https://www.northstarmn.net/wp-content/uploads/06/17/2025/North-Star-June-docs.pdf

https://www.northstarmn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/May-20-2025-Approved-Board-Meeting-Minutes-and-Supporting-Documents.pdf

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March 18, 2025 Approved Board Meeting Minutes & Reorganization Meeting Minutes with Documents.pdf

August 20, 2024 Approved Board Meeting Minutes

July 16, 2024 Approved Board Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF NORTH STAR

CALL TO ORDER, WELCOME, and PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Jan            6:30PM

ATTENDANCE: Rod Saline: Supervisor, Gary Mantay: Supervisor, Jan Keough: Supervisor, Jenae Pitoscia: Clerk, Donna Elsbury: Treasurer, Rory Blazevic: Fire Chief

Assignments are as follows:

• Gary Mantay: Chair, Roads
• Rod Saline: Vice Chair, Building
• Jan Keough: Supervisor, Recycling
• Rory Blazevic: Fire Chief
• Mike Siers: Assistant Fire Chief
• Donna Elsbury: Treasurer
• Ray Barnes: Deputy Treasurer
• Jenae Pitoscia: Clerk
• Susan Forbragd: Deputy Clerk

Wages for Board Members:

Jan made motion to raise wages for election judges to $18.00 per hour. Rod 2^nd, Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved.

Mileage: 2024 rate has been changed to .670

Gary made motion to approve all other rates as below. Rod 2^nd, Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved.

2024 Pay Rates:

• Supervisor Town Meeting $180.00
• Treasurer Town Meeting + 5 hours $270.00
• Clerk Town Meeting + 5 hours $270.00
• Clerk/Treasurer extra hours beyond 5 $24.00/hour
• Communication hours $27.60/hour
• Outside meetings/training $120/meeting or training event
• Election Judges $18.00/hour
• Recycle Attendant $18.00/hour
• Custodian $18.00/hour
• Lawn Mowing $18.00/hour
• Mileage rate for outside meetings/training $0.67/mile

Monthly Board Meeting:

3^rd Tuesday at 6:30 will be monthly board meetings

Township Bank:

National Bank of Commerce

North Star Weed Inspector:

Tim Walters will continue in the position. Wages will remain the same. $600/ 2024 annual inspection and report

Township Posting Places:

• Barrs Lake Rd
• Northwoods Lane
• Alden Lake Rd
• Bulletin Board at North Star Townhall

Gary made motion to approve posting places. Rod 2^nd, Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved.

Gary made motion to adjourn Re-organization Meeting. Rod 2^nd, Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved. 7:06 PM

TOWN OF NORTH STAR      

CALL TO ORDER, WELCOME, – Jan    7:06PM

ATTENDANCE: Rod Saline: Supervisor, Gary Mantay: Supervisor, Jan Keough: Supervisor, Jenae Pitoscia: Clerk, Donna Elsbury: Treasurer, Rory Blazevic: Fire Chief, Ray Barnes: Deputy Treasurer

February 2024 MINUTES – Gary made motion to approve February meeting minutes. Rod 2^nd. Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye.  Motion approved.

FINANCIAL REPORT – Donna

TRANSFER –Transfer amount $5866.29 Check numbers 9057-9078. PERA EFT $54.00 Rod made motion accept transfer of funds. Gary 2^nd. Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved.

Audit minutes need to be posted to website.

CLERK COMMENTS / CORRESPONDANCE- Jenae:

Good Neighbor Agreement:

Gary made motion to sign and support good neighbor agreement. Rod 2^nd. Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Jan: Aye. Motion approved.

MAT: Township Day at the Capital: April 8th and April 9^th. $100.00 per attendee. Registration is online.

March 21^st 6:30. Duluth Township Organization. Rod Saline will be attending.

RECYCLING: Jan: No new updates.

WEBPAGE/COMMUNIATIONS REPORT: Jan: Jan made changes to website to change supervisor name from Dick Dillon to Rod Saline

ENews will be updated as needed probably in May

May 26^th will be the pancake breakfast

FIRE – Rory/Gary: Responded to fire on weekend of trash fire. Fire was put out safely. The Fire department is questioning how we move forward with garbage burning. Community members can call EPA, and County Health Department for resolution. Currently we have no ordinance in North Star with regard to burning trash.

Rod to reach out to County attorney’s office to see if there is anything that they recommend to resolve.

MAINTENACE: Dick: Hunt electric replaced motor in the generator and it is running well.

ROADS- Gary: Culvert replacement will be happening this spring.Dates TBD. Donna will review what the cap is to determine if we need to get bids.

OLD BUSINESS – No old Business to discuss

NEW BUSINESS- Donna/Jan: No new business to discuss

REVIEW OF DUTIES-

UPCOMING EVENTS – May 14^th ISD-709 Election, April 16^th Board Meeting, Pancake Breakfast May 26^th, Board of Equalization Meeting: May 7th

ADJOURNMENT:  Gary made motion to adjourn 7:40 PM Rod. 2^nd. Jan: Aye, Gary: Aye, Rod: Aye. Motion approved.

Date | time 3/14/2023 | Meeting called to order by Mary Hellman

In Attendance

(I do not have the sign in list for all the attendees)

Pledge of Allegiance

Attendees

Moderator

Motion for Rod Saline to moderate Meeting; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Approval of Previous Year 2022 Meeting Minutes

Motion to waive the reading of the previous year meeting minutes; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Motion approved

March 8^th 2022

2023 Review of meeting minutes will commence March 12^th 2024

Election Results

15 Votes Gary Mantay

4 Votes Bill Bailey

Gary Mantay winner

Reading & Approval of Board of Audit Report

Supervisors completed audit of Treasurer and Clerk Books for 2022. End of year figures are on cash control statement for year end 2022.

