MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
APRIL 15, 2004
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
Unless otherwise noted, all actions were taken unanimously.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Thompson, to approve the claims on the Auditor’s Claim Register, as approved by a majority of the Supervisors.
Motion by Lehman, second by Stutsman, to approve the minutes of the formal meeting of April 8, 2004.
Motion by Harney, second by Thompson, to approve the payroll authorizations submitted by department heads, as approved by a majority of the Supervisors.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Harney, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to sign: a Renewal Application for Class C Liquor License, Application For Outdoor Service Area, and Application For Sunday Sales Privilege for Saddleback Ridge Golf Course, Solon, as submitted by Ronald Rushek.
Motion by Thompson, second by Lehman, to place on file the Sheriff’s Report to the Board of Supervisors for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2004 as submitted by County Sheriff Bob Carpenter.
Application SP0401 of Dan Bernacki requesting Site Plan Review of Lot 4, Corridor Industrial Park Part Two. (A Resubdivision of Lots 2, 3, and 4 of Corridor Industrial Park and Auditor's Parcel 200106).
RESOLUTION 04-15-04-Z1
RESOLUTION APPROVING THE SITE PLAN OF DANIEL R. BERNACKI FOR LOT 4 OF CORRIDOR INDUSTRIAL PARK PART TWO (A RESUBDIVISION OF LOTS 2, 3, AND 4 OF CORRIDOR INDUSTRIAL PARK AND AUDITOR’S PARCEL NO. 200106)
Whereas, the owner has filed application SP0401 for approval of a Site Plan for Lot 4 of Corridor Industrial Park Part Two (A Resubdivision of Lots 2, 3, and 4 of Corridor Industrial Park and Auditor’s Parcel No. 200106), and
Whereas, the County Zoning Commission having studied said application recommends approval.
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved by the Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa:
1. That said site plan be approved.
Motion by Harney, second by Stutsman, to approve Resolution 04-15-04-Z1.
RESOLUTION 04-15-04-Z2
Whereas, the Johnson County Planning and Zoning Commission, following a public hearing, on April 12, 2004, filed its report and recommendations for certain actions;
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved as follows:
1. A public hearing in accordance with Section
335.6 of the Iowa Code is set for the 13th day of May, 2004 at
5:30 p.m. in the Board Room, Johnson County Administration Building, 913 South
Dubuque Street, Iowa City, Iowa, on the following: S04014 (Lovetinsky) and
S04015 (Voparil/Benda).
2. That the Johnson County Auditor be authorized
to publish the official notice of the above public hearing. Motion
by Stutsman, second by Lehman, to approve Resolution 04-15-04-Z2. PROCLAMATION 04-15-04-01
NATIONAL MEDICAL LABORATORY WEEK
APRIL 18-24-2004
Whereas, professionals who practice in the
public health laboratory, including chemists, microbiologists, laboratory
scientists, medical technologists, laboratory scientists, and laboratory
technicians, are invaluable members of the health care team; and Whereas, these well-educated and
highly-trained health professionals who perform and evaluate medical laboratory
tests to detect disease, diagnose illness, ensure food and water safety,
identify disease outbreaks, and prevent diseases, affect countless lives each
day; and Whereas, their dedication to quality
testing and public health is demonstrated daily in numerous laboratories in
Well-being; and Whereas, laboratory medicine is an
honorable profession, vital to sustaining a high standard of health care and
public health; Now, therefore, I, Terrance Neuzil,
Chairperson of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, in the State of Iowa,
do hereby proclaim April 18 - 24, 2004, as National
Medical Laboratory Week Motion
by Thompson, second by Stutsman, to approve Proclamation 04-15-04-01. Reconvened Public Hearing of April 8, 2004 on Zoning Application Z04003 at
9:09 a.m. Application
Z04003 of Twin County Dairy, Inc., c/o and signed by John Roetlin, Kalona,
Iowa, requesting rezoning of 0.64 acres from C2-Commercial District to M1-Light
Industrial District of certain property described as being in the SW 1/4 of
Section 19, Township 78 North, Range 7 West of the 5th P.M., in Johnson County,
Iowa (This property is located on the
north side of 540th Street SW, approximately 250’ east of its intersection with
Iowa Highway #1 SW in Sharon Twp.). Glen Meisner of MMS Consultants, David
Brown, attorney for the applicant, and John Roetlin spoke for the
application. John Beasley, Nick Yutzy,
and Reverend Bob Welsh spoke regarding the application. Meisner explained that the changes they’ve
proposed would decrease the truck traffic on the intersection by 15 vehicles
each direction per day. Thompson said
