SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006)
Robert (Bob) Benson
called the meeting to order. Others
present included Supervisors Joyce Moorhouse and David Garner, and clerk Betts
Top.
The Pledge of
Allegiance was recited.
Bob Benson stated
the reasons for having the special meeting.
Reasons for
Special Meeting:
Item 1 on Agenda: Township Hall
Bob Benson stated a
200 ‘ by 600 ‘ area was surveyed. This measured to be just shy of 3 acres. Bob then showed a drawing of the land being
surveyed.
Bob explained the
layout of the drawing including the direction of north, 310th st and
40th Ave. He explained by extending 40th Street 200 feet
we would not need a variance for footage.
Bob stated he does not have the survey back yet but it is surveyed
out.
Joyce asked if we
did not have to abide by the 100 foot setbacks.
Dave stated we could
ask for a variance.
Mr. Joe
Vandenheuvel asked what the dimensions
were of the lot and showed concern about meeting the requirements of the
setbacks. Joe stated that the 100 foot
rule that the county has, a hundred feet from the line either way, is applied
to areas in the urban fringe.
Joyce stated the
land was located in the A2 zone and the rule is still 100 feet.
Joe asked what the
dimensions of the lot were.
Bob said it was 200
feet deep and 600 long. Bob said he asked the surveyor to survey at 250 feet,
which would give us 50 feet for the building with 100 feet on each side.
Joyce asked if it
could still be changed.
Bob replied yes.
Dave suggested
putting the building right in the middle of the lot.
Bob said you would
have to and then use the 100 foot variance for your septic.
This would then put
your driveway up higher.
Joe asked did the
county change the cutbacks on everything or just rural residential?
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Bill Callister is
the other landowner bordering on the land.
Joe asked if A2
wasn’t still 60 feet?
Bob said the side
yards would be only about 60 feet.
Joyce said she
thought having the lot be 250 feet would be better.
Dave then read from
the current ordinance from Goodhue County: “The side, every building should
have 2 side guards, each side guard shall have a minimum with of 100 feet. Rear have a minimum of depth of 100
feet.
Joe said then it has
changed.
Dave said that’s an
A2.
Bob said it was 200
feet north to south and 600 feet east to west.
Joyce said she felt
it should be changed to 250 feet north to south.
Bob said it had been
surveyed but he could talk to Richard (Rick) about it.
Joyce suggested to
keep the same footage we do 250 feet by 550 feet.
Dave said we still
have to have 12,000 square feet.
Joe asked if he
didn’t mean 120,000 square feet. Dave
agreed.
Bob said we will get
that straightened out and get the survey done.
Dave asked Bob what
do you want to sell?
Bob said 3
acres. Bob said you would need 250 feet
at least to give you your 100 feet on each side plus your building.
Joyce asked if we
needed to make that into a motion.
Joyce moved that the
acreage be at least 250 feet north to south and then whatever adjustment has to
be made for the measurements east to west.
Bob acknowledged the
motion made.
Dave seconded the
motion to extend it 250 feet and whatever adjustments have to be made on the
other sides.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Joe asked if the
parcel had to be resurveyed now.
Bob stated that he
would probably have to come out and take another measurement and that will have
to be charged to the township, he wanted to go with 250 feet in the beginning.
Bob: Motion has been
made and seconded, all in favor say aye.
Favor: 2 ayes
Dave stated that 40th
Ave would be extended 250 feet to the north, or extend it to the property
line.
Bob agreed.
Dave asked where do
you want the building located.
Bob said the septic
would probably be on the north side of the property.
The parking lot
would probably be on the south.
The well would also
probably be on the south or south-east side.
Then any other
buildings added would be able to be close to the well.
The building could
be centered in the lot.
Mr. Mark Dubbles
asked if there was going to be a shed there.
Bob stated there
would.
Mark asked to access
that building would the parking lot be used.
Bob stated yes.
Paul asked if the
salt would be located out there.
Bob stated
eventually.
Joyce asked if the
entrance to the building could be to the south.
Bob explained where
the doors and office would be to Joyce on a drawing he had.
Bob said we have to
get someone in now to get an estimate to do the dirt.
Dave asked if we
could break it down into different segments.
