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Members Present: Brent Schraeder, Grant Powers, John Curtis,
Phil Derstein, and Lee Cole
Members Absent: Ric Marboeuf, Arlen
Eaton, Mike Bosely, Ron Temaat, Bud Estes,
And Terry Janson
Staff: Mark Shriwise
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
None.
Old Business
None
New Business
Discussed the proposed Ford County 911 addressing program.
Reports
None
Adjournment
The Planning Board was unable to conduct a regular meeting due to weather conditions.
Therefore a new meeting has been scheduled for February 3, 2005.
_________________ __________________________
John Curtis, Chairman Mark
Shriwise, Secretary
FORD COUNTY
JOINT PLANNING COMMISSION
MINUTES
February 3, 2005
5:30 p.m. Extension Conference Room
Members Present: Phil Derstein, Ric Marbouef, Grant Powers,
Mike Bosley, Bud Estes,
Lee Cole, John Curtis, Terry Janson, and Mike Gurnee
Members Absent: Arlen Eaton, Ron Temaat and Brent Schrader
Staff: Mark Shriwise and Misty Stotler
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Approval of November Meeting Minutes – Approved unanimously
Old Business
John Curtis (Chair) brings to the attention old business which is the by laws.
John states to be specific it will be the by laws governing the Ford County
Joint Planning Commission. Mark Shriwise replied by stating there was a change
to have the meetings on first Thursday every other month at 5:30 PM. Mark requested
for any other changes or suggestions and an approval. John Curtis asked for
any objections. There were none. John asked for a motion to approve. Grant Powers
made the motion to approve and Ric Marboeuf seconded that motion. Approved unanimously.
John brought before the board the issue concerning Board members. Mark Shriwise indicated that as of the 1st of December 2005, we would have four Board members whose terms will expire. Those members are Mike Bosley, Terry Janson, Bud Estes and Grant Powers. Letters were sent to these members in regards to their expiration and whether there would be a reappointment. Mark stated that the by laws regarding membership says if the is a vacancy then the County Commissioners need to be notified of that vacancy. Mark was questioning if the Board would just like to have these members continue for another 3 year term since no letters or nominations were returned. John Curtis as a representative for Bucklin, stated that the City of Bucklin hasn’t brought that issue before the commissioners yet. John did make the statement that the issue of reinstatement of the Board members is up to the city or county that they represent. However, if everyone is willing to be reappointed then he suggested that Staff contact the secretaries or clerks. Mike Gurnee, representative for Dodge City, stated that in Dodge City the representative is the Chairman of the Zoning Board that member will attend the Planning Board meetings each and every time. Mark stated that he would call the city clerk’s. John Curtis made the remark that Staff needed to get into contact with the city clerk’s and see if we couldn’t get these members reappointed as soon as possible.
New Business
John Curtis began with the rough draft of proposed Ford County 911 addressing
plan. Mark Shriwise made the statement that the County has decided to bring
forth a new 911-addressing plan. The new addressing would be countywide and
is being put into affect by GIS and Communications Departments Mark made the
statement that he gave the Board members the rough draft so that the could look
it over and see if they had any changes or suggestions. Mike Gurnee stated that
the only suggestion he had was not to let the county copy Sedgwick County exactly.
Phil Derstein wanted to know if this would affect the city addressing as well
as the county addressing. Mark answered that “Yes” it would affect
both city and county addressing. Mark made the suggestion that for the next
Board meeting would could get Andy Smith, Director of GIS, to attend and he
could explain in more detail what the plan would entail. Terry Janson asked
if the 911-addressing would become a computerized mapping system or digital
mapping system. Mark explained that this is where the direction in which the
county is heading. He had the board look at a map and explained they have started
at the top tier of the map and are working their way down toward Dodge City.
Mark stated that the floodplain maps would be going digital as well. John Curtis
suggested moving the 911-addressing plan to old business for the next meeting.
Other new business to report was the annexation concerns.
John began by thanking Mike Gurnee for attending to give a report of these concerns
from the cities of Dodge City, Ford and Bucklin. Mike Gurnee stated that the
City of Dodge City put together a report and only had a few areas of concern.
Some of these areas included North Ave A, Matt Down Lane, and Ft Dodge Road.
