A regular meeting of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 28th day of May, 2008 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were John Knowles, Julie Feuling, Russ Niskanen, Larry Steidl and Lyle Hammerschmidt. Also present was Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk and Ben Oleson, Township Zoning Administrator. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Knowles at 6:30 p.m.
Agenda: Steidl, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Hammerschmidt, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 4/22/08 site visit with a correction to add the surname “Lerew” under No. 3 “Site Visit”. Motion carried unanimously.
Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 4/28/08 commission meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Knowles recessed the meeting to open up the public hearing portion.
Public Hearing: Zoning Administrator Oleson gave a brief overview of the Preliminary Plat and Conditional Use Permit for Brede Addition. He stated that this plat had been tabled at the February 28th commission meeting due to lack of information on sewer compliance. The applicant has, in the ensuing time, provided this information. The staff recommendation is to approve the plat since the applicant has met all requirements.
Chairman Knowles opened the meeting to the public for comment. Hearing none, he brought the issue back to the commission for discussion. He then asked the applicant, Lori Brede, and the owner, Bernie Rachel, for comments.
Feuling, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to recommend approval to the town board of the application as presented. Roll: Niskanen – yes, Steidl – yes, Feuling – yes, Hammerschmidt – yes, Knowles – yes. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: No comments from the commission.
New Business: Zoning Administrator Oleson presented a list of potential ordinance amendments to the commission, said list to include, but is not limited to, tree preservation, sign regulations, open space in PUDs, ghost platting, cul-de-sac and loop roads and setbacks for certain improvements exempt from land use permits. He asked the commission if they wanted to review these topics or have the zoning subcommittee research and bring back to the commission. The planning commission decided that they want to discuss these issues first and thus provide guidance to the zoning subcommittee. A definitive timetable is yet to established. The commission asked Oleson to include in his listing the following topics: wells, rainwater gardens, a recycling facility ordinance, and maintenance of holding ponds.
Chairman Knowles brought up the possibility of changing the meeting time to 6:00 p.m. to coincide with the town board’s meeting time. The consensus from the commission was to make the time change to 6:00 p.m. Deputy Clerk Fulghum was directed to put a notice in the paper with the effective date commencing with the June meeting.
The commission asked Deputy Clerk Fulghum to get an official ruling on reimbursement for site visits; i.e. if there are two in one day, does that count as one site visit or two.
Adjournment: Being no further business, Feuling, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:34 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this _______day of ________, 2008
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John B. Knowles, Chairman