County amends ‘Land Use’ ordinance
News | Published on September 19, 2022 at 11:46am CDT
By Melanie Stegner
The Pope County Board of Commissioners voted to amend the Land Use Controls Ordinance relating to Non-Confinement Feeding Areas at the Sept. 6 meeting. “Amending the ordinance is an effort that we’ve been working on for the last year or so and we didn’t change the basis of why this process needs to be permitted. We’re just making it an interim permit instead of an annual permit, allowing for more details, better definitions and a stricter zoning issue,” said David Green, director of the county’s Land and Resources department.
Hancock Concrete requested permits for mining and extraction in their existing aggregate mining operation. “Performance standards are identified in the ordinance and the application and proposal conforms with them, so the Planning Advisory Commission comes with a recommendation of approval,” said Green.
The conditional use permit that Dave Schirmers has been working on for a 32-unit RV park was presented again after a request for more information including a stormwater management plan and an acknowledgment from Horizon Public Health. With the new information and the PAC’s recommendation, the board passed the CUP with Wagner and Rogahn opposing.
Conditional Use Permit applicant Jeremy Walker is planning to re-establish a feedlot on his family farmstead. The proposal is for the feedlot facility to be located in a Non-Intensive Agriculture zoning designation. The PAC recommended approval and the board approved the CUP unanimously.
Other news from the Land and Resource office included a grant request from the City of Starbuck for the Starry Stonewort and Eurasian Watermilfoil hand removal and disposal. The total project cost is $48,941 and the city requested a grant in the amount of $28,000. A report will be coming in the near future regarding the findings of the study and removal, but three tons of material were removed from the lake. The request passed unanimously.
The North Fork Crow River 1W1P is amending their 2018 watershed plan and part of the process includes a motion of support from the LGUs participating in the plan. Pope County only has a small portion with the boundaries but is still a participant. The purpose is to update clerical information, revise implementation tables and priority actions, to provide new maps and to update data inputs.
The Land and Resource Management Office has a new face as Ariel Hughes joins the team as a Land Use Specialist. She has technical experience in soil and water testing as well as solar data collection and studies environmental science. She has been working with the department for six weeks and in that time has been introduced to the permitting process, administration of many programs, permitting of several feedlots, multiple compliance verification site visits, septic inspections and participated in a PAC meeting. She is working collaboratively with Douglas County Feedlot Officer Mark Koep.
The Highway Department maintenance staff continues to mow ditches throughout the month of September. The pipe lining project on CSAH 24 will also be completed this month. A meeting was held with FEMA for funding from the May 12 storm damages. There is final debris removal and fixes that were being held off for the harvest season. They’re working on a plan for tree removal along CSAH 17 so that an RFP can be put out. The appraiser is working on finishing up on the CSAH 15 right-of-way acquisition information so that can be presented in the near future.
The Bridge Replacement Priority List was addressed. “The existing culvert crossing on CSAH 17 at Canal Cove is a nine-foot diameter culvert that we believe was installed as part of the development in or around 1958. Prior to that time, a five-foot diameter culvert was in place. The existing culvert is in decent condition for its age but is too short in length to meet clear zone requirements for the planned project. During planning, the DNR was contacted regarding requirements for replacing the culvert. It was determined that a ten-foot by eight-foot box culvert should be used as a replacement and qualifies as a bridge structure in Minnesota.
Bryan Gates, IT Director presented an agreement with Eagleview for flyover imagery. The current agreement expires in 2026 and calls for a flyover in 2023, but the current would have three-inch imagery around the lake and in cities and nine inch imagery in the rest of the county. The new agreement would supply six-inch imagery county-wide. Currently the Recorder, Sheriff and Land and Resource Management Office use this imagery and amending the agreement will serve each of the departments more efficiently than the current agreement.
The general election canvassing must be held within 3-10 days after the general election which falls on November 11-18. The canvassing period for Pope County will be November 16 at 9 a.m. in the second-floor conference room of the courthouse.