Mike said that the City had nothing new to report since the last report done
approximately one year ago. Mark made the statement that Spearville Township
had reported that they had plans to “shave” their boundaries square.
John Curtis made a request to Mike Gurnee that sometime in the future he would
appreciate a report or discussion on concerns of annexation since there are
a few properties in some of the surrounding cities that would be primed to that.
Mike Gurnee made the remark that when a developer comes in and wants to have
access to city services Dodge City always encourages annexation and usually
there is a voluntary annexation in that type of situation. Mike asked for some
examples of concerns. Bud Estes responded by stating in Bucklin there are a
lot of streets that are “Border Line” in which they are highly developed
on the outside just across the street. Mike’s response was he didn’t
understand the question he thought the members were talking about Dodge City.
Board member’s were just asking what the processes would be to go about
doing that. Mike’s response was that one thing that could be done to get
the developments to be annexed in would be to double or triple the fees if they
are outside and see if that’s an enticement. Grant Powers asked whether
the annexation had to voluntary or could it be involuntary. Mike said it’s
easiest if the property owner requests for annexation, which would then be a
voluntary annexation. Mike went on to explain that one can voluntarily annex
or involuntary annex. Voluntary Annexation would consist of property owners
having the right to protest and it takes a lot longer and it could even go to
the County Commission to determine if the annexation is proper or not. If it’s
an involuntary annexation you need to provide a services plan of how you will
get your regular municipal services to that area and how long it will take for
you to do it. Phil Derstein added that his main concern with annexation was
to keep a straight line instead of jogging around the city. Phil stated that
going in a straight line would help personnel and the developers.
Bud wanted to know if increasing your costs would be a negative for industry
coming into your city. Mike responded by stating most industries want to be
inside the city. Bud then asked in some cases they can’t? Mike said that
in some cases they couldn’t. He said a local government can set utilities
rates however they want with proper justification but you can justify just about
anything. If your concern is residential development just across the city line
double the water bill, but in your policy that says water will be doubled for
residential uses outside the city, industrial uses will have a slotting scale
where it will be doubled for awhile then will drop real fast. Mike’s point
was to show there are ways to keep from having residential developments from
discouraging industrial growth. Grant Powers asked the question of whether the
Board is supposed to recommend annexation. Mark’s response is that the
County wants the development to incur inside the City. Therefore, they want
annexation to spread from the city and less development to take place in the
county. Grant wants to make a recommendation to the County that the Planning
Board has discussed it.
Reports
Mark reported that they are going to upgrade the communications for EMS. They
will able to use walkie-talkies for a much longer distance throughout the county.
Nextel towers will come on and they will be capable of holding 6 PC’s.
There are some road issues, especially with the Asphalt roads. The township
doesn’t have the capability to maintain an asphalt road and so therefore
the county has to repair them. There is also some floodplain issues in the county.
For example, East Beeson along Laura Carlson’s property and some other
areas where the percolation rate and the soil is immensely high and could be
intersected into the ground water. Mark also reported that some representatives
from Enexco Windfarm would be here March 7, 2005 to speak with the commissioners
and landowners. They will also be talking to the township and the Township Meeting
on March 8.
Adjournment
John Curtis asked if there was any other questions or concerns. There was none.
Meeting adjourned at 6:10 PM
__________________ __________________________
John Curtis, Chairman Mark
Shriwise, Secretary
FORD COUNTY
JOINT PLANNING COMMISSION
MINUTES
April 7, 2005
5:30 p.m. Extension Conference Room
Members Present: Phil Derstein, Ric Marboeuf, Grant Powers,
Arlen Eaton, Ron Temaat,
Lee Cole, John Curtis, Terry Janson, Brent Schrader, and Mike Gurnee
Members Absent: Mike Bosley and Bud Estes
Staff: Mark Shriwise and Misty Stotler
Guest: Andy Smith Ford County
Dennis Veatch, City of Dodge City
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Approval of February Meeting Minutes –
John Curtis questioned about the Board member terms. He had thought that some
of the member’s terms had already expired for 2004. Mark Shriwise responded
that they had and the County Commissioner’s Board did extend the terms
that were up for three (3) years.
John Curtis asks for a motion. Ric Marboeuf moves to approve the February 3,2005
Meeting Minutes. All in favor.
