Fulton County Board Committee Minutes
Fulton County Board Office, 257 West Lincoln Street, Lewistown, IL 61542
Committee: Community Development
Meeting Place: 257 W Lincoln, Lewistown, IL
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Date: July 5, 2022
Call in:
Call in information: 1-425-436-6307
Access code: 835427
1. Call to Order
Time: 5:01pm
Members:
Steve Bohler (present/xxxxxx)
Vicki Hoke (present/xxxxxx) attended by phone
Donna Hudson (present/xxxxxx) attended by phone
Dan Kumer (present/xxxxxx)
BJ McCullum (present/xxxxxx) attended by phone
John Taylor (xxxxxx/absent)
Heidi Wilner (xxxxxx/absent)
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS: Roger Clark
ELECTED & APPOINTED OFFICIALS: Janice Emmons – Planning and Zoning Director
STAFF: Cindy Simpson – Fulton County Board Administrative Assistant
Guests: None
2. Roll Call
Roll call was taken, quorum was present
3. Call for Additions/Deletions to and Approval of the Agenda
Member McCullum moved to approve the agenda with a second from Member Kumer. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
4. Approval of Previous Minutes – June 7, 2022
Member Kumer moved to approve the minutes from June 7, 2022 with a second from Member McCullum. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
5. Announcements, Communications and Correspondence
Member Bohler discussed with the representative of Vistra wanting to do a solar farm project at the old Duck Creek Power plant. Member Bohler discussed the solar farm will be approximately a 20 megawatts project and will run power to batteries inside the plant. This will consist of about 88,000 to 100,000 solar panels depending on what type of solar panels at installed. The panels are concave panels and will follow the sun to provide more energy power. The estimated timeline to for the project to kick off is September or October 2022.
This information is from the consulting firm that Vistra hired to do the solar project. Once the amount of solar panels is installed, the Zoning office will project the estimated amount of tax dollars this will bring Fulton County.
At this time Member Bohler did not have any additional information on the wind far South of Farmington. The project will be most likely be looking at early 2023 to begin.
6. Public Comments – None
7. Claims/Financial Report
Member Kumer moved to approve the claims with a second from Member McCullum. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
8. Zoning Office Report
Janice Emmons, Zoning Officer, reported for the month of June the Zoning Office collected revenue of $3,944.60. Thirteen construction applications were received with ten preliminary construction inspections and four final construction inspections completed. There were about 120 consultations for zoning matters. There were fifteen consultations concerning plat act affidavits and fifteen affidavits recorded. Curtis Gorsuch has submitted a subdivision plat for a client the subdivision will be known as Green Building Subdivision. Three petitions for a zoning action were heard and decided.
COMPLAINTS
No complaints were on record this month.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
There were three public hearings heard this month. The conditional use permit for Ralph Sedgwick was a continuation. Mr. Sedgwick wishes to construct a total of ten storage bays and the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the request.
Tom and Sally Hills presented a request for a variance through their Attorney John McCarthy regarding a ten-foot setback from the road for a proposed garage to be constructed. An adjoining property owner came forward with a strong rebuttal regarding obstruction to her view based on this proposed __cpLocation. The committee tabled the request asking the petitioner to come back with an alternate site that would be agreeable to the neighbor.
Josh Morgan requested a side yard variance which is less than ten feet from the boundary line for an addition. He is in a relatively secluded __cpLocation and there was no objection from the surrounding property owners. The Zoning Board of Appeals committee granted the petition for the variance.
OTHER
The Zoning department continues to work on the electronic zoning district map and looks forward to obtaining a plotter so a large copy can be made for viewing. The Zoning office anticipates a petition for a zoning action from a Utility Scale Solar Farm.
9. New Business
a. Discussion/Action: Green Building Subdivision
Zoning officer Emmons, reported this is a plot of land owned by Luann Grigsby. The Grigsby’s want to sell off the house and buildings and maintain the farm land to farm. This property was split previously and will need to be subdivision.
Member McCullum moved to approve the Green Building Subdivision with a second from Member Kumer. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
b. Discussion/Action: Zoning Director Agreement
Member Bohler discussed a pay raise for Janice Emmons Zoning Officer/Plat Officer.
Member Bohler stated the last four year pay raise was 2% each year. The fourth year the raise was 9% due to the plat office duties being taken over by Emmons.
Member Bohler is looking at a 2.5% or 3% pay raise. Member Hoke stated the raise needs to be more due to inflations and the cost of living.
Member Bohler stated negotiations have just started with the union and currently the amount the union raise is not known.
Member Bohler stated he would like the information for the Treasurer and County Clerk’s raises as a comparison for the Zoning Office.
Member Bohler stated he hopes to know more about the proposed raise for the August meeting.
c. Discussion/Action: Zoning Vehicle
Member Bohler discussed the current vehicle fund for Zoning has approximately $16,000.00 available. The Administrative Assistant line item for Zoning has approximately $8,500.00 available to use toward the purchase of a vehicle for the zoning officer.
Member Bohler stated Chairman Clark has information on a couple of used vehicles through Davis Ford, Canton Illinois. By working with a local dealer this will allow the current vehicle to be used as a trade-in.
Member Bohler discussed currently through the State of Illinois the vehicle would be a Ford Explorer and the cost is approximately $38,000.00. The funds are not available at this time for a vehicle of this cost.
Member Bohler discussed that the zoning office does maintain a vehicle fund that allows the Zoning Department to obtain another vehicle in approximately 5-years.
Member Hoke inquired if the new vehicle will be 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Member Bohler stated the vehicle will be all-wheel drive.
Chairman Clark stated that if the county is purchasing a used vehicle under $30,000 no bid is required for the purchase. Member Bohler stated the title for the Explorer will need to be located to complete the sale.
d. Discussion/Action: Zoning Petition fee increase $500.00 to $600.00
Member Bohler discussed the petition fee have not been increased for years and with the increase to per diem for the Zoning Board of Appeals this will cause the department to lose money. This is a fee that is paid for public hearings at the Zoning Board of Appeals Committee meeting.
The fees are for the legal notices that are published, mailing, meeting mileage and meeting per-diem paid to committee members.
Member Kumer was concerned that the public will just put up buildings and not apply for permits with the increased fees.
Member McCullum moved to approve the Zoning Petition fee increase $500.00 to $600.00 with a second from Member Kumer. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
10. Old Business – None
11. Executive Session – None
12. Misc. – None
13. Adjournment
Time: 5:28pm
Member Hudson moved to adjourn at 5:28pm with a second from Member Kumer. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
Minutes Community Development July 5 2022
