3/14/23 Annual Meeting Minutes
TOWN OF CRANE LAKE
ANNUAL MEETING
March 14, 2023
The March 14, 2023, Annual Meeting was called to order by Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman at 5:35PM, at the Crane Lake Chapel Fellowship Hall with the Pledge of Allegiance recited by those in attendance including: Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman and 13 members of the community (including Zoom).
Clerk Jo Ann explained the purpose of the Annual Meeting and asked for nominations for a Moderator. Jim Janssen nominated Jeff Sanborn, with a second by Jerry Pohlman. There being no other nominations, the nominations were closed. All voted in favor of Jeff Sanborn being nominated as Moderator.
Moderator Jeff stated the order of business by reading the Agenda.
Additions to the Agenda: There were none.
OLD BUSINESS
Minutes Approval – All attendees of the Annual Meeting received copies of the minutes for approval. Jeff asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. There were none. A motion was made by Butch Eggen, supported by Traci Bak, to approve the 3/8/22 Annual Meeting Minutes and the 2/14/23 Board of Audit Meeting Minutes. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report – Clerk Jo Ann read the following Treasurer’s Report for fiscal year 2022:
Opening Balance $ 195,229.87
Receipts + 324,827.17
Disbursements – 393,457.51
Ending Balance $ 126,599.53
A motion was made by Brandon Anderson, supported by Jeanne Shuck, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as read. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Moderator Jeff asked if there was any other Old Business from the floor. There was none.
NEW BUSINESS
2023 & 2024 Election Day Times & Location – A motion was made by Jim Janssen, supported by Brandon Anderson, that the polls would be open from 10AM – 8PM for all elections in 2023 and 2024 at the Fellowship Hall. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
2024 Annual Meeting Date, Time, & Location – A motion was made by Butch Eggen, supported by Brandon Anderson, to set the 2024 Annual Meeting date and time for March 12, 2024, at 5:30PM at the Fellowship Hall. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Annual Summary Reports – A brief synopsis of each report was read; a handout of full reports was provided at the meeting, which is included here.
Crane Lake Chapel 2022 – Steve Bergerson
The past year has been one of dramatic change at the Chapel. In June, the Chapel board decided to sever ties with the Methodist Mobile Ministry and choose pastoral leadership independently. Local resident and former full-time pastor, Steve Bergerson accepted the invitation to serve as our pastor. Our first change was to set our service time at 9:30am. The Chapel has also made improvements to the building, such as installing air conditioning and dehumidification, remodeling the platform, as well as general organizing and sprucing up. We’ve begun streaming our services online and also added a giant screen for displaying songs, videos, and sermon notes. The Chapel is seeing record attendance with many people getting involved in church ministry. We’ve been able to assist many local people with various needs, as well as starting a program where we provide monthly support to needs outside of our community. We hosted a successful “National Night Out”, Summer bazaar, and several community meals this Winter. We also hosted several guest speakers and missionaries this year. The sign on the front of the Chapel says “Come as you are”. The Chapel is for all people. You don’t have to dress up, clean up, be religious, or have your life together to experience the love of Jesus.
Town of Crane Lake Annual Meeting Minutes 3/14/23 – Page 2
Visitor Center & Campground – Gretchen Janssen
The design plans for the Crane Lake Campground and Visitor Center were finalized during the past year, after many meetings and discussions. Both projects went out for public bid in February, and due to the low number of companies interested as well as the high cost of materials, bids came in much higher than expected. The Campground/site work plans are being revised to better fit within our budget so meetings and discussions continue on that project. Bids for the Visitor Center came in closer to our target so we are still hopeful construction can begin this Spring.
The National Park Service has hired a design firm called Native Skywatchers to create exhibitry for the Visitor Center. The Crane Lake Visitor Center will have a “Dark Sky” theme, funded primarily by Voyageurs Conservancy. The Park Service is finalizing a lease with Crane Lake for the areas in the Visitor Center including the welcome zone or lobby, the auditorium, the vestibule, and most of the exterior display area. The Town will wait for this lease to be final before we proceed with construction.
