DATE: April 28, 2009
Committee Members Present: Ashford, Gaalswyk, Netzinger, Lehman and Cassity.
Others Present: Mark Steward, Mary White, Brent Bailey, Steve Pate, Pat Dederich, Matt Filus, Kenneth and Karen Hurtig, David Pace, and others.
Chairman Cassity requested that Lehman chair the meeting today. In Lehman's absence Ashford called the meeting to order and staff certified compliance with the open meeting law.
Motion by Netzinger, seconded by Gaalswyk to adopt the agenda with the deletion of items 8.b and 8.c. These items to be discussed at the next meeting. Motion carried, 4-0.
Motion by Gaalswyk, seconded by Netzinger to approve the minutes of the previous meeting with the following corrections. Third paragraph, 3rd page, word "second" to be changed to "approved" and 2nd paragraph, page 3, word "they" to be changed to "Mapping Department." Motion carried, 4-0.
Vice Chair Lehman joined the Committee and proceeded with the Chair position.
Public Comment: Lehman requested public comment as agenda items arose.
Communications: Handouts were discussed briefly.
Discussion followed regarding appointments to Board of Adjustment Chair.
County Surveyor not in attendance at this time.
Register of Deeds, Brent Bailey, appeared. He gave his monthly report with business as usual. Fees were discussed. Strategic issues were reviewed. Time share deeds and Register of Deeds' responsibility were discussed.
Register of Deeds vouchers were reviewed. Motion by Lehman, seconded by Ashford to approve the vouchers in the amount of $4,532.27. Motion carried, 5-0.
Public hearing:
Lehman introduced the members of the Committee and gave the order of the hearing.
The first petition to be heard was to rezone certain lands in the Town of Baraboo, County of Sauk, Wisconsin, from a Resource Conservancy 35 to a Commercial Zoning District. Lands are owned by Kenneth & Karen Hurtig. Lands to be affected by the proposed rezone are A parcel of land located in the SE ¼ - NE ¼ Section 21, T12N, R6E, Town of Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin also described as CSM 582 Lot 1. Area to be rezoned contains 2.66 acres more or less.
Mr. Mark Steward, Planning and Zoning Director, appeared and gave the staff report and recommendation of approval. The existing driveway and access were discussed. It was noted that the aerial photo did not show a car dealership to the north of the parcel.
Karen Hurtig registered in favor, but did not wish to speak.
Kenneth Hurtig appeared in favor. He stated that the driveway has been there since he has owned the property. It has always been a dangerous access to the highway. The reason he was asking for this rezoning was to bring the use into compliance with regulations.
Speed limit was discussed.
Seeing no one else wished to speak, the public portion of the hearing was closed at 9:45.
Motion by Ashford, seconded by Gaalswyk to approve the request. Reduced speed was further discussed. Motion carried, 5-0.
The next petition to be discussed was to rezone certain lands in the Town of Reedsburg, County of Sauk, Wisconsin, from Exclusive Agriculture to Agriculture. Lands owned by David and Janey Pace. Lands to be affected by the proposed rezone include a parcel of land located in the NE ¼ - SW ¼ Section 24, T12N, R4E, Town of Reedsburg, Sauk County, Wisconsin also described as CSM 4681 Lot 1. Area to be rezoned contains 5.00 acres more or less.
Steward appeared and gave the staff report and recommendation of approval.
David Pace appeared in favor as a representative of Pace Farms LLC. He explained that five acres of non-farm land was separated off from the larger parcel. Originally people working on the farm lived in the duplex. It was their understanding that it could be rented. There was someone living in the duplex along with an efficiency apartment. The size of the parcel was questioned. The owner stated the parcel was roughly 5 acres more or less. How this fits with exclusive agriculture was discussed. This parcel was considered non-tillable or non-pasture property. Lehman asked how many square feet were in this residence. Sorenson stated the **minimum size could be 750 square feet. The owner stated there were no problems with the septic system. Cassity said the owner still needs to go before the Board of Adjustment for approval of the duplex. Square footage was again discussed. The owner reported the size of the structure as 48X27.5 on the upper floor and 12-15X27.5 on the bottom. This does not include the garage. The size would be a matter for the Board of Adjustment.
Richard Laukant appeared in opposition. He lives down the road and to the west of the property. He stated it was a single family residence when the owner purchased the property. He also stated that the owner did not get permits for remodeling.
Don Gall appeared in opposition. He was wondering how there could be two units on one electric meter.
Pace appeared again. He stated in his remodeling no walls were changed, carpeting was replaced and walls were painted. He explained how one meter could take care of both apartments. The rent on one would be adjusted down to take that into consideration. He also explained why there had only been one mail box for a while. Zoning classification changes were discussed.