Have someone come in
and put the road in, do that first.
Then after the road we get the site plan then the survey done for the septic
and well. Then do the stakeout.
Dave said he’d like
to get the processing done with the county.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Dave said under
Section 3 Conditional Use “Any community building, church, cemetery, or
memorial garden”…we’re a community building.
Therefore we have to get a conditional use permit.
Joyce asked if we
had to have a public hearing.
Dave said no we
don’t, this is county. Dave said we
can’t go down to the county until we have the plans.
Joe asked if there
was a copy of the plans.
Bob said he had some
at home or could get some copies made.
Dave said he had the
extras that Bob gave him.
Joyce stated that a
public building needed to have construction plans from a licensed Minnesota
architect to follow the current building codes required.
Mark said that has
been done. PLANCO was the architect.
Bob stated that
PLANCO was commercial.
Dave suggested
taking our plans down to Red Wing. He
suggested we get a hold of Doug down there who does all the bidding. He (Doug) will help us go through the steps
that they had to go through our plans, get information.
Joyce made a
resolution to meet with Doug at the county
Dave said we have a
site plan, we have the prints but what we need next is a package so we can go
out and advertise for bids.
Mark asked if Planco
was an architectural firm that drew up the plans for winds, snow, whatever,
took into consideration all the
wheelchair accessibility and door sizes? So all Dave needs is to take the plans, a township building
permit and a conditional use, and then provide that information to them with
the revised site plans. Once it goes to
conditional use even at the same time he can walk it down to the health
department and they can simultaneously tell him where the well and septic will
lay out.
Dave stated that we
will have to get someone out to do the perk test, and that we needed a motion
on that because it will cost money.
Mark felt we should
bring the health dept into the loop right away.
Dave agreed.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Joyce asked if we
could make a motion to the perk test done.
Dave said we need to
make a motion because it going to cost money.
Dave said we also need a motion to have a conditional use because that
is going to cost money.
Joyce made a motion
to have a perk test done.
Bob stated that a
motion has been made to have a perk test done for the septic system.
Bob seconded the
motion.
Bob asked all in
favor say “aye”
Motion carried.
Dave stated he’ll make arrangements to have that done as
we locate it, and get it done as soon as possible.
Dave made a motion
we apply for a conditional use permit at the county level because it is a
community building required an A-2.
Bob seconded the
motion.
Bob stated a motion
has been made and seconded for a conditional use permit for the new town hall.
All in favor say
“aye”
Motion passed.
Bob asked is there
anything else we have to come up on this right away?
Joyce made another
motion: That the township pay for the resurvey.
Bob stated “the
motion has been made to have the township pay for the resurvey to pay for the
extra 50 feet”
Dave seconded the
motion.
Bob asked “all in
favor say aye”
Motion passed.
Dave said the
conditional use would cost about 385 dollars, plus there’s going to be the
building permit fee which we haven’t made a motion to pay that either.
Dave made a motion
that we also pay for the building permit
Joyce seconded it.
Bob stated that a
motion has been made and seconded to pay for the building permit also at the
same time, all in favor say “aye”.
Motion carried.
Bob said if it was
ok he would get an estimate on building the road
Dave said he was
working on getting one.
Joyce suggested we
get two.
Joe asked what plans
we were submitting for the building permit…the ones that were on the board?
Bob stated yes.
Dave stated the only
alteration was to use a vaulted ceiling in the meeting area. Right now they are 8 foot side walls, with
100 people present it will be crowded on the vertical. Vaulted ceilings would lessen the impact and
allow for ceiling fans also. We could
use a standard truss and it would be easy to modify.
Mark asked if the
vaulting was just in the meeting area, not in the office or bathroom.
Dave replied yes,
just the meeting area.
Mark (?) asked if
the plans need to be modified then.
Dave replied yes
they do.
Bob then made a
motion that we modify the plans for a vaulted ceiling in the meeting room only.
Joyce seconded the
motion
Bob said motion made
for a vaulted ceiling in the meeting room only also if there’s any extra cost
that we take care of it at the same time.
Motion made and
seconded.
All in favor say aye
Motion passed.
Bob said he would
take care of the plan changes.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Bob said he would
call them tomorrow.