The contamination cleanup at the site of the old Borderland resort is still underway. Since treatment in October 2022, two rounds of sampling have been completed and concentrations of chemicals that make up gasoline have dropped. Once the results are in from the Spring sampling, a decision will be made if a second round of treatment is necessary. There is funding available for adding a vapor barrier under the new Visitor Center to ensure that no problems from the contamination will exist in that building.
Crane Lake Water & Sanitary District – Rob Scott
The following 2023 Annual Report is submitted to provide an update on the past and current activities going on within the CLWSD. The annual revenues were $288,000 (operating, special assessment, and tax levy funds) and total expenses were $321,000 (operating, administrative, and debt service). The net loss reflects the Board reducing the tax levy fund and not raising rates since 2016. However, the 5-year budget forecast and projections estimate approximately a $10,000 net gain each year. Additionally, in 2023 the user rates will go up 6%. These funds will be used to build up our reserve accounts and start a building fund.
The CLWSD has a $1.3 million debt load with an annual payment of $60,000. The debt was originated by the district to cover unexpected costs to the installation of the collection system. At that time there were no grants funds available, only the low interest loan option. In 2009 we worked a re-amortization of the loan and reduced our debt service down from $80,000 to $60,000 per year. Our work continues to obtain debt relieve. The Minnesota House just passed an Infrastructure bill that included $1.29 million for CLWWD debt relief The Senate is currently working on their version of the bill.
The treatment plant processed over 1.7 million gallons of sewage with no treatment issues. The plant upgrade project has started. Anticipate work to continue in April and estimate a late summer completion date. It is estimated that the overall cost will be around $800,000. We are working the funding through a various mix of grant funds. The upgrade is designed to compensate for the challenges we are experiencing in the treatment process. This is primarily caused by the large differences in the amounts of sewage that is processed over a short period of time. This amount can vary from under 5,000 to over 25,000 gallons per day.
We are working two major additions to our collection system. One at the new Visitor Center and the other at Norway Lodge. There is ample capacity for additional usage. The treatment plant is currently processing anywhere from 30-50 percent of the plant’s capacity. The district continues to work on ISTS installations (decentralized collection systems) under our Management Program. We currently have 52 systems operational and plan to install 5-6 ISTS systems during the 2023 construction season. The County approved our request to install ISTS systems outside the sewer district. The restroom facility at the Voyageur Statue has been completed and we are working with the ATV Club to install a restroom facility at the ATV bridge over the Vermilion River.
We currently have a balance of around $125,000 in Legacy grant funds available for around 5 ISTS installations. It looks like the VNP Clean Water project will be receiving $2.0 million in additional legacy funds for 2023 and 2024. I am advocating that the CLWSD receive an additional $600,000.
CLV Snowmobile Club – Mike Cherrywell
Again this year we cleared trails on December 3 as a big group effort and then of course heavy wet snow came and the effort got bigger. We got our trails opened and groomed. A few issues occurred but we overcame them and are now into the wined down stage. The Crane Lake Challenge was a success and the town was busy. Melgeorge’s Antique races were this past Saturday and lots of folks were there also. We started a Facebook page for the club this year too.
Crane Lake Visitor & Tourism Bureau – Drake Dill
The year 2022 was robust for the CLVTB. A new website was commissioned along with social media marketing, billboards, traditional media and a whole host of other promotional ideas have been implemented. The lodging tax guidance has been changed and moving forward businesses will be required to remit their lodging tax monthly.
