Conservation, Planning and Zoning Committee

July 24, 2012 CPZ Meeting Minutes (137 KB)

Conservation, Planning, and Zoning (CPZ) Committee members present: J. Ashford, J. Dietz, F. Halfen, J. Lehman, D. Nobs, D. Polivka, R. Puttkamer

Others present: B. Bailey, B. Cunningham, P. Dederich, E. Geick, J. Godfriaux Leystra, J. Grothman, G. Frosch, K. Felton, M. Krueger, B. Michalek, M. Palm, T. Pinion, P. Pohle, B. Simmert

At 9:00 a.m. Vice Chair Ashford called the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Committee to order and certified to be in compliance with the Open Meetings Law.

Adopt agenda: Motion by Halfen/Puttkamer to adopt the agenda and to move the Chapter 7 agenda item to after the conservation camp scholarship presentation. Motion carried, all members in favor.

Lehman arrived at 9:05 a.m.

Adopt minutes of previous meeting-July 12: Motion by Nobs/Puttkamer to adopt minutes from the meeting on July 12 for the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Committee. Motion carried, all members in favor.
Public comment:

a. Conservation camp scholarship recipient presentation-Garrick Hartley will be a sixth grader at Tower Rock Elementary this fall. He received one of the scholarships to attend conservation camp in Marinette County near Crivitz. He presented on his camping experiences and thanked the Committee for the scholarship.
b. Tom Pinion, Baraboo City Engineer-Addressed the opportunity to create appropriate language for the zoning permit and to have the City of Baraboo, the county, and Town of Baraboo work collaboratively.
Mike Palm, City of Baraboo Mayor-Expressed concerns on having mini-storage units on the Mabel David property and the need to work together.

Discussion and possible action on Chapter 7, Commercial District: The Committee agreed to allow public comment during this agenda item. Michalek stated that the county’s ordinance has allowed mini-storage as a special exception under the Commercial Zoning District. The proposed change is to add the following words for clarification: self-service storage facility, or mini-warehousing. The proposed public hearing will be held on August 9, followed by possible County Board action on August 21. There was discussion regarding options for intergovernmental cooperation. No action required.

Communications:

a. Conservation Camp thank you and newspaper articles-Copies of the articles from “Wisconsin Outdoor Fun” and “The Country Today” were provided to the Committee regarding the Marinette County Conservation Camp. Also, a thank you card and photo from the camp were shared with the Committee.
b. Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association (WLWCA) Communications-Staff asked if the Committee members are receiving WLWCA emails.
c. Residue compliance was discussed and the need to cut off all the corn.

Land Records Modernization:

a. Department reports and updates-Felton presented the department report. Working on drawings being converted, requests for contour data, and on the Boundary Annexation Survey (BAS) which shows all the annexation changes. Receiving a lot of internal and external requests for information.

b. Review and approval of vouchers-There were no monthly vouchers.

Surveyor:

a. Department reports and updates-Dederich and Felton discussed that the Mapping Department is in the process of migrating information to build a map of county coordinates that will link tie sheets. Looking at a four to six month project for a limited-term employee. The hardware and software is in place.

b. Review and approval of vouchers-Motion by Halfen/Ashford to approve two months of vouchers in the amounts of $4,029.00 and $6,985.05. Motion carried, all in favor.

Register of Deeds:

a. Department reports and updates-Bailey presented the department report. He informed the Committee that Milwaukee County has started a suit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regarding them being exempt from transfer fees and looking for other counties to join in on the suit. He will discuss with Corporation Counsel.

Discussed that there is not enough volume to warrant accepting credit card payments.

Bailey may do a survey regarding what other counties are planning to do regarding collection of the $5 redaction fee. Krueger will have Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Director Jon Hochkammer contact Bailey on this issue. Felton added that the Wisconsin Land Information Association and Land Information Officers Network are discussing this also.

b. Review and approval of vouchers-Motion by Halfen/Nobs to approve vouchers in the amount of $3,226.12. Motion carried, all in favor.

c. Review and possible approval of Register of Deeds 2013 budget-Bailey informed the Committee that the numbers will be similar to the 2012 budget and that they could look at Form 1 to see if changes are necessary. There is a need for scanning, keying, and indexing.