Dave said he would
pick them up via the clerk.
Mark said he drives
by there every day and he could pick them up.
Bob said it would be
alright for Dave to get them from him (Mark).
Dave said our goal is
to be in this place (new Town Hall) by this fall.
Joe asked what are
the dimensions of the building.
Bob stated 40 x 48.
Bob asked any more
questions on this town hall?
There were no more
questions or concerns brought up.
Item 2 on
Agenda : Comprehensive Plan
Bob invited the
Planning Commission to move to the front table.
(the 2006
Comprehensive Plan draft was opened for examination)
Paul stated that he
had changes on pages 17, 18, and 24
Page 1
Bob asked if anyone
had anything they would like to change.
Joe stated there was
one thing he wanted to emphasize, bringing this entire process into all into
one beginning was to emphasize item B. under the community planning process and
to keep in mind that was so overwhelmingly stated at that public meeting is
what the desires of the people of Stanton Township are, he (Dean Johnson)
spells that out pretty clear.
Pages 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, – accepted as is
Page 7
Mark asked why only Randolph was mentioned in the Fire
protection.
Bob stated that it
should read Randolph and Cannon Falls
Dave stated that
Cannon Falls Rural Fire Association should be added.
Mark stated, in
regards to the Stanton Township Hall “Indoor air quality” should replace the
word “mold”.
Dave stated we
should strike that whole part, based that it had nothing to do with the plan.
It was suggested to
strike the whole sentence starting with “Until the township”.
Mark also suggested
changing “facilities” to “facility”
Dave reminded the
clerk that it was her responsibility to be the contact person about these
changes.
Betts stated she did
not have a copy of the plan.
Mark said he would
mark his copy and give it to Betts.
Joe stated there
were recommendations in here but this wasn’t written by Mr. Johnson to be
adopted as the comprehensive plan because the tables, and all that, mean
absolutely nothing to the comprehensive plan.
Page 8
(Regarding the map)
Joe asked about the
white areas, the fact that they are shown as “vacant”. What is vacant?
Paul added he had a
question mark on that too.
Page 9
The township, it
should be noted, has what commitment to the Cannon Bike Trail?
Page 10 Accepted
Page 11 Accepted
Page 12
Joyce asked is the
white lowland. Maybe add to the key for
the map.
Mark thinks the
white is lowland also. Needs
clarification.
Page 13
More white, we need
clarification on white on this page also.
Page 14 - Accepted
Page 15 - Accepted
Page 16
Joyce felt the word
“Commercial” should be striked.
Joe felt it should
be “family”.
Bob said Agriculture
should be used.
Dave pointed out a
second “commercial” to be striked out.
Mark noted 6
bullets, go down 6 and read “prohibit private recreational facilities” etc.
could there be any control over how much traffic was on a public road? Is it legal to have that in there? The word “prohibit”…he asked if this was
enforceable? Mark asked the definition
of what is a Recreational Facility
Ask Mr. Johnson if
that one part is enforceable.
Ask Mr. Johnson to
define Recreational Facility.
Joyce asked if we
could use “restrict” instead of “prohibit”
Joe felt we needed
to maintain the rural integrity. Joe
felt the statement said if something caused excessive traffic we could turn it
down. Joe stated that this only apply to
township roads.
Joe asked to refer
to the first bullet. We have the right to be more restrictive, but not less
restrictive than the county, can we refuse, for example, a person who has
gotten permission to build a subdivision from the county, can we be more
restrictive in that instance?
Dave stated it said
: that if the county changes then we (Stanton) has to change.
Mark said how bout
this: we want to limit residential dwellings to densities consistent or more
restrictive than the Goodhue planning zoning ordinance.
Mark said he took
out the word “with” and added in “or more restrictive than”
It was suggested to
ask Mr. Johnson to bring a copy of the Statute, as that’s the ultimate
authority. Possibly the statute reads
differently that what is in the comprehensive plan.
It’s a state statute
that states township ordinances cannot be less restrictive than the
county.
Joe asked to go up
two more bullets “Promote responsible land management practices of all
agricultural activities.” What’s that
mean?