Seeing no one else wished to speak the public portion of the hearing was closed at 10:25.
The Committee requested to hear from staff again. Discussion followed on when the duplex came into existence. Sorenson was unable to locate permits for structure after 1980. Owner stated it was probably prior to that time. The Town Board has a Comprehensive Plan in place and had approved this request. Acreage was discussed. Number of possible building sites was discussed. Board of Adjustment authority was discussed and whether they could make the rest of the parcel, non-buildable. More information was needed. Motion by Ashford, seconded by Gaalswyk to postpone this item until the next meeting. Motion carried, 5-0.
Public hearing closed at 10:35.
Committee convened in regular session.
The Committee reviewed the vouchers for the Planning and Zoning Department. Motion by Ashford, seconded by Gaalswyk to approve the vouchers in the amount of $7,512.09. Motion carried, 5-0. Steward explained that money for the County Comprehensive Plan came from planning grants and money set aside for that purpose.
Discussion followed on sawmills. Steward gave an overview of possible language changes. Sawmills are currently listed as special exceptions. Ashford asked about 20 days versus 10 days of use. Hobby sawmills don't need to operate that much. Cottage industry size limits were discussed. Milling trees grown on the property was discussed. Iowa County policy statement regarding sawmills was discussed. It was noted that this was only a policy statement not ordinance language. Lehman requested Jim Birkemeier to address the Committee. Birkemeier stated he was processing his own trees and was not an agricultural business. He considered himself forest management. Steward explained that a special exception permit was needed for what he was doing. Does this require an ordinance change and would that solve the problem. Cottage industry was discussed at some length. Accessory activities to a finished product was reviewed. Netzinger stated that even if we change the ordinance today the citation still stands. Sorenson clarified that no citation has been issued. Discussion followed concerning only milling trees grown on the site. Gaalswyk said Birkemeier could go to the BOA and the ordinance could still be changed. Motion by Gaalswyk, seconded by Ashford that the Committee go to public hearing with the proposed change to the ordinance that sawing of lumber is allowed in the 4 districts providing the trees came off the farm where sawing was taking place with no retail sales allowed. Motion carried 5-0.
In the meantime Birkemeier will need a special exception permit to continue operation or citations will be issued.
The County Surveyor, Pat Dederich, then appeared. He gave a short departmental report. He reported that he was having a problem concerning scanning and logging in documents provided to his office by surveyors. The Committee reviewed an opinion offered by Alene Kleczek, Acting Corporation Counsel, regarding "extra" work being performed by the County Surveyor. Scanning is additional documentation that continues the monumentation process. At the present time this process needs to be condensed into the four hours a week allowed for this department. He stated that this process is over and above the regular required salary requirements. It doesn't serve well to have a cartographer to do scanning. They should be able to get someone to work a couple of days a week for 7-8 dollars an hour. The scanning of documents is an element of perpetuation of section corner monuments in the County. Gaalswyk suggested having the surveyors file these corners electronically. The Committee is unable to raise the County Surveyor's pay at this time. Matt Filus, previous County Surveyor, appeared and stated he wants to see this process continue. Discussion on electronic versus paper copies. A "stamped" original still needed to be filed. The Committee suggested hiring someone to scan documents and index them. Interns had performed this work in the past. Dederich reported that there were problems with the work previously done and he would have to train and supervise the intern. Kleczek joined the discussion at this point. She stated that statutes do not state section corners have to be computerized. She questioned whether this work has to be done by the County Surveyor or could be done by another person. Dederich stated that he will still have to oversee the position, which would require putting in more time. Dederich said he would cooperate with the Administrative Coordinator to get someone into this position. Steve Pate stated that it would be up to Dederich to fill this position. Dederich needs to contact Personnel. Gaalswyk stated that he would like to increase the County Surveyor's salary and make it an appointed, not elected, position. But, that was not possible at this time. Ashford stated the Committee needed to know how many hours were needed and what to pay.
Motion by Gaalswyk, seconded by Ashford, that County Surveyor work with the Administrative Coordinator to find someone to do the scanning of section corners and that the County Surveyor will supervise the position, billing the County for the supervision time. Motion carried, 5-0.
The Committee then reviewed the vouchers for the County Surveyor. Motion by Ashford, seconded by Gaalswyk to approve vouchers in the amounts of $6,255.00 and $4,495.00. Motion carried, 5-0.
Motion by Gaalswyk, seconded by Netzinger to adjourn at 12:25.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Ashford, Secretary
** Committee requested sentence to read "minimum size is 750 square feet." (05/12/09)