MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

OCTOBER 1, 1997

WORK SESSION FOR LAND USE PLAN

Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 6:01 p.m. Members present were: Joseph Bolkcom, Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Stephen Lacina, and Sally Stutsman.

Stutsman called the meeting to order and let the public know that the last 15 minutes of the meeting would be reserved for their comments, and estimated the meeting would last about one hour.

Bolkcom stated that he had made a couple of observations regarding process questions about procedures. He stated that the final vision, or place that the County wants to be in 20 years, is not addressed by the Board or the plan. They haven't described where they want to be in 20 years and the notion that Johnson County is going to become an urbanized County. He said the Board needs to think about what that means. The Board needs to define what their vision is. This would include the vision for the County, the community, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Board. There needs to be some agreement on that. His second point was the question of where they put road resources will define growth and development in the future. The transportation management plan needs to be done first in order to help define the plan. That way the goals would reinforce the transportation plan. He referred to the former plan and it's 5 different visions. He stated that the Board should have a graphic presentation to help them along the envisioning the process now to 20 years from now. Working on goals right now is premature without the transportation plan completed.

Duffy stated he doesn't think they should be looking at the plan from 1977. It says that they're going to build where the best roads are. He said it's just not working out right. They should either scrap the whole thing or get on with the process. He stated there has to be good roads and the County has good roads right now. He commented on the difference of the number of acres of cropland from 1925 compared to the present. To have the impression that they're going to build along roads, he wanted to know if their going to write a new plan or work on the existing one.

Stutsman stated they do need to discuss that. The vision is not something for the Board to decide, though. It's up to a committee, panel, or task force. She wanted to know what other's felt about that.

Lacina said they know they have grown in the past and they will grow in the future. They need to plan for orderly growth. The plan does set up a vision. The Land Use Plan comes from the public to the Board and is based upon a growth pattern, and the protection of agriculture. It isn't the Board's vision; it comes from the public. A 20 year road plan is not realistic. He stated that they would be looking at vague concepts because they don't know what the Federal Government is going to do about transportation issues. Zoning maps accomplish the same thing as a build-out. It gives a pattern of where growth will be. He stated he would like to keep moving forward because the plan will in turn answer Bolkcom's concerns. He said the County is going to see growth and they need to plan for it.

Jordahl stated the vision should come from the public. He referred to the summary of overall ranked goals of the public on pages 84 and 85 of the proposed plan and recited goals 1 through 4. He stated the number one goal seems clearly stated that the public wants to protect the environment. He doesn't see urbanization as a big goal from the public. He stated the question is how will the County grow. He then referred to page 40 about the upkeep of roads. He said this plan gives a guide to that upkeep. He wanted to know what will be the County's responsibilities and what will be the public's responsibilities. He brought up the question of building on existing roads or improving existing roads and the impact of build-outs on those roads. He said these questions need to be answered before going on with the land use part of the plan. Jordahl stated the question is where, when, and how will the County develop.

Duffy stated that it's the people's opinions that have attended the meetings that matter. He wondered about impact fees and thought the Board could get carried away when it came to impact fees.

Bolkcom wanted to know if the Board was done with getting public input. He wondered why they need to talk about it if they aren't going to implement the will of the people. He said the vision should be set by the public, and for the public input the public was asked to give strengths and weaknesses, not visions. He said they could interpret those into a vision, or give it back to the public for them to come up with a vision. He thought they should open it back up and give it to the public for a vision.

Lacina wanted to find out where the Board was at. He stated if they were going to talk about going back to the public visioning process, they should end the meeting right then, but if not, they should keep it open.

Jordahl wondered if a panel could answer the question because it would represent public opinion. Duffy stated that any change should go back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The public can have input in the Planning and Zoning meetings. Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore stated that saying the plan is going to guide the County into urbanization is not true. The County is already considered an urban County. The plan will help the County deal with it's urban status. He suggested the Board let Planning and Zoning start over with the plan. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak wanted the Board to give Planning and Zoning a description of where they would want to start so they have an idea to work around.