Old Business
John Curtis (Chair) brings to the attention once again the Board Member approval.
Mark Shriwise went into more detail, stating that the County Commissioner’s
did approve the terms for Board members Grant Powers, Mike Bosley, Terry Janson,
and Bud Estes.
John Curtis addressed the issue of the 911-addressing plan.
Andy Smith, GIS Administrator, was present to bring the board up to date on
the issue. Andy began by assuring the board that the copy of the addressing
standards they had was a rough draft. He asked the board if there were any questions
or concerns about the standards at this time. One board member was concerned
with how this would affect the city addresses. Andy stated that it shouldn’t
affect them right now; the idea is that we need to get all of the addressing
problems straightened out someway. He gave an example of: if there are even
numbers on one the North side and odds on the South and for some reason along
one block it’s flip-flopped, there needs to be some way of fixing issues
such as this. Andy made it aware that the County is not at the point as to how
these problems will be fixed, but the main concern right now is that 911 is
not able to dispatch and find addresses. He added that 911 is having a problem
finding an individual or accident with the way the system is set up right now
and by adopting an addressing standard they can make sure that everyone adheres
to that by making it a “law” that if a subdivision, or anything
such as that, moves in they will have to follow the plan. He stated that out
in the county, addressing would not be as bad, because the population is sparse.
He informed the Board that the County got their standard from Wichita or Sedgwick
County and revised it. He said that this rough draft is a model of what a lot
of other places are beginning to use, including other states; therefore it is
an accepted and well-used standard. Andy make it clear to the board that they
are planning on adding map examples of each of the entrances so that when a
new street needs to be named, the individual or contractors making that name
will know how to name it properly. Andy stated that in addition to assisting
the 911 dispatching services, this will also help with the new 911 CAD System
that the county will be going to in the near future. With addresses the way
they are right now there will be numerous problems, with standard and corrected
addresses, then the mapping and the dispatching will all fall together. He stated
that with all this being addressed to the board, the County felt that the Joint
Planning board would be the best place to get an endorsement for the Standards
as a rough draft, considering that the board members come from different small
towns throughout the county.
Terry Janson questioned whether the dispatching would continue to be done by
communications equipment or is that going to be done with a system that’s
in the vehicles themselves. Andy couldn’t answer that question, stating
that he is just involved in the mapping and not the dispatching. He did tell
the board that he was aware that the 911 departments are looking into getting
the remote vehicle locators in all of their emergency vehicles.
John Curtis asked if we would have to come up with a new origin for Dodge City.
Andy said that the changes they would make would be very minimal because they
don’t want people upset that they had to change their address. He stated
that they don’t foresee the need for a change in origin since it is working
right now, but feels that it needs to be clearly defined so people will know
where it’s at and where it’s going. John responded by asking, “
So you will still have the three origins?” Andy answered that as far as
he knew the three origins would remain. Andy went on to remind the board that
this is just a rough draft and will need revisions. He verified that they, 911-
committee, have been working on this for about the last 5 or 6 months now. John
asked if would be possible to get a newer more revised copy of the standard
and approximately how long it would take to get one. Andy didn’t see a
problem with getting the members a newer copy of the standard however he was
looking for an endorsement as quickly as possible so that this new 911 plan
could be a part of the new Subdivisions Regulations that is the works as well.
John Curtis asked if June 2nd would be to late for an endorsement, so that all
board members have the chance to receive and read over the most recent copy.
Andy didn’t have a problem with that, but indicated that Ed Elam, County
Administrator, would be the one that’s driving the issue of getting this
done as quickly as possible. John stated that if they did need to get together
sooner than June 2nd the Joint Planning Board could have a special session.
Mark Shriwise stated that the Zoning Board had some concerns when it was taken
before them. He stated that Michael Miller indicated that he would like to see
it condensed and summarized. Andy said that he remembered Mark mentioning that
to him, but the only problem with condensing it would be that once you start
taking things out to try and condense it, you end up with ambiguity. This is
something that we are trying to avoid. Grant Powers said his concern is with
changing addresses in rural areas. He wanted to know if there would be a change
in the roads or streets names or numbers. Andy said that there would be no changes
in street names or numbers; it would only be the actual home numbers that would
have to change.
