By Tim Douglass

tdouglass@pctribune.com

The Pope County Board of Commissioners with a quorum, but missing two board members at their regular meeting last Tuesday, approved four different Conditional Use Permits (CUP) for shoreline alterations on county lakes.

The first was an application from Lloyd and Rwanda Campbell to alter the topography in a shore impact zone on Lake Minnewaska, according to information from David Green, Land and Resource Management Director for Pope County.  The proposed work included replacement of the access stairway and construction of a 200 square-foot landing area on the property.  Also, to be included was the erection of a boulder wall for purposes of erosion control and added slope stability, Green said.  The scale of the project resulted in the likelihood that there will be in excess of 50 cubic yards of materials being disturbed and that the working surface area would be greater than 25 feet.  Because the project involved topographic work in the shore impact zone as well as because of the quantities involved, a Conditional Use Permit was required, according to the Pope County Land Use Controls Ordinance, Green stated.

The Pope County Planning Advisory Commission approved the request for a CUP with unanimous support, according to Green.  The Pope County Board also approved the CUP on a 3-0 vote with Commissioners Paul Wildman and Larry Lindor absent. 

The second shoreline alteration approved was a CUP request from Stephanie Howe and Randall Hagen, which was also a topographical alteration on their lakeshore property on Lake Minnewaska. The board voted 3-0 to approve the request.  The proposed work included improvement of an existing trail providing access to the shoreline of Lake Minnewaska. The trail is narrow and steep with an elevation difference of about 43 feet from top to bottom. The work would also include widening of the trail and allow boulder placement in an effort to stabilize the steep slope/bluff feature, according to a report from Green.  The total length of the trail is estimated to be 129 feet. The Planning Advisory Commission (PAC) did host a public hearing and did consider this request for a Conditional Use Permit.  With unanimous support of the members present, the PAC recommended approval. 

The next two CUP requests for shoreline alterations came from shoreline property owners in Leven Township.  Glacial Lake Landscaping on behalf of Gary and Wendy St. Aubin requested permission to reconstruct an existing retaining wall at or very near the shore of Lake Amelia. The wall would be approximately 60 feet long.  Because the working surface is greater than 25 feet and because the retaining wall was at or near the shoreline, a Conditional Use Permit was required by county ordinance..   

The Planning Advisory Commission reviewed the request and a majority supported a recommendation for board approval.  The board voted 3-0 to approve the CUP.

The final CUP request approved by the board Tuesday also came from Glacial Lake Landscaping, this time on behalf of Randy and Jill Duevel requesting permission to construct a retaining wall at or very near the shore of Lake Amelia. The wall, as proposed, would be 60 feet long.  The Planning Advisory Commission also recommended that the board approve the request.  The board voted 3-0 to allow the CUP. 

In other business, the board:

• Approved the final payment to Sir Lines-A-Lot for the completion of the maintenance pavement marking project. The final cost of the project was $137,794.52, according to Pope County Engineer Brian Giese. 

In his report to the board, Giese also said the rain had impacted some  plans for ditch mowing, gravel road, culvert and ditch work. “We may not get to all of it on our list, but we hope to get to it before winter,” Giese said.  

He also told commissioners that the work on County Road 17 would begin at Pezhekee Road and continue to the southwest to the Canal Cove area.  

Commissioners also commented on the surface improvement recently completed on County Road 18.  The new surface was improved to the 10-ton rating so it is unlikely to have the “rutting” that occurred in the past.  “The road looks nice and rides nice,” said Commissioner Paul Gerde.  

•Approved a request from Sarah Green, Pope County Recorder, to  change the software suite from Fidlar Technologies to West Central Indexing (WCI) software.  The WCI software is called RecordEase and will be used for recording documents.  The Recorder and the IT department recommended the transition to the RecordEase software suite.    

•Heard that Tina Lindquist had accepted the position as Pope County Emergency Management Director. Commissioners approved hiring her in July, but she had not yet accepted the job at that time.  Lindquist will start her duties in Pope County in September, it was stated.  She comes from Grant County, where she held a similar position.  

•Welcomed Lauren Molloy, who joined Pope County as an executive assistant in the Human Resources and Administrative offices.  According to a memorandum from Jackie Stevens, Human Resources Director, Molloy brings several years of experience to the job from the banking industry and from joint ownership of a family business.