Discussion and possible action on a conditional use permit for a farm consolidated lot located in S30,T.9N.R.6E, Town of Prairie du Sac, Sauk County by Gregory Frosch in accordance with the provisions contained in Section 7.12 of the Sauk County Code of Ordinances: Simmert updated the Committee on Frosch’s request to create a 2-4 acre farm consolidated lot that will include the original farm house creating a 35-acre lot for Gregory Frosch to build a new home so that he will be able to provide care to his mother Charlene. Since last month, Gregory has been before the Town of Prairie du Sac Planning Commission and Town Board and received their conditional approval. The house will be built on land that is not being cultivated. There was discussion on previous farm consolidations being allowed in the past that were similar to this situation. The new ordinance will make this an acceptable practice. Motion by Ashford/Polivka to approve the conditional use permit and to answer yes in Section III of the Conditional Use Permit. Motion carried with Ashford, Dietz, Lehman, Nobs, Polivka, Puttkamer in favor; Halfen opposed.

Review and possible approval of a workplan and public participation plan for the rewrite of the Farmland Preservation Plan: Simmert presented the planning process to the Committee which will take the Plan go to the County Board in December 2012 or January 2013 and needs to be adopted by December 31, 2013, to meet DATCP requirements. Looking for two CPZ Committee members to be part of the stakeholder group which will include farmers, representatives from different aspects of farming (Badgerland Finanical, new UW-Extension Ag Agent, cooperatives, Foremost Farms, both exclusive ag and non-exclusive ag areas, etc.). Anticipate policy will deal with more than farm use and bring in the economics of farming and what can we to foster that. It was recommended that the stakeholder group meetings be held in the evenings. Polk County held a public input information meeting and this may a good way to kick this off. Efforts on this workplan will not delay Chapter 7. Janine Godfriaux Leystra is working for the CPZ Department part time and will assist with this. The other part of the ordinance is regarding the density policy. There have been discussions with Representative Ed Brooks, and he has contacted DATCP Secretary Ben Brancel regarding this. There are two approaches: an administrative rule that will allow us to continue or DATCP will need to amend state statutes. Discussed tracking credits. Simmert will revise the workplan and public participation plan for approval at the next meeting.

Update on CPZ Department’s policy for engineering services: Michalek informed the Committee that the CPZ Department has worked to change the department’s policy for selection of waterway design projects. Landowners can avoid permit requirements if they meet NRCS specifications on waterway practices designed by CPZ Department staff. We want to avoid staff time being used by private industries who can hire their own engineer or go through BOA as a mining operation. Produced a ranking sheet that will eliminate private industries using the loophole and receiving design assistance. The criteria used on the ranking sheet was presented to the Committee and received support. No formal action required.

Update and possible action on Clean Sweep: Discussed the October 6 Clean Sweep being held at the former Sauk County Landfill and the possibility of additional funds being needed to cover the program. Ashford, Dietz, Halfen, Nobs and possibly Polivka volunteered to help at the event. If two Clean Sweeps are held per year in the future, we will need a $68,000 levy. There was discussion on how this proactive program helps save cleanup costs, etc. for various county departments.

Review and possible approval of Conservation, Planning, and Zoning 2013 budget: Michalek discussed extending the remaining $205,000 Comprehensive Plan Grant funds from five years to eight years for a portion of the planning staff person’s salary and fringes. This will make a larger increase this year but less of an increase at the end of the grant funds. Also need to need to replenish $50,000 in the cost-share account for conservation practices. Discussed also reinstating the well abandonment program. The budget is very close to being done and will be sent to the CPZ Committee before the next meeting.

Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Department:

a. Department reports and updates-No updates to the report which was provided at the last meeting.

b. Review and approval of vouchers-Motion by Ashford/Dietz to approve $57,491.87 for the monthly vouchers. Motion carried, all in favor.

Next meetings of the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Committee will be held on Thursday, August 9, and Tuesday, August 28, at 9:00 a.m.

Lehman mentioned an August 22 twilight meeting near Arlington. Lehman will send information to the CPZ Department for notification to the Committee.

Motion by Ashford/Halfen to adjourn at 11:48 a.m. Motion carried, all members in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Don Nobs, Secretary