Brent Shraeder made the motion that it be accepted; subject to be reviewed in
60 days. Phil Derstein 2nd the motion and all were in favor.
Moving on to the city annexation concerns, John Curtis asked if anyone had any
other concerns other than the ones discussed at the February meeting. He reviewed
the last meeting by stating that we had talked previously about the small cities
and Dodge itself and how there is some growth on the outskirts. Mike Gurnee
indicated that Dodge City does not have any annexation concerns at this time.
New Business
John Curtis started with mapping. Andy smith had a few things to bring up on
the subject of mapping. He started with the new aerial photography that the
County had done. He told the board members that GE / MJ Hardin from Kansas City
is the company who took those photos. He stated that the County would be getting
2-foot color resolution imagery for the entire County and 6 inch resolution
imagery for 31 square miles of the County. Those 31 square miles of the county
would include all the small cities and all the subdivisions, so that we could
have some high resolution photos of those areas so that we can continue on with
our appraisal and mapping going digital and then putting that into the GIS System.
The appraisal/GIS System is progressing rapidly. Andy informed the board that
he just handed off the 2nd tier of a 6-tier project to the appraisal department
for them to do their maintenance on. These would be 400 scale maps and would
not include Spearville, Wright, Bellefont, or anything like that. Upon completion
of the 400 scale maps we then go back and hit the subdivisions all on 100 and
200 scale maps. Andy just wanted to inform the board that in the near future
they would be going from paper maps to digital maps. He added that they did
not photograph Dodge City because they just had theirs done a few years ago;
however, if it is in their budget they may have it done at the end of the year.
Other new business to report was the updating of the Ford County Subdivision
Regulations. Mark stated that the Planning, Zoning, and Environmental Health
Department are looking for any input. He said that this is something that we
just starting doing and the Zoning Board are also looking at them. He said that
a clause would be added that states that we will follow the new 911-addressing
program. He thought that the Board might look over the current regulations,
jot down any concerns or ideas that may be helpful and we would go into further
discussion next meeting.
Brent Shraeder added to the meeting the issue of the Brine Pits at Excel. He
stated that he has never seen them himself but he is aware they are still open
when they were required by the KDHE to close them. Mark Shriwise affirmed that
they are still there, they are still open, and they are still being used. Mark
said that every time he calls KDHE about the Brine Pits they tell him that they
are going to go out and do an inspection. He can’t seem to get anything
else out of the KDHE office about the issue. Brent inquired whether the Joint
Planning Board had any enforcement power or any requesting power. John asked
what the use of the Brine Pits was. Several board members answered that they
use them to treat cowhides. Mark stated that they had a closure plan, but they
never did close as required by KDHE. Brent Shraeder asked if Mark would bring
a report of the monitoring well to the next meeting. Mark agreed. John suggested
that we try to get a representative from Excel and a representative from KDHE
to come to the next meeting, if they don’t want to then we could subpoena
them.
John Curtis formally requests Excel’s information on their ponds and their
progress. A motion was made and all were in favor.
Reports
Nothing to report
Adjournment
John Curtis asked if there was any other questions or concerns. There was none.
Meeting adjourned at 6:45PM
______________________
__________________________
John Curtis, Chairman Mark
Shriwise, Secretary
FORD COUNTY
JOINT PLANNING COMMISSION
MINUTES
June 2, 2005
5:30 p.m. Extension Conference Room
Members Present: Phil Derstein, Ric Marboeuf, Grant Powers,
Arlen Eaton, Ron Temaat,
Bud Estes, John Curtis, Brent Schrader, and Bud Estes
Members Absent: Mike Bosley, Terry Janson, Lee Cole and Mike
Gurnee
Staff: Mark Shriwise and Misty Stotler
Guest: Kevin Shrader of Excel Corporation
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Approval of April Meeting Minutes –
John Curtis asks for a motion. Phil Derstein moved to approve the April 7, 2005
Meeting Minutes. Arlene Eaton seconded motion and all were in favor.
Old Business
John Curtis (Chair) introduced guest, Kevin Shrader, from Excel Corporation.
Kevin Shrader was asked to attend to answer questions about the Brine Pits/Brine
Lagoons that were the issue of the previous meeting.
