Thirty Lakes Watershed District
Board of Managers Meeting
Monday, June 8, 2009

Board Present:  T. Ebnet, G. Hardy, K. Svee, M. Young, B. Yund.  Absent:  None.

Also present were Rick Johnson, Bob Albrecht and County Commissioner Rosemary Franzen of the Advisory Committee, and Thirty Lakes Staff M. Peisch and T. Lauer..

The meeting was called to order at 9:02 am by President T. Ebnet in the office of the Thirty Lakes Watershed District, 17064 Commercial Park Road, Brainerd, MN.

Open Forum:  R. Johnson apologized for his behavior at the last meeting.  R. Franzen stated that at the County Board Meeting, Open Forum is for items not on the regular agenda.  Members of the public are allowed to speak on items that are on the agenda.

Election of Officers:  The gavel was handed over to the Administrator to conduct the election.

NOMINATION BY B. YUND THAT TOM EBNET BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT.  THE NOMINATION WAS DECLINED BY EBNET.  NOMINATION BY T. EBNET THAT KEN SVEE BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT.  NOMINATION BY G. HARDY THAT MARK YOUNG BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT.  MOTION BY EBNET/HARDY THAT THE NOMINATIONS BE CLOSED.  A Secret ballot was conducted. 

IN A VOTE OF 3/2, KEN SVEE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT.

NOMINATION BY K. SVEE THAT TOM EBNET BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF VICE PRESIDENT.  WITH NO FURTHER NOMINATIONS RECEIVED, TOM EBNET WAS ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT BY ACCLIMATION.

NOMINATION BY B. YUND THAT GORDEN HARDY BE A CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY.  NOMINATION BY G. HARDY THAT MARK YOUNG BE A CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY.  A Secret ballot was conducted. 

IN A VOTE OF 3/2, MARK YOUNG WAS ELECTED SECRETARY.

NOMINATION BY K. SVEE THAT GORDEN HARDY BE A CANDIDATE FOR TREASURER.  WITH NO FURTHER NOMINATIONS RECEIVED, GORDEN HARDY WAS ELECTED TREASURER BY ACCLIMATION.

The gavel was then passed back to the President.                              

Consent Agenda:  MOTION BY EBNET/YUND THAT THE FOLLOWING TWO ITEMS BE ADDED TO THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE LIST:  $660 TO SHOOTING STAR NATIVE (seeds for the Legionville Project), and $17.38 TO THE BRAINDERD DISPATCH (the notice of meeting change).  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION BY YUND/HARDY TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA INCLUDING THE MINUTES OF THE 5/11/09 BOARD OF MANAGERS MEETING AND THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

City of Breezy Point Test Wells:  The City is requesting Thirty Lakes pay $306 for water quality tests in a monitoring well located in a wetland near the City Park.  There are a total of four monitoring wells scheduled for testing, only one is within the Watershed District.  The first baseline test will be June of 2009, with additional testing in Nov. 2009, May 2010 and Nov. 2010.

MOTION BY HARDY/EBNET THAT APPROVAL BE GIVEN FOR THE COST OF TESTING THE MONITORING WELL IN JUNE AND OCTOBER OF 2009.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

Whitebirch Village:  This topic was previously tabled by Hardy/Yund. MOTION BY YOUNG/EBNET  TO REMOVE WHITEBIRCH VILLAGE FROM TABLE.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

B. Yund made an onsite inspection of the property and showed the photographs taken.  K. Svee stated that he also visited the property, and found it to be high, with excellent drainage. 

The Watershed District boundary dissects this development.  T. Ebnet reminded the Managers that the Overall Plan requires management of a 100 year rain event.  This development was engineered for a 5 year rain event of 3.30 inches in a 24 hour period.  The City of Breezy Point has already accepted the plan.

MOTION BY YUND/HARDY THAT AN EXCEPTION BE MADE SINCE THIS DEVELOPMENT IS ONLY HALF IN THE WATERSHED DISTRICT AND THAT PERMIT #090423 BE APPROVED FOR WHITEBIRCH VILLAGE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AS OUTLINED IN THE LANDECKER & ASSOC. DRAWING DATED 4/23/09.  ALL AYE,  MOTION CARRIED.

2009 Newsletter:  The Managers were supplied with a draft of the newsletter.  Some corrections were made.

MOTION BY EBNET/YUND THAT THE NEWSLETTER BE PRINTED AND MAILED TO RESIDENTS IN THE WATERSHED DISTRICT.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

Per Diem Policy:  A draft of the Per Diem Policy was reviewed by the Managers.  This policy is recommended by the State Auditor.   The important point according to the State Auditor is that “payment of public funds requires written documentation”.  There was discussion about duties that should require Board approval. 

The question came up about a call after hours or on weekends that demands action on the part of a Manager.  It was decided that a report would be sufficient to document the activity.

The statement “the activity has been authorized by the Board” will be replaced with the statement “The activity should be authorized by the Board”. 

B. Yund stated that Managers have never reviewed each other’s time sheets.  G. Hardy stated that transparency would require review of time sheets.

MOTION BY EBNET/YUND THAT THE PER DIEM POLICY BE ACCEPTED  AS DISCUSSED WITH AMENDMENT.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

Celebrate Stormwater:  T. Ebnet reminded the Managers of the Stormwater presentation on June 10th at 7 pm in the Land Services Building.  The speaker, Dwayne Stenlund, is from MNDOT.  This will be the first quarterly public meeting of the Water Plan Committee.

Computer Repairs:  M. Peisch  reminded the Managers that Kurt Deter had been consulted during his May 18 visit about the conflict of interest issue involving computer repairs by Mike Lauer.  Mr. Deter advised that this issue can be avoided by the Managers acting in a straightforward manner and appointing who they want to complete repairs.

M. Peisch stated that other computer repair firms charge $140 just for the service call, with repairs being additional.  Mike Lauer does not have a separate service charge and he is familiar with the Watershed District computers and their programs.  The Board would be able to review his charges listed in the Accounts Payable, and should the Managers decide that excessive costs are being incurred, they could act accordingly. 

K. Svee recalled the discussion with K. Deter, and felt that the Watershed District was saving money by having Mike Lauer complete required repairs.

MOTION BY EBNET/SVEE THAT MIKE LAUER BE DESIGNATED AS OUR COMPUTER REPAIR PERSON.  ALL AYE, MOTION CARRIED.

Rain Events:  T. Lauer reported that she has been reviewing stormwater management requirements of other Watershed Districts throughout the State.  Some require a 10 year rain event, some have 2 year, others have 5, 10 and 100 year rain events for different issues.

For Crow Wing County, the 10 year rain event would be 3.85, and the 100 year would be slightly more than 5.5 inches.

G. Hardy stated that areas vary, and that each site must be considered individually.   K. Svee directed the Administrator to follow up on this subject.

MOTION BY YUND/EBNET THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 10:15 AM.