that although she previously believed that the only way to ensure no traffic
enters from 540th Street was to block off the driveway, she realized that
showing nothing to access in the building plan is also acceptable. She asked how the applicant will ensure the
Board that they will follow through that no trucks will access it. John Roetlin replied that they will close the
access. Lehman said that the old
building will be obsolete with the construction of the new building. Roetlin explained that the old byproduct
building will become something new, but there will be nothing to load from the
building. Lehman asked if the liquid
byproducts will be pumped to the lagoons and the powder loaded from the
north. Meisner agreed. Roetlin said that the loading dock on Highway
1 will be removed and relocated.
Stutsman asked if these factors will be clarified in the site plan
review process, which the Board will have to approve before a building permit
is issued. Planning and Zoning
Administrator Rick Dvorak said that the lot where the loading dock will reside
will also require a site plan for the Board’s review. Harney asked if there will be an increase in
truck traffic hauling products in liquid form to the south of 540th
Street. Meisner replied that there is
not, but there could be in the future.
Roetlin said that they are not proposing a plant expansion, merely
updating equipment in the byproduct operation.
He explained that in the last year, the business has been moving towards
the concentration of the product.
Stutsman asked where the new building will be built in relation to the
old building. Meisner replied that it
will be built just to the north of the old building. Roetlin said that they cannot shut down the
old building until the new building is completed. Meisner explained that in order to reduce
the truck traffic staging on 540th Street, they are also proposing to stage
current truck traffic in front of the old building in order to keep 8 trucks
off the road’s shoulders. Thompson asked
if any vehicles currently stage in front of the old building. Roetlin replied that they do not, because
that space is needed to load the byproduct.
Neuzil asked if they would remove the employee parking so it would not
conflict with the staging area. Roetlin
replied that employees come in at 1:00 a.m. and change over at 1:00 p.m. while
the staging process takes place from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Lehman said that he’s concerned with traffic
cutting across 540th Street close to the intersection. Stutsman said that at least traffic is close
to an intersection where traffic is decelerating. She said that the complaints she hears are
about trucks parking on 540th Street, so this would be very positive. Lehman suggested staging the trucks where the
cheese trailers are stored until they are needed to unload. Meisner said that these are details that can
be addressed at the site plan review.
Harney disagreed with Lehman due to slow truck traffic on Highway 1 and
asked how the trucks approach the building.
Roetlin replied that the trucks drive through the building instead of
backing out. Meisner said that they
investigated reversing the traffic flow to unload, but they wash out the
trailers in the back of the facility after unloading. Dvorak said that Planning and Zoning must
make provisions for accessing onto a paved road or a building permit can not be
issued. He said that there are some
options when they reach the site plan review process, but he wants to make sure
the applicant is aware this is an ordinance issue that has to be resolved. Stutsman said that today the question is
based on the best used of the land.
Harney asked what options are available.
Dvorak replied that they can add a staging area alongside the milk
facility or stage north of the Cheese Factory, then remove the access to the
seal coat road. Harney asked if the
Cheese Factory driveway would be required to be farther from the intersection
if it was zoned today. Dvorak replied
that they would address that also in the site plan process. Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator
R.J. Moore said that it is difficult for Planning and Zoning to consider only
the zoning issue because of the process that follows. He said that Planning and Zoning has stated
that this lot’s accesses onto 540th Street must be eliminated for this to pass
site plan review. Meisner said that the
vehicles they’ve proposed would stage in that area do not have to stage there,
they were just trying to address concerns from the previous meeting. Brown submitted a letter signed by Roetlin
agreeing to relocate the loading dock from the north end of the Cheese Factory. Harney asked if there will be anything
done to reduce the noise reaching the neighbors from the refrigerated trucks
and if that is part of the site plan review.