Joyce stated these
are only goals. Recommendations by the
state.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Page 17
Joyce stated Goals,
erosion. Leave it as a “goal”
Mr. Krantz brought
up the subject of putting a petition into the plan in this area.
Bob stated that the
petition doesn’t mean a thing because it was brought up at the annual meeting.
Joyce stated that
the petition stated something about conditional uses and variances and those
are mandated by state statute…
Bob interjected that
we have nothing we can do about it.
Joyce continued that
when people have a piece of property the state statutes say they have a right
to request a variance or conditional use.
Joyce concluded by
saying we have to abide by state statute.
Joyce said when Dean
Johnson comes you (Mr. Krantz) can bring that up and he will tell you.
The question was
asked of the chairman from a member of the audience if it was possible for a
person (other than board/commission member) to talk?
Bob replied “no,
it’s not a public meeting.”
Joyce added it’s a
Special Meeting, you can come here and listen, it’s open to the public.
Joe was asked to
read the definition: “Conditional Town Meetings : Special Meetings are
conducted in the same way as Annual Town Meetings. The primary difference is that only those matters listed in the
Notice of The Meeting can be discussed.
Dave reiterated this
was a Special Board Meeting
Joyce explained a
Public Town Meeting is where anyone is allowed to voice their opinion. She said the public can come and listen but
they cannot participate.
A special town
meeting can be called to conduct any lawful business with the township.
Bob added that the
word Public has to be in the type of meeting it is.
Dave said there was
a difference between a town meeting and a board meeting.
Bob suggested we
return to the Special Board Meeting.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Page 18
Paul stated that
under “commercial” he has questions about that. I think we should change that to what we have under our present
land use. It says on page 19 “No
specific area is designated for commercial and industrial development of
Stanton…”
Joyce suggested
putting a question mark there.
It was noted that
the word “prohibit” would protect us from “allow” in above bulleted item.
Page 19
Joyce read “It is
the Goal of Stanton Township to…”
statement about our goals
Parks and
Recreational Policies…
Joe stated the only
thing we have is the county parks down by the lake. What it’s saying is we will
cooperate with them and coordinate the planning…which means we could be
committed to finances for these parks.
Joyce said this
refers to County Plans.
Joe stated that
there are 2 or 3 proposals to put trails through.
Joyce stated that
would be along the little Cannon River.
Joe stated he did
not see any problem with the trails but he didn’t want to see any funding
coming from the township.
Joyce stated it
didn’t say anything about financing
3344Joe stated it
said the “planning and the establishment”. When you establish something it
means you’re actually spending money to put it in.
Joyce stated we need
to ask him about this because it might be a state statute.
Mark suggested we
just cross out planning and establishment out of those points.
Joyce brought the
second bullet to attention.
Mark stated what it
was saying was if anyone comes in with a development they have to give either
cash or put up public lands in that development.
Joyce stated we
should ask dean about why that’s in there.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Mark stated “ so
prohibit the construction of new local roads”, so that’s the policy of Stanton
Township? If someone wants to build
their own road and bring it up to certain standards.
Mark suggested
circling the whole bullet and ask Dean to explain it.
Dave pointed out
that the word “required” was ordinance language but this is not the ordinance.
Paul stated that the
word was used back on page 18 and no one said anything about that.
Dave said let me
make a general statement :any time it says “requires” or “prohibits” in this
whole document it should not be there.
He also pointed out that this is not an enforceable document.
Joyce stated this
gives it the right to make it restrictive in the ordinance. This backs up the ordinance.
Bob stated that
indeed they do work together.
Dave said what you
need is an ordinance and that is what is important.
Joyce asked Mark to
mark that area to be discussed with Dean also on page 19
Page 20
Joe said under Ag
Uses it was a good recommendation to take out the Urban Fringe
It’s the 4th
paragraph regarding Urban Fringe that’s different, we do not currently have
that language. It’s a recommendation by
the Planning Commission that we adopt that language and include it in our
ordinance and zoning which limits it to 12 homes per section. We currently don’t have that. We don’t have an urban fringe. We have A1, A2 and residential.
Paul stated that he’s just changing the name
of it, it’s still the same.
Joe also stated that
if we change our residential to their urban fringe it changes what we have for
allowable building acreage. Their
language says 1 for 35 acres.
