June 9, 2026 Minutes
TOWN OF CRANE LAKE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING
June 9, 2026
The June 9, 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: Supervisors Scott Sanborn, Emily Schwanke & Jeanne Shuck; Treasurer Traci Bak; Deputy-Treasurer Gretchen Janssen; Visitor Center/Campground Manager Serena Swenson; Deputy-Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman, and Clerk Cathy Truebenbach.
BUSINESS
Additions to the Agenda: None
Minutes – A motion was made by Scott, supported by Emily, to approve the minutes of the 5/12/2026 Board of Supervisors’ 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 – $4,763.32 + $1,539.66 Payroll, Twp. Road & Bridge Fund: $161.25, and Visitor Center/Campground Fund – $4,125.95 + $3,176.64 Payroll. A motion was made by Emily, supported by Scott, 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:
May Report from Visitor Center Manager
- NNO
Live music at VGS?
Stony River from Ely- same band as the last several years $800 A motion was made by Jeanne, supported by Emily, to approve the spending of $800 (from the Voyageur Days Fund) to hire Stony River Band for National Night Out. All voted in favor and the motion carried
VNP will have something set up for night skies with a night sky program to follow
Forest Service open house from 5pm-7pm and Smokey the Bear!
- SMM Contract for building construction
Motion to approve and sign: A motion was made by Scott, supported by Emily, to acknowledge review and approval of the Contract for Exhibit Services by and between Voyageurs Conservancy and The Science Museum of Minnesota, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation (SMM). All voted in favor and the motion carried.
- Annual Work Plan
Motion to approve and sign: The contract had some wording that needed to be fixed and will get the approval and signature at a later date. A motion was made by Scott, supported by Emily, to approve and sign the Annual Work Plan Agreement between the Town of Crane Lake and Voyageurs National Park when those changes are made. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
- Tent sites, EV charging stations
Ron is starting work
Waiting to hear from Ryan- has the go ahead
- Shower house
Lenci used the wrong fill and then kept working so they are taking it back out and starting again
Crane Lake Meeting Minutes June 9, 2026
- USFS Kiosk sign in parking lot.
- Co-Stewardship meeting- June 23rd, all day
Asked about us attending, they would like to keep it small, but I might be able to sit in on some of the day
- Crane Lake History Hallway
Working on this
Need to consider budget
Campground
- Revenue: YTD -$45,999
- Landscaping/Maintenance
Hired Jason Harlow at agreed upon rate
Sites 5-11(?) are SUPER soft. Need to add more gravel. Speaking with Ron Rutchasky about it
Spots that are holding water
Washouts
- Facebook and Instagram are up and running. Please like and share!
Snorkels and Snowpants was a great success
Lots of cool footage. Gave us more content than we agreed upon etc.
- Weeds….
- Veteran discount? Previous Volunteer discount?
Chuck and Liz want to come and stay July 29-August 12th. Oral history project guy.
Committee Report & Resulting Board Action: Gretchen Janssen provided the following report:
Attached please find the invoices that need approval tomorrow. The Pay App1 from Lenci is the only one that will need a signature upon approval.
June 9 grant report:
Approve S.E.H invoice #508188 for tent sites $2,698.25
Approve EV charging stations invoice $28,437.00
Approve Transfer switch invoice $8,000.00
Approve S.E.H invoice #509471 for shower house $2,520.00
This has a total of $41,655.25
These four are all covered by the direct appropriation grant paid by the County
(A motion was made by Jeanne, supported by Scott, to approve the above invoices totaling $41,655.25. All voted in favor and the motion carried.)
Crane Lake Meeting Minutes June 9, 2026
Discuss/Approve pay app #1 from Lenci (signature required)
This will be paid for by the Town and reimbursed by the IRRR grant.
A motion was made by Jeanne, supported by Emily, to approve and pay Lenci Pay Request #1 for $62,035.00, after discussion with Engineering Firm S.E.H. about current issues with the quality of material being used. All voted in favor and the motion carried
Other:
Discuss the backfilling materials used by Lenci and subsequent proposal from Braun Intertec.
From the engineer: “I have had several conversations with both Lenci and the plumbing contractor about the soil materials being used and backfilling around the underground piping. Lenci is claiming the material does meet spec and is good quality. From the photos we are confident it does not meet the minimum requirements of the spec but are going to need a third-party test to document this and force them to remove it.
This soil test is only one part of the proposal for testing I sent over last Friday. We also will need concrete testing for the slab, curbs, sidewalk, and LP tank pad and compaction testing for soils below the building pad. If you would like to cut cost, we can limit testing to the concrete building pad, but we recommend testing all the concrete to ensure the contractor is meeting the minimum requirements.”
The original proposal from Braun was for just under $13,000.
DNR Public Water Access: There was no report.
Community Action Plan: There was no report.
NEW BUSINESS
Approve and Sign the Annual Work Plan for Visitor Center: See above.
Approve the Fireworks Permit: Tony Ramburg is acquiring the permit, as he has done in the past. Discussed having Michael Schwanke run the barge for the event
Sign Contract for Rutchasky Enterprises Inc : Approved at May meeting, contact was signed.
Emergency Fund for VC/CG Discussion: Serena plans to get a group together to discuss the VC/CG budget so this can be included.
Other New Business: There was none.
Comments from Officers: There were none.
Public Comments: There were none.
Next Meeting: Board of Supervisors’ Meeting, 7/14/2026, 6:00PM, Visitor Center
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10pm.
________________________________________________________________
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.