Dvorak replied that the noise aspect is not part of the site plan review
unless they choose to rezone the entire lot.
Neuzil said that in order to pass the site plan review the applicant
must conform with the requirements.
Meisner said that he has additional ideas when they reach that part of
the process. Lehman said that they have
estimates from JCCOG and Secondary Roads that put the cost of adding turning
lanes anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000.
He said that a few years ago, they asked an applicant on Hoover Highway
to contribute to a turning lane project.
He asked if that had been discussed in this application. Moore replied that the Board can allow staff
to broach the issue and ask for improvements based on the Land Use Plan, which
states that if a zoning request requires improvements to infrastructure the
applicant should pay for the cost of the improvements. He said that the site plan review process
prohibits access onto a non-paved road unless an agreement is reached with the
Board of Supervisors for improving that road.
Moore said that the County’s Zoning Ordinance states the purpose shall
be to promote the public health, safety, comfort, general welfare, to conserve
property values, to lessen or avoid congestion on public streets or highways,
and to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court has
ruled that government can do off-site impacts and request that an applicant
improve an intersection if a use at point A causes congestion at an
intersection. Moore said that as staff
administers these policies and ordinances, they take the purpose statement as a
very important part of their review. He
said that Planning and Zoning’s goals are to eliminate the access onto 540th
Street for this parcel, change the employee parking, and change the staging
milk delivery system to the north or where it is unloaded. Thompson asked about the customer
parking. Moore replied that the
applicant will need to go through the site plan review process in order to move
the loading dock, which will then bring the customer parking into question
because the parcel cannot access the non-paved road without an agreement. Thompson said that she’s puzzled why the
Board would ask an applicant to upgrade an intersection on an unpaved road the
Board has not put on the 5-Year Road Plan.
She asked if the applicant would need to improve the road to the next
intersection. Moore replied that
Planning and Zoning’s plan is to remove all accesses from 540th Street from the
zoned parcel. Lehman asked when a
financial contribution would be brought up.
Moore replied that it can be addressed during either the zoning or site
plan portion of the process. Lehman said
that although the applicant proposes to reduce the traffic, opponents will say
they contributed to bringing traffic to the concern level. Thompson said that requirement is an
ordinance, not something that could be considered a guide. Neuzil asked if the improvements to the
intersection could coincide with the County improving 540th Street. Stutsman said that if they’re going to
require this business to contribute, they need to involve other businesses who
also impact the traffic problems. She
asked if it is fair to penalize someone proposing to reduce the traffic on the
road by expecting them to upgrade the road when the Board has said that they
would need to upgrade for additional traffic.
Stutsman said that she’s confused about where the turning lanes would be
added. Moore replied that the JCCOG
report suggested adding turning lanes to Highway 1 north and south bound. Thompson said that would not change the fact
that 540th Street is an unpaved road.
Moore said that since that area is designated in the economic
development policies, they will have to resolve the road issues by improving it
up to a mile east of the church.
Thompson suggested putting this road on the future projects list of the
5-Year Road Plan. Harney asked if Yutzy’s application falls
under the M2 classification, which includes garbage, but the current
application is to be rezoned as M1.
Moore said yes, that is true for a transfer station. Harney said that the CH classification allows
creameries, and asked why this application doesn’t qualify as a creamery. Moore replied that currently the land is
zoned C2 and Planning and Zoning felt that this is a manufacturing
process. Harney asked if classifying it
as a creamery would restrict him in the future.
Moore replied that the M1 classification is more flexible and it also
matches the zoning for the principal structure in the process. He said that if this was bare ground, there
would not be separate parcels for the process, but since Roetlin has
incrementally developed in his process improvement, the County is now stuck
with a problem not of their making.