Kevin Shrader began by handing out some history information on the lagoons and
explained the handouts to the board members. He stated that Excel began taking
Brine in the 1980’s and this particular pit took brine until 1986. Then
this pit was shut down until 1996, because we had another brine pit. In 1996-1997
we were ordered by Kansas Department of Health of Environment (KDHE) to start
closure on the lagoons. In other words, dry them up, fold them up, get them
shut down however possible. Kevin stated that when he got there in 1997 there
was water in them, it was just one big pond and it was actually built for two
ponds. He went on to say that they were almost dewatered, then in 1996 they
had to add water, but with the State and with what we were doing basically we
just let them evaporate. They figured environmentally, that was the best way
to do it, instead of letting it go down an injection well or trying to haul
it off someplace. They tried an aerator, but ended up rusting out the fence
along the side.
Kevin went on to discuss the design of the lagoons, by saying in 2003 they had
to get an extension from KDHE, because they were not totally dewatered and they
were not going to meet the deadline. Therefore, they were granted an extension
for another two years in 2004. Currently, the East lagoon is all dry but nothings
been hauled out yet. The west lagoon right now has about 12” of water
sitting in it. He stated that the reason for this is because the amount of rain
that has been received in the last year.
Kevin told the board members that one of the things that they are doing to eliminate
the amount of exposure as far as hauling sludge off was to reuse the salt in
hide curing. He added that KDHE was agreeable to this. They now have around
7,000 cubic yards left in the east lagoon which will be cleaned up by mid-July,
as far as getting sludge out of there. There is a brine concentrator that is
being run right now that actually pulls brine off the new brine pit and we concentrate
that and pull salt from there to control the brine lagoons.
Kevin indicated that they are in constant communication with KDHE and they are
aware of what is going on. They had their last inspection from KDHE in March
of 2005. He stated that the completion date as of right now is June 2006. This
completion date is inclusive of the lagoon being folded up, dried up, bare ground,
grass planted just as it used to be.
Brent Schrader asked if there were any problems with the wells. Kevin answered
this by indicating that there were none at this time. He went on to say that
they did have some chlorides show up in the eastern cell, but they were not
sure as to where those have come from because the flow of water doesn’t
put you in the pond area and we don’t pump those wells, we just bail them
by hand. Therefore, we are not pulling a lot of water from all over the place
like you would on a big submersible.
John Curtis asked if they checked for Nitrates. Kevin said that they do and
historically that site does have some Nitrate problems due to one of the lagoons
having a leak in it. Since then, the lagoons have been double lined and the
Nitrates are going down.
Brent Schrader wanted to know if there was ever a time where the water being
pulled in is the same as the water you allow as far as the quality is concerned.
Brent added that he has heard the word “digester” used. Kevin responded
that they are seeing a decrease in the water quality as everybody is as far
as the hardness of the water in the Ogallala’s. He continued by saying
that they have tried increase the chemical treatments in the boilers in order
to maintain the water quality.
John Curtis asked what was being done with the Paunch. Kevin assured the board
that the paunch is being composted. He said nothing has been land applied for
about a year, since Chamness started their compost site.
Grant Powers questioned the issue of the manure being dumped out of the semi-trucks
onto the roadway by the truck drivers leaving the Excel Plant. Kevin indicated
that this has been a problem, but it’s a problem with the drivers. Excel
has a truck dumpsite for this and a place for the drivers to wash that out of
the trailers. He added that the driver’s are supposed to wash and clean
their trailers every time they make a delivery. Brent then asked what Excel
does with that waste that is dumped into that dumpsite. Kevin responded that
it goes right back into the regular wastewater treatment plant and back out.
It goes back into the pond and back out just like everything else.
The Next issue at hand was the 911-Addressing Plan. John Curtis asked if there
were any questions. He asked Mark when they planned on finalizing this plan.
Mark answered that he wasn’t sure, but if there were no changes then it
could go to Ed Elam and the 911 Committee for finalization. John Curtis asked
if there were any changes, concerns, or comments from the board members. Brent
Schrader made the motion to approve the 911-Addressing Program for finalization.
Ric Marboeuf seconded the motion and all were in favor.
John Curtis announced the issue of the Ford County Subdivision Regulations.
