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Houston County will continue using its current land use plan
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
By a unanimous vote, the Houston County Board approved a motion to leave the county’s land use plan as is. The county is required every 10 years to review the land use plan in place, and decide, after receiving public input, if changes need to be made.
“I feel we need to leave it as is and abandon any efforts to change it right now,” Commissioner Larry Connery said.
“Agriculture is still a very big part of the commerce of this county and I feel we need to continue to project it. And that is what our current land use plan does,” Commissioner Dave Corcoran added.
A motion by Corcoran and seconded by Commissioner Larry Graf was approved.
In other board action:
CSAH 13 repairs approved
The board approved the recommendation from the highway department for go ahead with the repair of CSAH 13 just south of the city of Houston. A portion of the road was damaged during the June 2008 floods.
According to Tom Molling, a section of the county road needs to be regraded, the ditches need to be widened to improve water run-off flow and guardrails replaced.
The entire “fix” on the two-mile section of road has been estimated at $1.2 million. With all the other repair projects that have been completed, and still in the works, the county board did not feel there was sufficient funds to complete the entire project. There was also some question if the roadway should be moved somewhat to straighten out several sharp curves and improve drainage.
“Land acquisition costs will only increase the total price tag,” Molling noted.
Out-going Highway Engineer Marcus Evans suggested the county spend the necessary funds to make the road safe and drivable and then include the possible rebuilding of the road in the over-all county highway improvement program.
The board approved spending approximately $150,000 to patch the current roadway, and replace the guardrail.
Sidewalk issue discussed
During the meeting reports portion of the board meeting, Commissioner Tom Bjerke reported he had discussed the county’s plans for the reconstruction project of CSAH 5 in Caledonia. He stated that there was some opposition from property owners living along County 5 (South Winnebago Street) who would have a number of large trees removed if the sidewalk is located on the east side of the street.
According to Evans, if sidewalks are going to be located along County 5, they would have to be 10 feet back from the curb and gutter, in order to help with snow removal. Bjerke noted one of the suggestions was to just make the roadway wide enough to accommodate pedestrian traffic one the side of the road, as it currently is on CSAH 249.
The county will discuss the issue with the city of Caledonia.
Zoning requests
County Zoning Administrator Bob Scanlan presented a variance request, a conditional use permit (CUP) request, and a re-zoning request to the board. The county Planning Commission had held public hearings on the three requests during a Sept. 25 meeting, and recommended all three be approved. The requests included:
• A 40-foot variance to meet the required 50-foot setback from the south property line to build a garage for Judy Mauss and Christopher Schafer in Hokah Township.
• A re-zoning request made by Ruth Boyum in Mound Prairie Township. The request is to re-zone a 9.5 acre of property that is adjacent to the residential village of Mound Prairie. The soil classification is C4, and according to Scanlan the request is in compliance with the land use plan.
• A CUP request made by Doug Heintz of Sheldon Township to construct a manure holding basin. Scanlan explained Heintz is currently hauling manure every day. The holding basin would allow up to three months of storage. The basin would help bring Heintz’ operation into compliance with current zoning laws.
Asbestos survey approved
The board approved a motion to contract with Midwest Engineering of La Crosse to conduct asbestos inspections. The cost of the services is $5,490. The purpose of the asbestos survey is to assist the county in complying with all state and federal asbestos testing laws, regulations and standards related to the presence of asbestos in the workplace.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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