General Fund              $47,973.03

Road and Bridge         $17,441.66

Fire EMS                     $27,351.84

Fire Donations            $3,909.66        

Building                      $8,355.84

Recycling                    $2,779.13

ARPA Funds               $21,200.00                   

Total                            $129,011.91

Questions? None

Motion to Approve Audit; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Motion Approved

2024 Proposed Budget Review

Budget consisted of 2022 Actual, 2023 Budget and 2024 Proposed Budget for upcoming year.

Question: How was 2022 in comparison to the budget.

Answer: We overspent. Budget was reviewed and updated based on calculations of past budgeted amounts to better fit where the actual expenses are. This was done to fit the expense and fund that it came from. Example is Communications WIFI. It was moved from” building” to “general” fund.

Comment: Comparatively speaking budget looks good in terms of other years that have been created.

Question: Can anyone answer what happens when we overspend? Where does that money come from?

Answer: We have monies in reserve. We are not overspending in term of dollars. We are overspending based on budgeted numbers. Funding does cover those expenses.

Question: It looks like the budget from 2022 to the proposed budget of 2024 has increased by about 10K. Is that correct?

Answer: Yes

Question: Is there any areas that are significantly increased?

Answer: Most of the increases are coming from the clerk and treasurer salary. It has taken more hours to complete the work. Raises were also given. More elections are also coming up in 2024. This equates to more funds required for those elections. Increase in budget from propane cost, snow plowing and building maintenance.

Question: Looks like not all receipts are not property tax. How much of the receipts of the 109K is from real-estate taxes?

Answer: 21,200 is ARPA (Covid Funds), Recycling$ 4889.31 was a grant from WLSSD. $63,993.00 is the funding by taxes.

Motion to Approve 2024 Budget; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Motion Passed

Road Report

More gravel work will be done this year. 2 culverts on east side will need to be replaced. County has asked to do more brushing. Pretty standard maintenance this year.

Questions? None

Fire Report

12 Calls over the last year

1 Fire Call

Working on purchasing some new turn out gear and replacing other items that are worn. CPR training will be coming up in the spring and pancake breakfast is in the works. We are also looking for members especially on the fire side.

Questions? None

Items of Concern

Short Term Rentals

• Committee to address issues with STR’s
• Denise Anderson, Ryan, Mike and Carolyn
• Talked with other townships to determine what can be done
  • Number of rentals
  • Quiet Hours
  • Max Guest Count
  • Event Hosting
  • Watercraft
  • Parking
  • RV
  • Garbage
  • Campers
  • EMS, Fire call bills
  • Evocation of Permit
  • Length of Permit
  • Fishing
  • Owner response time
  • Invasive species
  • Burning
  • Pets
  • Fireworks
  • ATV
  • Private property
  • Enforcement
  • Insurance
    • County requires applicants name county as additional insured. Covers county in case of legal issue. Should liability insurance also have the name of township?

Question: How can we enforce our rules?

Answer: This is still being worked out. There is a moratorium in place for 1 year starting in January. 1 Property does have a permit on Barrs Lake. Property owner is required to follow county and township rules if the township has them. Our township rules can be stricter than the county.

Question: Is there a timeline on decision making and reporting back?

Answer: We would like to have this completed sooner rather than later. Our rules will need to be followed when they are created.

Question: Should we have townspeople vote on the committee policy in regards to STR?

Answer: That is the general consensus that it would be voted on by the township.

There are other townships that are going though the same issues in regard to how to put together policies and procedures for Short Term Rentals (STR’s)

Motion: To support the STR Committee to move forward; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Motion Passed

Communication

            Please sign up for email communication from our website.

Broadband

• No fiberoptic yet
  • ROI is not there yet
  • Broadband grants are in process
  • Looking for individuals to assist in efforts to get this service.

CLP Annual Meeting

• April 19^th
• 6:00 PM
• Two Harbors High School

Motion: Set meeting for March 12^th 2024 for next annual Meeting; Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Motion Passed

Motion to Adjourn

Dick, Aye; Jan, Aye; Gary, Aye

Meeting Minutes completed: Jenae Pitoscia 3/16/2023

Audit Meeting
January 29, 2024
In Attendance – Supervisor Gary Mantay, Supervisor Jan Keough, Supervisor Dick Dillon, Treasurer Donna
Elsbury
Supervisor Jan Keough called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.
All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
The attending supervisors received the 2023 Financial Books from the Treasurer and the Clerk. 3 sets of
Disbursements, Receipts and Bank Statement were compared from each set of books.
The supervisors completed the audit of the treasurer and clerk books for 2023 and the attached 2023
Board of Audit Report shows the verified receipts and disbursements and the verified bank statements
and clerk/treasurer balances. The attached 2023 Cash Control Statement verifies the ending balance of
all fund accounts.

Board of Audit Report

CHECKBOOK TOTAL December 31, 2023: $127,958.21
Dick Dillon made a motion to approve the 2023 books. Gary Mantay seconded the motion, vote to
approve the audit of the township books. Vote – Dick Dillon: aye, Gary Mantay: aye, Jan Keough: aye.
Motion carried.
Gary Mantay made a motion to adjourn, Dick Dillon seconded the motion. Vote- Jan Keough: aye, Dick
Dillon: aye, Gary Mantay: aye. Meeting adjourned at 7:17 pm