Joyce stated that
this makes us more compatible with the county.
Joyce asked Rural
Residential land use, is there any problem with that?
Marked stated he
didn’t take notes on that (previous section), what should he write?
Joyce informed Mark
that we have to leave this as it is, it’s something we have to be compatible
about.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Last section on Page
20: Rural Residential Land Use
Joe stated we either
have Rural Residential or Urban Fringe.
I interpret it as we have Urban Fringe.
Joyce stated R1 is
what the county is recognizing this as (viewing a map)
Joe stated so we
don’t have any rural residential land use.
Joyce said no, we
have urban fringe.
Joe stated we should
delete that language.
Joyce stated we have
to keep it in there to be compatible with the county
Joe stated the
county has it, but we don’t have to have it(the language), we can be more
restrictive. If we don’t recognize it
let’s cross it off.
Joyce said let’s
question that then.
Paul asked how do we
handle those Oxford Hills and those ones that were replatted before .
Joe stated they were
grand fathered in around 1966. If you
go to rural residential all you need to build is 20,000 square feet, which is a
little less than half an acre.
Page 21 – Land Use
Map …see above discussion
Page 22
Joe asked is this
what we are accepting as our land use map?
Joyce said yes
because we are then compatible with the county.
Mark said here is a
current Stanton township one (producing a separate map) and one of the county
here as well. The county zoning map is
different than the township zoning.
Joe said well, it
also states that “A commercial/industrial classification will, however, be
identified as a separate zoning district in the Stanton Township zoning
ordinance and zoning map.” It doesn’t
mention the airport or the funeral home,
Holden Seeds, or Sandstroms.
Paul noted some of
those are coded in purple (page 8 map) other businesses were not mentioned like
Spring Garden, and a tower.
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Page 23- Accepted
Page 24
Implementation Plan
Points 1-9
Joyce read aloud
page 24
Paul stated he had
questions on points 4 and 5
Dave stated I don’t
think we have to involve the county at all in this. If we want to amend our ordinance, our land use plan, we can
amend it
Joyce stated that we
want him (Dean) to cover this page.
Mark stated that what
4 and 5 mean is that if we want something changed at the township level 4 and 5
are our vehicles to go back to the county.
Bob stated is there
any more discussion on this?
A discussion began
regarding language on Page 9 involving Bike trails planned by the county.
Joyce stated there
had been a public hearing by the county
Joe said he never
saw any notice of a public hearing on the topic by the county.
Dave suggested they
call the county about it.
Paul said he could
check into it because he is on the County Park Commission.
Joe stated that
someone had to set up a meeting with Mr. Johnson to clarify some of this.
Dave stated he
should contact the Clerk
Joyce stated they
should have him attend a board meeting.
How soon?
Joe asked if a board
meeting is open to public comment.
Joyce replied no
Dave said once we
get this finalized…
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD
MEETING (April 4, 2006 cont.)
Joe said then we get
a public hearing.
Joe exampled: “so if
I go to a board meeting and I’m in agreement or disagreement of something said
I don’t have the right to stand up and ask questions?”
Dave stated that’s
at the discretion of the chairman.
Joyce stated Mr.
Chairman if you want to ask the planning commission if they have any comments
or questions after he’s discussed what we have here then it would be
appropriate for them to respond.
Bob stated the would
be allowed because we are all in this together.
Dave added but not
the general public.
Joyce stated the
public can come and hear but they are not allowed to join in the decision
making.
Dave stated we are
working through the draft and when the draft is done we will work through the
ordinance as a committee and then we will have one possibly two public hearings
where we’ll take input from the people.
Then we’ll take that back into the committee and update again, we’ll
hold another public hearing so they can see what we updated, until we get to a
point where there’s no more changes. I
perceive 2, 3, maybe even 4 public hearings. We’re not going to change anything
and then vote it in without putting it out to the public. But we have to get through the first stages
of getting the draft done so we can have something to discuss. Discussing drafts are not a public hearing
situation. It’s a committee situation.
Dave moved we
adjourn.
Joyce seconded it.
All in favor say
“aye”
Passed.
Meeting adjourned at 1045 P.M (?)