ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Minutes of the meeting of January 23, 2023
A regular meeting/public hearing of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 23rd day of January, 2023 at the Township Conference Room, 324 Broadway, and via teleconference.
Roll Call: Commission members present were Shad Steinbrecher, Larry Steidl, Linda Dokken-McFann, Jessica Fettig and Julie Haar. Also present were 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 Steidl at 5:00 p.m.
Agenda: Dokken-McFann, seconded by Steinbrecher, made a motion to approve the agenda as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Steinbrecher, seconded by Haar, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 11/28/2022 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Hearing: none
New Business: none
Old Business: Zoning Administrator Oleson presented a draft of ordinance amendments and sections of the comprehensive plan. The changes to the draft are as follows:
On page 9 of the staff report, under Commercial/Other Uses, Cargo Containers, the commission decided to asterisk the Interim Use Permit required in the graph. The asterisk denotation will be at the bottom of the page and will read: “Permitted if meeting standards section under J.1g.”
On page 114, under J.1g(i), verbiage was changed to: “All cargo containers, in all zoning districts, shall be permitted uses requiring a land use permit provided they meet the requirements of this section.” Section J.1g(ix) was changed to: “Exemptions: The following uses/location of cargo containers shall be considered exempt from the requirement for a land use/building permit and g(i – viii) above.”
On page 148, Oleson noted the numbering sequence needed to be corrected.
On page 150, under 5.b., Oleson stated he had included two options: 1) the commission could keep b. 1 – 4 or 2) utilize the single paragraph phrasing. He noted they could also delete both options and fashion one of their own. The commission chose the b. 1-4 option, adding to it as follows: “5) If after completion of the permitted work there is clear harm to a neighboring property, right of way, or wetland, the township may require remediation by the property owner.”
No changes were made to the comprehensive plan sections.
Fettig, seconded by Haar, made a motion to accept the draft as proposed with the changes denoted above and to schedule a public hearing on the amendments and comprehensive plan sections for February 27, 2023. Motion carried unanimously.
It was noted an alternate meeting location would be advised for the public hearing.
Consensus to have Oleson forward a request from the planning commission to the town board regarding sending out some form of communication to the residents about the public hearing via newsletter, post card, etc.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: none
Adjournment: Being no further business Haar, seconded by Steinbrecher, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted…
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ___________, 2023
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Larry Steidl, Chairman