Town of Crane Lake Annual Meeting Minutes 3/14/23 – Page 3
ATV – Mark Anderson & Bruce Beste
Voyageur Country ATV 2022 – Funding:
Requested $500,000 from the ATV Dedicated Account and $1,000,000 for the MN DNR from Bonding. Neither bill made it to the finish line due to legislative governing issues – not secured;
Requested and awarded $250,000 from the IRRRB. This funding combined with a 2019 – $500,000 award from ATV Dedicated Account for a connection Buyck to Shuster Road – secured and mostly spent;
Requested and awarded $150,000 Federal Recreation Trail Program (RTP) – October 2022 – secured;
The club had successful Club Fund Raising at the Spring Ride, the Fall Ride, and Donation Boards located at the steel bridge and the Pelican River overlook;
Total current secured funding available for projects 2023 to 2025 is $2.5Million;
Voyageur Country ATV 2022 – Projects:
Together with MN DNR and USFS we constructed a new shelter and destination site near Myrtle Lake;
New bridge overlooks installed on the Vermilion Falls Trail wood bridge;
Permitting and Lease prepared, trail enhancement, gate installation, and site prep for new overlook at Winchester Lake. Estimated completion date June 2023;
Permitting and Lease prepared, trail hardening, culverts installed, rip-rap installed, gates installed on new 4.5 mile Gyppo Shack Trail between Buyck and Shuster Road. Estimated completion date April 2023;
Trail traffic counters installed in three locations and information gathered as part of Economic Impact Study with U of M and ATV Joint Powers Board – preliminary results available soon;
Master Plan for the Arrowhead / David Dill Trail signed September 2022. On-going permitting work with MN DNR process with MN DNR on 5 mile connection Ash River Trail to Kabetogama Store;
Process begun with MN DNR Forestry on connection Pelican River Road to Elbow River overlook on Arrowhead / David Dill Trail;
Voyageur Country ATV 2023 – Funding end of 2022:
Awarded $500,000 from IRRRB in December 2022 for new projects in 2023 – secured – in the total above;
ATV MN support for $750,000 Environment and Natural Resources new funding request from ATV Dedicated Account – 2023 Legislature – not secured;
ATV MN support for $1,000,000 Bonding Bill new funding to MN DNR for Arrowhead / Davis Dill Trail development – 2023 Legislature – not secured;
Current Activity:
New overlook at Winchester Lake and the new bridges and boardwalk on Gyppo Shack Trail.
Crane Lake Volunteer Fire Department – Jeff Sanborn
Here is an overview of our activities for the year 2022:
Fire: 4 calls: 3 mutual aid structure fires in Orr, 1 gas leak.
Medical: 16
Other: Cell phone alert (Life 360 App.) Started as a snowmobile crash in Buyck
Water Emergency Namakan Lake (windy).
Recovery, assist SLCS deputies with recovery of a deceased individual.
Assist Buyck VFD with a individual that was lost and had fallen through ice.
Total of 24 calls for assistance from community and other Departments. Worked with Buyck VFD, Orr VFD, SLC Sheriff, SLC Rescue Squad, USFS, NPS.
Overall a busy year for the department, thankfully no fires for us in 2022. We are also thankful that the community banded together and handled the flood mitigation efforts and did not rely on the department for that effort.
We have gained a couple of members over the last year. Fire training efforts in 2022 were not the best (bad effects of covid). That has been improved already in 2023 along with a couple additional new members.
Finances and fund raising are in pretty good shape. We are beginning to look towards the replacement of our small truck (rescue, medical, brush). More to come on that.
Again, as always, we invite your comments and concerns. We thank the community for their continued support.
Review Proposed Revenue & Expenditures – Clerk and Budget Committee member Jo Ann reviewed the proposed 2024 budget revenues and expenditures. Copies of the 2024 budget were distributed to everyone in attendance prior to the meeting. Jo Ann reviewed the proposed revenues of $287,706.00 and the proposed Township disbursements of $236,115.00 plus Fire Protection for $57,500.00. The Project Fund balances were also presented. Jo Ann asked if there were any questions. There were none.
Other New Business from the Floor: There was none.
Town of Crane Lake Annual Meeting Minutes 3/14/23 – Page 4
Set Levy for 2023 (Payable in 2024) – A motion was made by Jeanne Shuck, supported by Gretchen Janssen, to approve the Township portion of the levy request as follows: General Fund – $40,000, Community Property Project Fund – $7,500, Bond for Community Property Project Fund – $7,500, Visitor Center Fund – $25,000, and Road & Bridge Fund – $10,000 for a total of $90,000. All voted in favor and the motion carried. A motion was made by Butch Eggen, supported by Traci Bak, to approve the Fire Department portion of the 2024 levy request of $57,500.00. All voted in favor and the motion carried. Total levy request is $147,500.00.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00PM
Jo Ann Pohlman, Clerk Jeff Sanborn, Moderator
This draft of the Crane Lake Township minutes has been posted solely for preliminary informational purposes. Minutes are unofficial and subject to change until they have been approved.