Stutsman stated they need to go back and get input from the public about a vision statement. She wanted to feel comfortable that the Board has public input from the entire community. Lacina agreed and stated that in economic development planning, the people with expertise in those areas can help with it. Duffy wanted to go with the number of acres when they were talking about urban and rural areas. Stutsman wanted to identify areas that need visioning.

Moore stated that as written, the plan is a policy guide. He said the plan asks for plans on specific areas, such as economic development, and experts can be appointed to work on those areas. The document is a land use plan and can say they need to address things such as the social services concerns. Stutsman asked for a consensus from the Board on where to go from there. Moore stated that the 5 members of the Board should think about it and then bring their ideas together to send back to the Planning and Zoning. Dvorak stated they should talk to other people too and get input.

Director of Public Health Graham Dameron stated that when the meetings were set up, they were reported to be visioning meetings. He feels that the County needs visualization and needs to have maps. It would help the people who are going to be doing the visualizing to have maps. He said that there are 900 subdivisions in the rural areas and these need to be on maps.

Dvorak stated he could do a general map, but it would lack detail for the sort of planning they needed to do. Bolkcom stated a general map was better than nothing at all. Moore said Dvorak would be presenting the Board with a request the next day for software to aid in developing such maps. Lacina said it sounded like they should have a work session to determine what they send back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Stutsman wondered if the Board should suggest to them how to go about restructuring the plan. Moore said a task force was a good idea. Stutsman stated that the North Corridor Task Force worked very well.

Bolkcom expressed a concern that the Board not take on too much. Stutsman stated they would talk about their workload at a later date. Duffy suggested that school board members be on the task force. Jordahl stated breaking things down into subsections is good, but in the end, all of the ideas need to cohere. It was agreed to have the next work session at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14th. Stutsman said in the meantime the Board members should think about areas to target.

Stutsman asked for comments from the public. Pat Cancilla asked the Board to send out notices of meetings. The people are unaware of the meetings and that's why there's a low turnout. Moore stated that he asked the public access channels to publicize meetings. Cancilla stated that there are 200 people on the mailing list and it only costs $64.00 to send letters out. Stutsman suggested they use a phone tree to notify the public of the meetings. Stutsman said she does have a problem with spending the $64.00 for each meeting. Duffy stated that they sent out 8,000 surveys when they did the North Corridor Plan and only got 3.6% back. Cole Chase stated that he had sent out press releases to all the radio stations and 9 newspapers. Cancilla stated the Board is not communicating with the public effectively. Stutsman stated there were other ways than direct mailing. Bolkcom wondered about cutting the postal rate by using a bulk rate or postcards. Lacina thought they should concentrate more on the media as it would be a broader reach. Dvorak stated that the work sessions don't even have to be open to public comment. Bolkcom stated it was good for people to come and learn about the plan. Duffy wondered about putting it in the Advertiser, because it's free. Stutsman wanted to work on this issue in the next work session. Jordahl suggested setting a budget for the Planning and Zoning Commission to publicize meetings. He stated that the people on the mailing list were people who have been involved with the plan from the beginning. Dvorak was worried about overtime in the Planning and Zoning Department if more night meetings are scheduled.

Mike Cash from Swisher stated that he also has struggled with the mailing issue as he has been involved in the fringe area agreement. The mailings only reach a privileged few and everyone needs to have the information. Dameron stated that it's not the $64 that's the problem, but the other labor involved in the mailing that makes it expensive. Jean Lakin urged the Board to use all the media available in Johnson County. That would get a better representation of people if all were utilized.

Bolkcom thanked the staff and the ECICOG staff for their work on this plan. He would like an update on the status of the transportation plan. Stutsman wondered if they should have JCCOG Executive Director Jeff Davidson come in on the 1st part of the meeting on October 14th. Lacina thought they should do that on a Thursday, when it's televised, so the public would know about it. Stutsman said she would contact Davidson.

Bolkcom asked the members of the public that were present how they found out about tonight's meeting. Charlie Kaverman stated that he saw it on the North Liberty public access channel. Bolkcom stated they should use their web page also.

Stutsman adjourned the meeting at 7:05 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary