Posted: 8/2/05
Solum house gets green light
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Jared Solum received permission from county commissioners at their July 29 meeting to move into his house in Spring Grove Township.
Zoning administrator Bob Scanlan and environmental services director Rick Frank recommended the decision to approve Solumís building permit.
Scanlan said that Solum had signed a notarized affidavit on July 18 saying he would not rent out a pole building on his 40-acre parcel, nor use it as a dwelling. ìI have no intention of ever living in the pole shed,î Solum wrote in the affidavit. It also says that the office space in the pole shed is not intended to be used for ìHome Occupationî purposes.
County attorney Rick Jackson approved the document, Scanlan said.
Solum built the house on Mapleleaf Drive last fall without a building permit. He applied for one after-the-fact, but it was not granted because a pole barn on the same 40 was considered another residence. That meant that Solumís house was out of compliance with the county zoning ordinance of one dwelling per 40 in agricultural land.
Frank said that he and Scanlan inspected the building and saw that Solum had taken out the bedroom portion of the building and was using it for storage. ìFor all our intents it no longer can be used as a dwelling,î Frank said.
Commissioner Larry Graf asked who would monitor the building.
ìNeighborhood watch,î commissioner Tom Bjerke answered.
The county assessor needs to inspect the building, and the existing septic system needs to be inspected, Frank said.
Zoning consultant
In other zoning news, the board approved a recommendation by Scanlan and Frank to seek proposals to hire a consultant to help update the countyís developmental code (zoning ordinance).
Frank said that the work load is too heavy for his staff to do the work, which will address things like hunting boarding houses, residential lot sizes, driveways, feedlots, and after-the-fact permits.
Commissioner Dave Corcoran said that the new mapping system which the county now has in place will help with this job. Different types of areas like residential and rapid growth could be pinpointed on the maps.
Things like soil types, wetlands, quarries, and feedlots will be easy to add and identify too, Frank said.
There was no dollar amount or time deadline discussed for this project.
Two bridges coming
Interim county engineer Kermit McRae outlined two bridge projects for the board, which then approved them.
One will be a single span concrete bridge on County Road 249 in Freeburg. Brennan Construction Company of Lansing was the low bidder at $398,596. A bypass will be set up to the north of the new bridge. McRae said work will start toward the end of August.
The other bridge will be on County Road 24 at Link Corner, one mile north of Freeburg. Minnowa Construction of Harmony was the low bid at $730,049. The three-span, 120-foot-long bridge will have a new alignment, but the road wonít be closed during construction. Traffic control will be on the old road until the new one is done, McRae said.
Other business
ï The board approved awarding the bid for the county auction on August 16 to Johnston Auction Service of La Crescent for eight percent. Steve Schuldt of Caledonia also submitted a bid of 12.5 percent.
ï The board discussed holding a public meeting to discuss whether the county should adopt the state building code. No date was set, but mid-September was mentioned as a possible time.
Caledonia Argus
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Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com