Clerk Paul Raymond called the meeting to order at 8:15, following the township election and the Board of Canvass. 33 citizens voted and Alden Shute was elected Supervisor for three years and Cindy Klienschmidt was elected as clerk for two years. Maureen, Mike, and Alden canvassed and approved the vote; 18 citizens signed in on the sheet at Annual Meeting: Mike McCullen, Maureen Rioux, Glen Williamson, Stefanie Williamson, Cindy Kleinschmidt, Patrice Winfield, Clay Heller, Jr., Alden and Lori Shute, Paul Raymond, Zach Hanson, Rebekah and Daniel Calder, Duane Glienke, Rachel Bean, Tom Ackerman, and Paul Moses
Approve Ground Rules: Nominations for Moderator for the meeting: Mike nominated Micah Murray; Glen seconded. Micah elected and took the gavel as moderator and laid out basic ground rules for the meeting: Citizens must raise their hand to speak; No interuptions; If a speaker asks question of another person, they can answer but speaker holds the floor; Maintain respect and decorum.
Paul read the record of the March 11, 2025 Town Meeting. Mike moved to approve; Glen seconded; Approved.
Financial Statement: Patrice presented the 2025 Wilma Township Financial Statement. Patrice again broke down payroll and other compensation for officers to show what each officer is receiving in salary, and for other compensation like insurance, conferences, short courses, mileage, internet, and for judging elections. At the end of the year the township carried over a balance of $198,970.69 in all funds and CD’s. Balance starting 2025: $200,006.85; receipts in 2025: $66,112.45; disbursements: $67,148.61.
Alden moved to approve her report; Glen seconded, passed.
Road Report: Alden gave the Road Report. More gravel on Little Tamarack Lake Road; new culvert on Tamarack Pine Drive by the ponds; Gravel on N. Duncan road; ; Alden wants all roads brushed this summer but this is spendy. We can either brush yearly or mow and brush every couple of years. Tamarack Pine Drive: There is a curve at Maureen’s driveway that will get 2 loads of red-rock gravel. The town board road inspection will be in May and projects will be prioritized and decided on then. There were still some beaver problems on Eagle Head Road and Alden said he is working on a permanent solution. He replaced the culvert and installed grates made by New Dosey Township. The problems have been somewhat alleviated, but beavers aren’t out yet (this road needs to be raised at the culvert). At east end of River Cabin Road there is a frost boil to dig out and fill with rock and cover with gravel.
LEVIES AND BUDGET FOR 2027: Township Funds: Paul said the Board is not recommending any increases in any of our funds or levies for 2027 except for the fire fund, and that the board has not increased taxes for at least a decade.
Road and Bridge Fund: Discussion on need to increase the fund to not go over budget and need to borrow from other funds. We did have a fund balance of $87,000 last year, but a major project like a cement culvert on Heller Drive would make a big dent. Paul move do raise it from $16,000 to $20,000; Stefanie seconded; passed.
Building Fund: We have some major issues like the foundation under the town hall, and the grader/fire hall leaking again and either needing another patch or a new roof. Micah moved to keep the fund at $5,000; Clay seconded; passed.
Fire Fund: Mike explained the reason for the increase in the fund from $4,500 to $10,000. All three townships have the same increase. He explained the great cost of new tunout gear, and we have several new volunteers with old gear. Even new gear becomes obsolete after a number of years according to the fire service regulations. EMS training and FF1 trainings are expensive. Glen moved to approve the increase to $10,000; Cindy seconded; passed.
General Fund Maureen moved to keep at $10,000; Patrice seconded; passed.
Park Fund: Cindy moved to keep at $100; Glen seconded; passed.
Wages for Reports, Moderator, Meetings, Judges, Mechanic, Grader Operator: The Board has final say on wages at the Board of Reorganization. No changes or increases are proposed by the board for meetings or labor. Mileage: We’ve always used the federal rate, which is $.725 for 2026. Alden moved that the board accept the suggested wages and rates for 2026; Lori seconded. Passed. Paul moved that we remove the Supervisor Labor $25 and keep Supervisor labor at $22; Glen seconded; passed.
Snowplowing: No change for 2026-7 season, standard driveways, $100.; over 700’: $125/season; 1,000 ft. to ½ mile: $200; Over ½ mile, $375. “Must have turnaround space. No closed gates. No overhanging trees that can hit the grader. Wilma Township not liable for inadvertent damages while plowing private drives. 2026-27 snowplowing fees due by October 1, 2026. Glen moved to accept these rates; Cindy seconded; passed.
Township Website, Wilmatownship.com: Wilma Township has a website open to the public, wilmatownship.org, which is one of our three official posting sites along with the Evergreen and Pine County News. Township meeting and financial records and notices for the past half-dozen years are on the site. Ervin Kleinschmidt is the web-master now and has not charged the town anything so far. It will eventually change to wilmatownship.gov.
FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Chief Mike McCullen said we’ve received several “new” vehicles; two brush rigs, one late-model yellow truck from the DNR; we purchased a used tanker from Hinckley Fire, which is too large for the Duxbury Fire Hall and is now parked in Markville.
Board of Reorganization/New Clerk: Paul said he will swear in Cindy as soon as the contest period is over so he can start training her on CTAS and all of the duties of the clerk. He said the township laptop that he has he will give to Cindy after updating it to CTAS 2026 and uploading the January claims. [He will teach her by having her do the February claims when they can get together with the laptop.] The Board will hold the Board of Reorganization to swear in Alden and to make decisions for the township on wages and notice and posting sites before the regular April 1 board meeting. The board will designate a bank of deposit and where notices will be published or posted: Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 7:30.
BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION: Wilma will have no Board of Review this year; we have to have open book meetings this year, and we can apply to hold them again in our hall by February 1, 2027 for the 2027 board of review. There will be an open book meeting for Wilma at the Pine County Government Center in Sandstone on Thursday, April 23rd at 2:30. Glen asked why we lost the board this year. Paul explaned that Maureen got trained too late and Alden was not trained, although the link for the online training was printed on every meeting agenda for many months. Mike was out of town. We can apply to get it back next year.
SERVICE CONTRACTS: SEVEN COUNTY SENIOR FEDERATION; OLD SCHOOL ARTS CENTER; PINE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM; and FAMILY PATHWAYS. The voters voted in 2019 divide $300 between four organizations without requiring an annual vote, to help them in their service to the community, and the board has honored this. No vote was required tonight.
Spring Short Course at Blackbear Casino, Friday, April 3. Federal mileage rate now $ .725/mile. We usually carpool.
Set Meeting Place and Time for 2027 Annual Town Meeting: This is a formality, but is required. Glen moved hold the next annual meeting the second Tuesday of March 2025 (March 9) and to adjourn this meeting; Paul Moses seconded; passed. Paul moved to adjourn the meeting; Glen seconded Meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m
Paul Raymond, Clerk