Moore said that to make Roetlin pay the whole cost of upgrading the
intersection would not be fair. He said
that for Planning and Zoning to move forward, they see problems conflicting
with the ordinances as well. Stutsman said that she focuses on the fact
that the applicant is asking to rezone .64 acres to MI, which would match the
majority of his business’s land. She
said that the Board is not stepping into new ground, but instead taking steps
to improve this business to current standards.
Stutsman said that the Board has just adopted an Economic Development
Plan, in which they encourage business in rural areas. She said that this business has been in place
for 35 years, so they cannot apply today’s standards to a building already in
place. She said that the Board has been
clear regarding expectations of a site plan and the applicant is aware of those
expectations. She said although this
process will take a lot of negotiation, there will be a definite improvement by
reducing the semis and the expansion of a viable business, which the Board
should encourage. Stutsman said that the
Yutzy zoning is a separate issue. Lehman said that he has concerns regarding
eliminating access onto 540th Street, but those factors can be addressed. He said that he appreciates the applicant
working with the County and taking steps to reduce the intersection
concerns. Lehman said he is not happy
with the staging concerns, but that can be addressed later in the process. Thompson asked staff what their current
recommendation is, since they had recommended against it at the previous
meeting. Moore replied that if the
applicant makes the changes they have spoken about, namely removing the access
onto 540th Street and staging the milk delivery trucks to the north, the County
will have a better situation and Planning and Zoning wants to move forward. Thompson asked if the changes in the plan
would require it to be sent back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said
that there have not been any changes to the zoning. He said that the applicant has indicated his
willingness to make changes, but they would fall outside of the zoning
application. Thompson said that she
appreciates the applicant’s willingness to work with the Board and she is
willing support the application moving into the site plan review process. Harney said that he supports this
application because this is not an expansion, merely an upgrade in equipment
and Roetlin will be removing traffic from the intersection. He said that he personally disagrees with moving
all the traffic from 540th Street to Highway 1 and he would prefer to see the
trucks on 540th Street because it is a slow intersection. Harney said that his concerns can be
addressed in the site plan process. Neuzil thanked the applicant for being a
part of Johnson County and his willingness to stay in Johnson County. He said that with approval of the zoning
change, he believes the Board will be setting a precedent that they want growth
and development in the area and they are willing to accept commercial and light
industrial as compatible. Neuzil said
the real issue on the application will come in the site plan review portion of
the project. He said that he will be
fair regarding other zonings in the area.
Neuzil said that the intersection needs improvements, but there are
opportunities to work with this and other applications in that regard. Neuzil recommended adding 540th Street to the
5-Year Road Plan. Motion
by Stutsman, second by Neuzil, to waive the requirement of three considerations
before amending an ordinance and to approve Application Z04003 on first and
second consideration. Roll call: aye:
Harney, Stutsman, Neuzil, Lehman, Thompson. Public
Hearing closed at 10:28 a.m. Motion
by Harney, second by Thompson, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to sign
the Iowa Department of Transportation Agreement for Federal-Aid Surface
Transportation Program (STP) for project number STP-S-C052(54)--5E-52 (HMA
resurfacing on Wapsi Avenue South of Lone Tree). Motion
by Thompson, second by Stutsman, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to
sign a contract with Binns & Stevens for calcium chloride application to
Secondary Roads in the 2004 Safety Program for $162,487.50. Motion
by Stutsman, second by Lehman, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to send
a letter of support for the Tiffin Fire Association’s application for funds
from the INS Charity Grant Program. Motion
by Thompson, second by Stutsman, declaring broken computer equipment submitted
by Information Services as surplus property and no longer of County use and
authorize for disposal. Adjourned at 10:31 a.m. /s/Terrence
Neuzil, Chair, Board of Supervisors Attest: Tom
Slockett, Auditor By Casie Kadlec,
Recording Secretary These minutes
were sent for publication and formal approval on April 22, 2004.