Crane Lake Township

TOWN OF CRANE LAKE

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING

May 12, 2026

 

The May 12, 2026, Board of Supervisors’ Meeting was called to order by Chair Jeanne Shuck at 6:00 PM at the Crane Lake Visitor Center with the Pledge of Allegiance recited by those in attendance including: VNP Program Manager Katherine Severson; Supervisors Scott Sanborn, Emily Schwanke & Jeanne Shuck; Treasurer Traci Bak; Visitor Center/Campground Manager Serena Swenson; Deputy-Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman, and Clerk Cathy Truebenbach.

BUSINESS

 Additions to the Agenda: Short Course training reports, ditch mowing and training were added to New Business.

Chair Jeanne introduced VNP Program Manager Katherine Severson for an update on park affairs.  Ms. Severson reviewed the FY 2026 Annual Work Plan which included the following bullet points: Purpose and Background; Guiding Principles; Roles and Responsibilities; Communication and Coordination; Reporting and Issue Management; Statement of Work; Visitor Center Operations; Daily Operations; Maintenance and Custodial Responsibilities; Programs and Services; Safety, Security and Accessibility.  She also advised the group that the permanent exhibits installation will be done at the end of the season, instead of throughout the summer season, which was previously outlined.  An installation of a lake facing sign was also discussed.

Minutes – A motion was made by Scott, supported by Emily, to approve the minutes of the 4/14/2026 Board of Supervisors’ Meeting and the 4/23/2026 Board of Appeal meeting.   All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report –The April Cash Balances were read, and the bills were presented as follows: Twp. General Fund –  $9,813.92 + $1,953.25 Payroll, and Visitor Center/Campground Fund – $3,142.24 + $3,176.64 Payroll.  A motion was made by Emily, supported by Jeanne, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as read and the payment of bills.  All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Correspondence – The Clerk presented the correspondence.  The correspondence was received and will be placed on file and acted upon as required.

OLD BUSINESS

VNP-Visitor Center/Campground:

Campground Manager Report and Resulting Board Action: Serena provided the following report:

• Campground opened May 8^th
  • Have not turned the water on yet, guests have been informed, if the forecast holds, I’ll turn it on the 16^th
  • Two groups in the campground this weekend
    • One has returned multiple times already
    • The other is brand new and made a reservation for Labor Day!
  • Last year net revenue- $37, 832
  • Year to date- $35,719
  • Snorkels and Snowpants
    • Influencer couple who travel in their RV
    • Attached media kit to email
    • Staying in campground from May 17^th-June 6^th
    • 1 instagram reel on their account, 5 photos, and 1 thirty second video for exclusive use by the campground in exchange for their stay
    • Willing to exchange another reel for a boat tour- I can take them if anyone is willing to donate use of a boat or can I rent one from somebody?
      • Reel would highlight the whatever business “does” the tour
    • Need a motion
  • If I work on clearing dead trees and cleaning up in the campground over the summer, is anyone opposed to me telling the campers they can just have the dead stuff for their firepits?

Crane Lake Meeting Minute – May 12, 2026

Opens a bigger question of how would I accept money for firewood etc if we did decide to have it available (not charging for firewood, would need permits to do so)

• Marketing-
  • Last years budget was $10,000. Never discussed a budget for this year?
  • Did not use all of last years money
    • Good Sam- $4843.20
      • Hoping for an updated report from Joyce. Standby
    • Google ads- $2000 for the year
    • Trade Show- $1925.10 (including mileage)
    • Total: $8,303.20(spent and budgeted total)
• Landscape/Maintenance Help
  • Jason Harlow
    • Was full-time at Voyagaire, cutting back hours to try and get mowing/landscaping going
  • Experience
    • Owned his own landscaping company for 32 years
    • Pay rate
  • Budget
    • Budget committee?
  • Visitor Center
    • Information from Kate Severson (NPS)
      • New timeline for construction and installation of permanent exhibits
      • Lake side sign
      • Formal contract with SMM for making changes to the building
    • Crane Lake won the Minnesota Brownfields 2026 Rescape Award for Community Impact!
      • We got a trophy
    • Going to need to up the Wi-Fi data
      • Current plan- 50 GB/month = $65 with option to top up 50GB($25). We did that last summer as needed
      • Prices are also changing
      • Our current plan will now be $55/month for 50GB with options to top-up in increments of 50GB ($25) or 500GB ($125)
      • We will need more based on summer traffic, EV charging stations, and a potential webcam for CLVTB (need to discuss whether this is moving forward, would they be willing to help pay for more internet?)
      • Looking for a motion to let me change the plan based on current needs
    • Charge point stations are what is under the tarp in the parking lot.
      • He was waiting on us signing some documents? Is that all taken care of? Can he start asap?

Board Action:  A motion was made by Jeanne and supported by Scott, to offer the position of VC maintenance worker to Jason Harlow at $22.50/hour.  All voted in favor, and the motion carried.

Crane Lake Meeting Minute – May 12, 2026

Committee Report & Resulting Board Action: Gretchen  Janssen provided the following report:

Here are the 3 action items which complete my report this month.

1  Sign contract with Fogelson for installation of generator and EV charging stations.  The County has approved this and will be paying him directly with our Appropriation grant funds.

2.   Sign contract with S.E.H for construction management for the tent sites (assuming we approve the Rutchasky bid).  This will be billed to the Town but covered by Appropriation grant funds.

3  Approve bid from Rutchasky Enterprises for tent site construction.  Currently in the Appropriation grant we have approximately $90,000.00 which expires June 30, so this project should be the perfect way to wrap up spending those dollars.  Ron is prepared to begin right away I believe.

Board  Action:  A motion was made by Scott, supported by Emily to approve and sign the service contract made and entered into by and among the County of St Louis, the Town of Crane Lake and Fogelson Electric LLC for a fee not to exceed $20,433.62.  All voted in favor and the motion carried.  A motion was made Scott and supported by Emily to approve the Rutchasky Enterprises quote for Site Grading and Aggregate Surfacing for Crane Lake RV Park Tent Sites for a lump sum of $64,500. All voted in favor and the motion carried.  A motion was made by Scott and supported by Emily to approve and sign the Agreement for Professional Services between Crane Lake Township and S.E.H Inc, which was effective May 9, 2023, for the lump sum of $7,500.  All voted in favor and the motion carried.

DNR Public Water Access: There was no report.

Community Action Plan: There was no report.

 NEW BUSINESS

 Short Course Reports:  Emily reported that she learned the basics of being a new supervisor and mentioned she would be willing to attend future training courses.  Traci attended the Clerk/Treasurer classes and learned new credit card policies and Clerk/Treasurer duties.

Ditch Mowing Services:  Continue as before.

Training of the Clerk:  Chair Jeanne asked about the timeline for finishing Clerk training.

 Other New Business: There was none.

Comments from Officers:  There were none

Public Comments: There were none.

Next Meeting:   Board of Supervisors’ Meeting, 6/9/2026, 6:00PM, Visitor Center

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20pm.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Cathy Truebenbach, Clerk                                                                                                 Jeanne Shuck, Chair

 

 

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 by the Crane Lake Board of Supervisors.