Mark Shriwise explained some of the changes that were being looked at right
now. John asked about the construction, gas, and electric portion of the inspection
for building codes that was addressed as part of the changes. Mark explained
that presently the County doesn’t have any enforceable building codes
and therefore, there are mobile homes being moved into the county with no electrical
codes that have to be followed and there are mobile homes being moved into the
county with water heaters that are not designed for mobile home use. His concern
is that these homes being moved into the county are not being wired correctly
and there is concern that these homes may catch fire unless something is done
to correct the problem.
Grant Powers asked about the removing the legal description for deed purposes.
Mark said that this was an issue that Ed Elam didn’t like as a County
Land Surveyor because sometimes the legal descriptions can be very vague. Mark
went on to give an example. Several of the board members were concerned as to
why you would remove the legal description. Mark said that he would change it
to state make a legal survey, with a boundary survey, rather that a legal description.
Mark added that as time goes on, GPS is going to be incorporated, and the aerial
maps are being digitized.
The next issue brought forth was the issue of the impact fees. Ric Marboeuf
began by stating that in his opinion impact fees are good for one or two homes
but if a big development comes in, those people would be required to pay a lot
of taxes. John Curtis added that eventually going to scare off people from trying
to move in. Mark responded by saying that most of the development happens in
the city or within 3 miles of the city and as previously stated the county doesn’t
want any more development outside of the city. The county wants to remain rural.
Bud Estes inquired about how much money an impact fee would consist of. Ric
Marboeuf answered that it was from $2000 to $4000. John Curtis added that they
can’t see making pay impact fees for a resident to build a home when they
are already spending plenty of money just to build that home. The board members
all agreed with this. Grant Powers had a concern about where they money would
go. He was concerned that the money from the impact fees that were collected
would go into the General Fund and then when it was needed it would be considered
“lost” and then the public would be taxed for something else. Grant
makes the motion to “kill” the impact fees. Ric seconded the motion
and all were in favor.
Mark went on to discuss the County Counselor/County Attorney issue for the plats.
He told the board members that he would rather have the County Counselor sign
plats instead of the County Attorney because he is the one who deals more with
the plats than the Attorney. No decision was made on this issue. He went on
with the issue of Private roads. Mark explained this issue to the board members
and gave some examples. There was some discussion about annexation. No decisions
were made final at this time.
Brent Shrader made the motion to adjourn at 6:50 pm. The motion was seconded
by Grant Powers and all were in favor.
Next meeting is scheduled for August 4, 2005.
New Business
Nothing to Report
Reports
Nothing to report
Adjournment
John Curtis asked if there were any other questions or concerns. There was none.
Meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm
______________________________ __________________________
John Curtis, Chairman Mark
Shriwise, Secretary
FORD COUNTY
JOINT PLANNING COMMISSION
MINUTES
November 3, 2005
5:30 p.m. Rose Room
Members Present: Phil Derstein, Ric Marboeuf, Arlen Eaton,
Ron Temaat,
Bud Estes, John Curtis, Terry Janson, Mike Gurnee, and Lee Cole
Members Absent: Mike Bosley, Grant Powers, and Brent Schraeder
Staff: Mark Shriwise and Misty Stotler
Guest: Ed Elam
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Approval of June Meeting Minutes –
John Curtis asks for a motion. Terry Janson moved to approve the June 2, 2005
Meeting Minutes. Ron Temaat seconded motion and all were in favor.
Old Business
911 Addressing – Mark Shriwise told the board members
that he intends on taking the 911 Addressing Plan to the Ford County Board of
Commissioners on November 21, 2005.
Subdivision Regulations- Mark Shriwise told the board members that this is still open for suggestions. He also asked the board members if they or someone they knew would be interested in being a part of updating these Subdivision Regulations. Terry Janson suggested to Mark that Jerry King of Victory Electric might be interested; however, at this time no one from the Joint Planning Board was interested or spoke up.
John Curtis, Chairman, brought up the subject of private roads, #15 of the proposed changes. He wanted to know if there were private roads in the county who would maintain them. Ed Elam addressed to the board members that neither the County nor the Township wants any more roads. Ed stressed that the County has plenty of roads to take care of now and suggested that the homeowners care for their own roads with covenants.
