August 12 2025 Board Meeting — Minutes

1 REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES DATE: August 12, 2025 Chairman Fred Stoll called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Supervisor Kevin Mackie, Diane Nelson, Clerk; Amy Eliot, Treasurer, Keith Kesler, Fire Chief ; and Mark Johnson and Taylor Lindsay, Streets Dept also attended. Adam Olson, Gene Germano, and Andy Carlson w ere also present. Minutes: Kevin motioned, seconded by Fred to approve the minutes of last month ’s board meeting, motion passed. Financial Report : The financial report showed: $10,324.59 in checking, $379,047.10 in the general money market account which includes $184,112.92 in a sub-account dedicated to the town garage, $441.26 in real estate tax account, $2,807.44 in personal property tax account, $26,943.43 in equipment account, and $577.43 in the Grant account. Kevin motioned, seconded by Fred to authorize paying the bills and accepting the treasurer’s report, and the motion passed. Public Comments: Andy discussed the ballfields; they are repairing some of the aluminum bleachers and need to dispose of some old lumber. County Supervisor Report: Scott Loustari Informed the board about the annual ATV /UTV report, the tri-county corridor activities, the bidding or lack of bids on the culvert for Fish Creek, the transportation committee projects, the fairgrounds projects, and the Line 5 public hearing in Ashland. Town Officers Reports: Kevin informed us that Dale Copp is resigning from the Sanitary Board effective October 1, 2025. Diane will place an ad in the Connection as provided by Carrie. The board recommended that Carrie place a notice in the next quarterly bill notifying the people in the district of the opening. Diane mentioned the upcoming Towns Assn workshop in Cable, she will sign Amy and Adam up for Sept 17, 2025. Road Report: They’ve had some small washouts due to rain. The After Hours Bridge is done and open. Diane mentioned the town will get a small bill for some maintenance from the DOT but was told it could take up to a year before all the paperwork is completed by them. Fire Chief Report: They have had 3 medical calls, 1 mutual aid call, and 1 UTV crash in the last month. Nine volunteers went through the pump operations class, several just completed the EMR and driver operator training. Equipment performed flawlessly during the training and others commented on great condition they keep the equipment in. New Business: Zoning: Nothing to approve. Appoint Supervisor Myron Olson’s replacement: Only one letter of interest was received for the vacant supervisor position. Additionally, Myron had provided a written endorsement for Adam. Fred motioned, seconded by Kevin to appoint Adam Olson to complete the term of Myron’s position, motion carried. Adam was sworn in and welcomed to the board. 2 Miscellaneous paving bids: One bid was received for paving 3 areas where culverts have been replaced totaling $6,129.71. One was received for the areas in front of the hall and by the intersection of Lake and 1st Ave for $10,743.14. Fred motioned, seconded by Kevin to accept the bids. Motion carried. Old Business: Garage Update: Ten proposals were received for designing the new municipal garage. A selection committee was formed consisting of Fred, Kevin, Diane, Amy, Keith, Adam, and Jari Mackie. The ten proposals were ranked, and four candidates were selected to provide a 30-minute presentation followed by a question-and-answer period. Each of the four firms was then ranked and reference checks were conducted. The firm of DSGW (Damberg Scott Gerzina Wagner) Architects, Inc. was selected. They are based in Duluth, have great similar type of experience and have stellar references. The award was $126,000, which happened to be the low bid. All firms have been notified of the decision, and we will work on getting a contract signed with DSGW. The project manager will be John Erickson, Principal Architect/Vice President. The project architect will be Nick Hulstrom of Washburn. In August and Sept, they will conduct the planning phase, assist with soil borings, site surveys, a project kickoff meeting, etc. They will start Schematic design in Sept. to identify project priorities, building a layout and building configuration, eventually settling on a final design. Design development will follow looking at building and life cycle costs of various types of buildings such as Predesign Metal Buildings, Stick Built, Precast Concrete, etc. They will provide info on preliminary building costs, life cycle costs, maintenance costs, etc. for each type of building. October they will start detailed design development once the type of building has been determined. November and December they will be developing construction documents showing electrical, mechanical, HVAC systems, etc. and will submit them to the state for approvals. They should be ready to put it out for bid and award a contract to a builder in January and February. Construction is anticipated to begin in May and be completed by the end of 2026. Town correspondence was reviewed. Kevin motioned, seconded by Fred to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 PM. Respectfully submitted, Diane Nelson, Clerk