February

Planning Commission
February 11, 2010
7:00 p.m.

1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

3. Roll call: Present: Short, Cunningham, D. Boulier, M. Boulier, Dembinski, Silk, Cataldo, Acciavatti Absent: Kays

4. Motion by Silk to approve agenda. Seconded by M. Boulier. Motion carried unanimously.

5. Motion by Cunningham to approve the minutes from the January 14, 2010 meeting. Seconded by Silk. Motion carried unanimously.

6. Brief Public Comments:

C.Jones – comments should be after business (call from the floor)

7. Correspondence:

Marysville Planning Commission minutes
Metro Planning Commission Winter Workshop 2-25-10 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm

8. New Business: None

9. Old Business:

            9a. Discussion regarding private roads – Ordinance No. 108/112 Private Road received.
            Short – stated one reason we are discussing this again is because of the economy, it is too
            expensive to construct a county road. We had discussed coming up with some kind of
            contingency plan. Possibly looking it at on a case by case basis. Possibly reducing the
            acreage requirement, on some parcels.

County Road Commission. They stated that 65-70% of the townships have converted their ordinance to the county level, they do not have their own private road ordinance. They have an on-line document called The Procedures and Specifications for Plat Street Development. We received East China private road ordinance; which contains a lot of the county road information.

What does the commission want in an ordinance and get the information together in an. landscape requirements, signage, how utilities are handled. When we did the last survey in the Township one of our current requirements the residents wanted to keep was the four acre requirement and the 220 feet of frontage requirement. In order to let the county maintain the road, it would have to be built to county standards to begin with or they would not maintain the road. The road would have to be dedicated to the county before they would do any maintenance on it. It is much easier for the county to take over a road if they are involved during the initial construction of the road. You would pay the county to do an inspection during the construction and they would have the record of that. You could then at any time request they take over the road and they would still have the inspection on file.

Frank Short to get in contact with Brian Mahaffy and Brian Bayly to discuss options for creation and review of the actual ordinance. Look over information we received and bring ideas back to the next meeting.

9b. Review Pond Ordinance –

            Acciavatti – The new proposed ordinance will make it too expensive for residents to
           excavate a pond. Most people want to save money on fill and dig a pond, this will make
           it more expensive. M. Boulier – The Township Board reviewed the proposed ordinance
           and sent it back to the Planning Commission for review. They felt it was too detailed, hard
           to understand and would make it too expensive for the residents. The would like us to take
           another look at the ordinance. Short – why don’t we just leave the old pond ordinance in
           effect?

Cataldo - I have seen a number of ordinance revisions over the years, accessory structures, pond ordinance. There seems to be a trend to try and cover every possible scenario. I believe our current ordinance is sufficient. We are trying to get so detailed, it is very refreshing to hear the current ordinance is sufficient, we can’t cover every possible circumstance.

Short – Brian Mahaffy would like our input regarding building a fire hall on the Township property on Wadhams Road. Silk – Brian is trying to get grant monies to build the new fire hall. Take a ride by the property and give our opinion as to what the Planning Commission feels about it. Silk – I believe we should have all the facts before we state out opinion, the costs involved, etc. Cataldo – I believe Brian was looking for our opinion from a planning prospective as to the location not as a financial decision. Motion by Silk to get more information on the entire project before we make our decision. Seconded by Dembinski. Motion carried.

10. Call from the floor:

C. Jones – Why isn’t there any female members on the Planning Commission?
M. Boulier – the Township Board appoints the members of the Planning Commission. Short – I spoke with D. Kays and he still would like to be on the Planning Commission, but at the time his work prevents him from attending. According to our by-laws if you miss three meetings you are no longer a member. Dale has not attended a meeting since August. His work schedule will be changing in the future so he can start attending again in a couple of months. Cunningham – since the workload of the commission is not overwhelming at this time, maybe we could give him some more time. If he missed two more meetings then we could ask for a replacement. Frank will get with him and let him know.

11. Reports

            Township Board – H. Silk - County would like to clean up ditches February and March
            2010. Our responsibility is on Vine Road between Hurst and the City limits. Cut down
            all the stumps and clean them out.

BZA – Frank Short – No meeting

12. Call from the table:

            Discussed changing meeting back to the first Thursday of the month. Consensus of the
            commission to leave the meeting on the second Thursday. Next meeting scheduled
            for March 11, 2010 – 7:00 p.m.

13. Meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.

Respectively submitted,

Mike Boulier
Secretary