Members present: Managers Jim Sanborn, Darrell Scott, Mike White, Deena Congdon.
Members absent: Manager David Dill.

Also present: John Jamnick of RLK-Kuusisto Ltd., Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman and 4 members of the community.

Motion by M. White, supported by D. Congdon to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 5, 2001. Motion carried unanimously.

BUSINESS:

Motion by D. Congdon, supported by D. Scott to approve the December Treasurer’s Report and payment of bills as follows: $95.00 to Clerk Jo Ann Pohlman, $50.77 to Citizens Communications, and $185.32 to Deena Congdon. Motion carried unanimously.

Correspondence
· Clerk J. Pohlman presented the correspondence to the Board. M. White recommended that it be acted upon as required.

Web Site Status Report
· D. Congdon reported that there had been many people visiting the web site.
· J. Pohlman reported that she had spoken to Bob Sherman of Midwest Captions about web site updating. He will get back to her.
· M. White asked D. Congdon to ask D. Dill to provide the information for the first page of the web site.

CDBG Grant Extension
· A positive response was received on January 3, 2002 from St. Louis County for our request for a grant extension with an addendum to be signed and returned to the county.

U.S. Corps of Engineers – December Meeting
· D. Dill and J. Jamnick attended the seminar for grant recipients in Duluth on December 12, 2001 describing paper work procedure for the funding process.
· J. Jamnick said the Corps wants to identify the specific part of the project that they will be funding.
· The money will be available in March or April of this year.
Rural Development – December Meeting – Funding Status
· A grant not to exceed $760,000 and a loan not to exceed $390,000 will be approved when a signed copy of the “Request for Obligation of Funds” is received.
· The Public Facilities Authority will provide $721,000(grant) from the Wastewater Infrastructure Fund (WIF).
· The remaining funds will come from St. Louis County ($100,000) and the Corps of Engineers ($250,000).
· Crane Lake will have to accept $390,000 as a long-term debt.

Rural Development – December Meeting – Stage III Requirements
· Stage III requirements are key to the progress of the project.
· The Right-of-Way maps need to be completed and need the RD attorney’s approval. This could take months; then the bidding process would take approximately one month. Construction may not begin until the second half of 2002.
· M. White asked J. Pohlman to contact D. Dill requesting that he talk to Alicia Cope of Cope and Peterson regarding the Right-of-Way work and that he set up a meeting between himself, J. Jamnick and A. Cope to discuss this issue.
· Items to be discussed include the projected completion date, potential conflicts of interest, Board authority to bypass properties and other related issues.

RLK-Kuusisto Progress Report
· There has been a survey crew in the area and this will continue.
· J. Jamnick would like to schedule meetings with residents regarding pipeline routing.
· There will be a complete inventory of all seasonal and non-seasonal properties on the maps.
· J. Jamnick and M. White will get together to further discuss the budget.
· Three bids were received for the soil boring work ranging from $9,800 to $6,370. J. Jamnick recommended awarding the bid to American Engineering for $6,370.
· Motion by M. White, supported by D. Congdon to authorize D. Dill to initiate action for short-term financing; then award the bid to American Engineering based on D. Dill’s success with financing. Motion carried unanimously.

Treatment Plant Committee Report
· There was discussion on ways to shorten the pipe length to the current site.
· J. Jamnick reported that the pipeline route is under review.

Financial Statements – Year 2001
· Motion by M. White, supported by D. Congdon that J. Pohlman write a letter to Sterle & Co, Ltd asking what information they need for 2001 year end financial statements. Motion carried unanimously.
· This is required by Rural Development.

ISTS Payment Request – Feno Rainaldi
· A letter has been written requesting approval of payment.

Expiring Terms – D. Congdon and D. Scott
· Motion by M. White, supported by J. Sanborn to notify St. Louis county to re-appoint D. Congdon and D. Scott for another three-year term as managers. Motion carried unanimously.

Board 2002 Officer Elections
· Motion by D. Congdon, supported by D. Scott that the officers for 2002 are as follows: Chair – David Dill, Vice-Chair – Darrell Scott and Treasurer – Michael White. Motion carried unanimously.

Board Designates – Accountant, Attorney, Bank & Newspaper
· Postponed until the next meeting.

District Plan
· M. White asked that J. Jamnick provide a report indicating estimated time frame of the project for the rest of the District.

Newsletter
· M. White will write another newsletter to be approved by D. Dill with plans to mail it sometime next week.

OTHER BUSINESS

Ruth Hubbard, Minnesota Rural Water Finance Authority, would like to make a presentation to the Board regarding interim financing. Her request will be referred to D. Dill.

PUBLIC COMMENTS – None

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.