Supervisors discuss increase in administrative fees recommended by Planning and Zoning Commission

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, March 5, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Zoning Administrator Tom Blake, who presented the Board with a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to increase certain administrative fees. Blake said that the recommendation includes an increase from $50 to $125 for requests for rezoning, amendments, conditional use permits and administrative appeals. The recommendation also includes new fees for subdivision plats of $50 for “minor, non-agricultural” plats and $100 for “major, preliminary and/or final” plats. Blake explained that there is currently no charge for such plat reviews, though a lot of time and research is involved in the process.
The Planning and Zoning Commission also recommended replacing the current flat $25 fee for building permits with a sliding scale based on the estimated construction costs, starting at $20 for projects with a cost of less than $10,000 and increasing by $20 for each additional $10,000 in estimated construction cost, capping at $100 for projects with estimated costs greater than $60,000.
“They’re getting it both ways. We’re raising taxes and we’re raising fees,” said Supervisor Lennie Burke. “This is the way it works in government these days. The little guy ends up paying the most.”
Burke suggested setting the sliding scale building permits at one dollar for every thousand in estimated project cost with no cap, while Chairman Larry Schellhammer suggested simplifying the scale to $25 for projects estimated to cost under $50,000 and $100 for more expensive projects. Unable to reach a consensus on the sliding scale for building permits, the Board tabled the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation for further discussion and review.
Also on the subject of zoning, the Board approved the removal of the “agricultural exemption legend” from several plats. While the inclusion of the legend on plats can shorten the review process by eliminating the need for review by the Planning and Zoning Commission, Blake explained that some land owners had requested that the use restriction be removed from their recorded plats. On the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Board approved the requests.
The Board also met with County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who presented the Board with a single bid from Mathy Construction for the resurfacing of Waterville Road. Ridenour said that while the bid of $1,210,423 exceeded his estimated cost by nearly 14 percent, he recommended that the Board accept the bid as he does not anticipate that the cost of such projects will decrease in the future. The Board approved the bid and construction is expected to begin in mid-July on the three and a half mile stretch between Waterville and Highway 76.
Also on Ridenour’s recommendation, the Board approved the low bid by AAA striping Service of St. Michael, MN of $54,106 for the repainting of pavement markings on County roads. The Board also approved the hiring of Brice Hammersland as a full-time civil engineering technician, starting March 26 at $17.98 per hour, and accepted the letter of retirement from Wayne Kelly, a 33-year veteran of the Secondary Roads department, effective March 12.
Case Management Director Kim Waters requested the Board’s approval to reduce Bill Adam’s hours to 20 hours per week, at his request, and increase her own hours to 35 hour per week. The Board approved the request, which Waters said would save the County approximately $2,500 per year. The Board also approved a 28E agreement with Howard County for the exchange of clinical supervision services.
In other business, the Board voted unanimously to reappoint Dennis Blocker to the Allamakee County Conservation Board.