There was a discussion with concerns of there being no regulations. Some of the board members felt there should be regulations set for roads within a Subdivision. There were some that had concerns of the width of roads for emergency vehicles. That issue was touched on with an answer of emergency vehicles would have to be able to get to the homes in a subdivision. Another concern was with the roads not being accessible in bad weather. Some of the board members suggested that subdivisions put in standard all-weather roads.
A Second concern with subdivisions that some members had was the revenue. They were concerned that another subdivision in the rural county would not be affordable. They believe that housing costs have increased causing more people to have to purchase more affordable housing and subdivisions do not offer affordable housing. This in turn would leave us with subdivisions that have houses in them sitting empty.
A third concern was with the growth of subdivisions. Some have suggested that if you build a subdivision close to the city, the city can eventually annex this subdivision into the city. The city would prefer a voluntary annexation, but if they feel it’s in their best interest they can force them to annex. Also, being closer to a city, the children of the subdivision would not have to travel as far to go to school, which in turn is also a concern with the roads issue. Buses wouldn’t have to travel on muddy or icy roads to get children for school. Another concern was that being closer to the city, there would be a better chance of expansion. Some of the members felt that a subdivision that is to far from the city, wouldn’t expand as fast as one that is closer to the city.
The Subdivision Regulations issue ended with a board member concerned that the County has no building codes. He thought that even if there were no building codes for homeowners there should be building codes on rentals. This was a concern because most of the rentals in the county, that he had seen, were nothing more that “a cardboard box”. Some of the other board members agreed that there does need to be some restrictions on the types of housing out in the county. There was also some talk about possibly changing what years of mobile homes would be allowed to be moved into the county. One of the suggestions indicated that nothing would be allowed to move into the county that was older than 10 years old. Some of the board members liked this and some thought this would be a little too restrictive.
New Business-
Term Expirations:
Phil Derstein, City of Ford – Willing to run another term
Lee Cole, Dodge Township – Willing to run another term
Brent Schraeder, Royal Township – Undecided
Election of Officers:
Chairman – John Curtis
Vice-Chairman – Lee Cole
Motion to approve the election of officers was made by Arlen Eaton and 2nd by
Terry Janson.
Spearville Wind Farm:
As of right now, the wind farm has made the short list. If they get awarded
from KCP&l, then they will begin construction on the 100 mega-watt wind
farm that will be located between 126 Rd and 123 Rd. There will approximately
60 –70, 1.5 Mega-Watt turbans.
For further information on the Spearville Windfarm Project, see Mark Shriwise
in the Ford County Planning, Zoning, and Environmental Health Office at the
Ford County government building located at 100 Gunsmoke, Dodge City, KS 67801.
Other Discusssion:
Mike Gurnee announced to the board members that the City of Dodge City Zoning
Board would like to pull the Dodge City specific functions out of the Ford County
Planning Board, so they can have their own Dodge City Planning Commission. It
would be a Planning & Zoning Commission together. He went on to say that
this Planning Board has evolved but not to what it’s original intent was.
He said that the City Zoning Board felt that it would be in their best interest
to have these issues reviewed before a board of City citizens rather than a
countywide board, where only two of the members are Dodge City citizens. He
added that he would not be dropping out as a representative of the Joint Planning
Board; they just wanted to pull out the specific functions.
Reports:
WRAPS Tour- Mark gave a quick summary of the tour that he had
taken on October 13, 2005. All board members were mailed a summary of that tour.
For further information on that tour or a summary report, see Mark Shriwise
at the Ford County Planning, Zoning, and Environmental Health Office at the
Ford County Government building located at 100 Gunsmoke, Dodge City, KS 67801
or you may call Mark at (620) 227-4739.
Wright Groundwater Contamination Site:
There was a discussion of whether or not anyone knew where the Thallium had
come from. At this time, no source has been found. The gal that started off
the public hearing recently visited with Mark and informed him that recently
they are not detecting any Thallium anymore so they are backing off. They are
going to continue to monitor the wells in Wright for several years; however,
the main concern right now is to be assured that no new water wells be permitted
until the issue is completely resolved.
Adjournment:
Arlen Eaton made the motion to adjourn at 7:20 pm. The motion was seconded by
Ron Temaat and all were in favor.
John Curtis asked if there were any other questions or concerns. There was none.
Meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm
______________________________ __________________________
John Curtis, Chairman Mark
Shriwise, Secretary