Alice Pickering
Linwood Area Reporter

Linwood Town Board supervisors on Tuesday, June 12 accepted the bid of Rum River Contracting Company, in the amount of $111,528.12, for street maintenance work to be completed this summer.

Approval was based on the recommendation of Bob Beckman, chairman of the Linwood Road and Bridge Committee.

Beckman told the board Craig Jochum, engineer, had supported the bid. Vote was 4-0 in favor of accepting the bid. Supervisor Scott Bailey did not attend the meeting.

Permit issues

Alleged difficulty in securing building permits and lack of timely and appropriate feedback from the Linwood’s building inspector, may result in a meeting to discuss personnel issues.

Town resident Steve Schmura whose garage had been red-tagged claims he attempted to get a building permit, but has had difficulty dealing with Dave Thompson, the building inspector. He said phone messages were not returned.

Clerk Judy Hanna said the township office schedules inspections and phone messages are routinely forwarded to Thompson. Thompson also has evening hours at home when he can be reached for information which does not require document reference.

The claim is that almost $3000 in deposits was lost to contractors for scheduled work that was postponed. Schmura is seeking a solution from the town board.

According to Hanna, licensed contractors jeopardize their licenses by working on projects on which building permits have not been issued.

Board Chair Mike Parker, said there is enough concern to hold the meeting. No date or time was set.

Information needed for the permit was to be brought to the township office within two days. According to Hanna, a building permit was issued June 14, but had not been picked up.

Nuisance homes

Aggressive pursuit seems to be making a difference in the clean-up of nuisance houses in the township, according to Attorney Gerald Randall.

Of the various options available, Kevin Ryan has elected a jury trial about the condition of his house lot. Although he claims to have proposals for cleanup, these have yet to be presented in writing to either the township or the attorney. His trial is scheduled Aug. 22.

There continues to be a real problem with a house on 226th Ave., on which officials are following legal channels to determine ownership. There has been no response to queries about it.

Randall said it qualifies as a hazardous building. A court order is needed to proceed with a criminal case and civil case related to the condition of the lot.

One problem house with a Feather Street address, but which is also very visible on West Martin Lake Road, shows improvement, officials said.

Insurance change

Insurance coverage for Linwood Township has been reorganized to consider individual buildings with equipment and property contained within, to be covered as units, according to Chris Sauro, agent for Country Insurance & Financial Services.

The township policy covers all buildings at 80 percent of replacement cost. Personal property, equipment and documents are included.

The fire department has provided updates on new fire equipment. These are now computerized so the inventory of equipment is readily available. The compressor and station for filling breathing tanks for firefighters is attached to the building and covered under the building insurance, not as mobile equipment.

The new tanker truck is being placed on the policy and coverage on the recently sold tanker was removed June 1.

Sauro recommended that coverage for cost of replacing important township documents. He estimated about $6000 coverage could be obtained for only about $2 or $3 more on the premium. Coverage on the senior transportation vans is brokered to another company because the vans are used to carry people.

Sauro reminded officials to report claims immediately and to be certain to obtain certificates of insurance from any subcontractors who do work for the township.

Cemetery update

Since the care and maintenance of the Linwood Cemetery is covered by the general fund, Supervisor Howard Holm recommended the perpetual care funds be turned over to a fund so it can be used as originally intended.

Cindy Gruett of the cemetery committee continues to track down owners of reserved plots. A number of those which have been pledged are being turned back to the township voluntarily.

Randall recommended sending letters of confirmation by certified mail to serve as documentation that the lots actually have been turned over to the township.

Fire Dept. report

The response of the Linwood Fire Department to the BWCA fire, a request from the DNR was “first ever Type 1 Response to Minnesota for FEMA,” according to Fire Chief Joe Dolphy. A crew spent eight days fighting the fire and returned May 16.

Most of their work was to prevent structure fires. This included some brush clearing and setting up sprinklers with pumps pumping from the lakes. In order to work fighting wild fires, volunteers need Red Card training. Dolphy said this is a required course for those who wish certification for fighting wild fires.

The grass rig and crew were contracted to the DNR at a rate of $175 an hour. The invoice to the DNR was $19,075. Crew members will be paid at the normal rate. They worked between 12 and 16 hours a day. Dolphy estimated that after expenses are paid, the township should receive around $9500.

The wage and compensation committee has prepared a draft with constitution and by-law changes. Dolphy asked Randall to review the documents before final changes are made.

The department had 15 calls in June. Five were medical emergencies and 10 were fire related.

Other topics

The board referred application for a building permit from Tom Docken to planning and zoning. Docken owns two contiguous lots on West Martin Lake Road, between the road and Martin Lake.

His request is for a permit to build an accessory building on four contiguous half-lots on the west side of the street. Randall recommended the lots be combined with a conduit deed, so that the separate parts of the property must be sold together.

The board authorized up to $150 for food items for National Night Out on Aug. 7. Linda Hurtley is chair of the event. The suggestion was to offer the senior center as a site for the event because it is more centrally located. Crime-watch groups have been formed in three neighborhoods.

Other business

In other business, the board:

•Learned the next meeting for the Linwood Family Fun Day Committee is 7 p.m., Thursday, June 21. There are two new volunteers on the committee according to Hanna.

•Had no report from the Sunrise Watershed District.

•Approved advertising for bids for two culverts, one on Fontana Street and one on Amazon Street.

•Learned that screens in the pump at Broadbent Park were cleaned, but maintenance workers will not know if that will solve the problem with low volume until the weather is dryer.

•Approved the appointment of Carol Searing to the senior advisory board.

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