNSHIP BOARD MEETING
SEPTEMBER 23, 2020, 6:00 PM
Mantrap Valley Conservation Club
PARK RAPIDS, MN
- 1. CALL TO ORDER: The September 23rd, 2020, Meeting of the Clay Township Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Andy Kietzman, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
- 2. ROLL CALL: Present: Chair Andy Kietzman, Supervisors Jeff Haukebo and Norm Leistikow, Treasurer Del Holz, and Clerk Margie Vik. Absent: None. Others Present: Marty Leistikow and Alice Holz.
- 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: A motion was made by Kietzman, seconded by Haukebo, and unanimously carried to approve the agenda as presented.
- 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
- A. Clay Township Regular Meeting Minutes-July 22, 2020: A motion was made by Leistikow, seconded by Kietzman, and unanimously carried to approve the Clay Township Regular Meeting Minutes, for July 22nd, 2020, as presented.
- 5. NEW BUSINESS:
- A. Land Split in Clay Township: Kietzman stated the township received, from Chip Lohmeier, the Hubbard County Land Commissioner, a request for approval to split a parcel of tax forfeited land in Section Five to complete a Class B land exchange between a private individual and tax forfeited land. The township board reviewed the submitted written materials and map and discussed how the parcel will be subdivided. A motion was made by Kietzman, seconded by Haukebo, and unanimously carried to approve the proposed land subdivision as requested by the Hubbard County Land Commissioner Mark “Chip” Lohmeier.
- B. Tax Levy: Vik reported she filed the final 2021 tax levy for the township with the Hubbard County Auditor’s office before the state mandated deadline.
- C. Insurance Policy: Haukebo stated MATIT has passed an endorsement to its liability insurance policies to require townships to maintain two sets of books to prevent potential risk for improprieties to occur. If two sets of records are not kept, or an independent audit is not conducted every year, the trust will not provide coverage for the clerk’s or the treasurer’s possible misconduct. He questioned if the township should look for a different insurance policy. There’s nothing that says we have to purchase insurance from MATIT. We could bring our current policy to a local agent to see if they would cover us. Kietzman stated I can see doing that for large cities, but it seems ridiculous to have to do that in our small township.
A motion was made by Haukebo, seconded by Kietzman, to check with the local insurance agencies to see if the township can get duplicate coverage.
Discussion: Marty Leistikow stated she got a different quote for the HCLL from State Farm for $475.00, which was considerably lower than what they were currently paying. Kietzman stated having an independent audit can be quite expensive. Haukebo estimated the cost to be $2,000.00 per year. He added that he would check around for a new insurance quote.
The vote was called. The motion carried unanimously. - D. MAT Meeting: Leistikow stated he participated in an online meeting with the township association, and added that he had emailed everyone a summary of what was discussed at the meeting They made the statement that their insurance revenue was their biggest source of income.
- Edward Jones Account: Holz stated he can now sign into the Edward Jones account and transfer funds when needed. He added the issue was there were several different variations of the Clay Township name on different accounts. After new signature cards were done everything is fine now.
- 6. OLD BUSINESS:
- A. Township Hall Project: Kietzman stated we have a signed contract now for the construction of the town hall. The quote had to be rebid since the price of materials keeps rising. The new bid increased $13,000.00, but it’s still lower than the other bid that was submitted. The site is cleared and the excavation is done. The plumbing work and the line for the septic have to be put in before the cement is poured. They have started the prep work for the floor.
- 7. APPROVAL OF TREASURERS REPORT: Holz presented his written treasurer’s report to the board (see attached). A motion was made by Haukebo, seconded by Kietzman, and unanimously carried to approve the treasurer’s report and to pay the outstanding invoices.
- 8. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Kietzman, seconded by Haukebo, and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 6:35 p.m.