HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved 08-05-2021 CSZC Minutes1 GRANT COUNTY CONSERVATION, SANITATION, & ZONING
COMMITTEE MEETING
August 5, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Room #264, County Board Room, Administration Building and Via Zoom Meeting
Lancaster, Wisconsin
The Grant County Conservation, Sanitation & Zoning Committee meeting was called to order on August
5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. by Mark Stead, the Conservation, Sanitation, and Zoning Committee Chairman in
Room #264, County Board Room of the Administration Building and via Zoom meeting.
Board members present in the County Board room: Mark Stead, Mike Lieurance, Porter Wagner, Pat
Schroeder, Lester Jantzen, Gary Northouse. Mark Hoehne, Absent. Others present in the County Board
room; Lynda Schweikert, Annette Lolwing, Robert Keeney, Shane Drinkwater, John Rutkowski, Dalton
Becker, and Johanna Rolfes: via Zoom: Matt Honer, Ben Schroeder, Jody Cushman, Mike Adams, Joe
Schmelz, and Emily Schildgen.
Certification of Open Meeting Law
Annette Lolwing sent the agenda to Karla Schwantes and Tonya White to post in the Courthouse, in the
Administration Building, and on our website. An agenda was also posted in front of the Ag Service Center
Building, and was sent to Bob Middendorf, WGLR. Media notices were sent to Karla Schwantes, Tonya
White, Herald Independent, Platteville Journal, Muscoda Progressive, Boscobel Dial, Fennimore Times,
and Bob Middendorf.
Approval of Agenda
Motion by Gary Northouse, seconded by Mike Lieurance to approve the Agenda. Motion carried.
Approval of the July 1, 2021 Minutes
Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Porter Wagner to approve the July 1, 2021 minutes. Motion
carried.
Review & Accept the Bills
Motion by Mike Lieurance, seconded by Gary Northouse to accept the July bills. Motion carried.
Public Hearing for Rezones
Chairman Stead opened the Public Hearing.
#21-11 Douglas and Jody Cushman, Clifton Twp., are requesting to change the zoning classification on
PIN: 0012-00283-0010 of +/- 1.94 ac. from FP to A2 to allow for the use of a nonfarm residence.
In Favor: Clifton Twp. approved on June 18, 2021. Jody Cushman.
In Opposition: None
In Interest: None
Committee Discussion: None.
Mark Stead closed the Public Hearing
Motion by Porter Wagner that the items are concurrent with all the conditions on the Farmland
Preservation Worksheet and to recommend approval of the rezone to the full County Board, seconded by
Gary Northouse. Motion carried. See Attachment A Worksheet.
Chairman Stead opened the Public Hearing
#CUP 21-010, Ryan Schneider, South Lancaster Twp., is requesting a Conditional Use Permit on PIN:056-
00188-0000, 056-00194-0000, 056-00419-0000, 056-00419-0010, 056-00422-0000, and 056-00422-0010
of +/- 70.0 acres to allow for the continued use of nonmetallic mining under Chapter 315 Subsection 3.05
E (3) of the Grant County Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.
In Favor: South Lancaster Twp. approved on April 21, 2021. Ben Schroeder.
In Opposition: None
In Interest: The public notice was for 70.0 acres in South Lancaster Twp., Ben Schroeder reported that the
mining site is actually 50.0 acres. Ben Schroeder stated that this is a 5-year conditional use permit. After
reviewing the reclamation plan it follows parcel lines and not the actual ¼, ¼ sections lines. The
reclamation plan was updated to correct all the parcels and correct boundaries. Matt Honer did report that
the reclamation plan is current and up-to-date.
Committee Discussion: None
Mark Stead closed the Public Hearing
Motion by Pat Schroeder to recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit, seconded by Mike
Lieurance. Motion carried.
Chairman Stead opened the Public Hearing
#CUP 21-011, Rutkowski Brothers Land LLC, Ellenboro Twp., is requesting a Conditional Use Permit on
PIN:014-00608-0000, 014-00619-0000, and 014-00583-0000 of +/- 40.0 acres to allow for the continued
use of nonmetallic mining under Chapter 315 Subsection 3.14 (2) (a) of the Grant County Comprehensive
Zoning Ordinance.
In Favor: Ellenboro Twp. approved on July 7, 2021. John Rutkowski.
In Opposition: None
In Interest: It was noted on the Finding of Facts Sheet that the nonmetallic mining site was in South
Lancaster Twp. it is located in Ellenboro Township. The Conditional Use is limited to a 5-year permit.
There were conditions in place for the mining site. They are the same as the existing Conditional Use
Permit. Which are: 1. Rutkowski Brothers will maintain erosion control on their property, and sediment
will remain on their own land. 2. Rutkowski Brothers will provide gravel for their easement, and the Town
of Ellenboro is responsible for grading of the easement. 3. The expense for dust control on the easement
will be split 1/6th responsibility of the Town of Ellenboro, and 5/6th the responsibility of Allied Stone.
John explained that they will be using water for dust control instead of the chloride.
Committee Discussion: None
Mark Stead closed the Public Hearing
Motion by Lester Jantzen, to recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit, seconded by Porter
Wagner. Pat Schroeder Abstained. Motion carried.
Zoning/Sanitation Report
Lynda reported on the comparisons of the Zoning and Sanitation report from last year to this year. Things
are starting to balance out compared to last year. Construction projects are slowing down. The failing
citations were issued at the end of August 31st of 2020. We are now at 41% in compliance, 6 were
cancelled due to extenuating circumstances, the remaining names on the list still need to come into
compliance. Lynda and Brad will be meeting with Corporation Counsel at the end of the month to discuss
another round of citations and moving forward with a lawsuit to get them into compliance. This will be
the same for the sanitary maintenance citations. There will be a new set of sheets with the failing systems
and failing to report the 3-year maintenance for 2021. There are 2 court dates for failing systems, they are
August 9, 2021 for Beach, and September 14, 2021 for Steiger, Campbell, and Orth. There are 82 failure
to complete maintenance citations that were sent out on January 28th. There were 49 that have come into
compliance, no court dates set, and 33 issues still remaining.
There are no Zoning court dates scheduled.
There is no Board of Adjustment scheduled at this time.
Motion by Gary Northouse, seconded by Porter Wagner to accept the Zoning/Sanitation Report. Motion
carried.
Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Copy Machine Lease
Lynda received a new bid from Access. Gordon Flesch did not submit a new bid. Access/Sharp’s
previous lease agreement estimate was $123.07, and $122.81 for Gordon Flesch. The monthly lease was
$98.08 for Access/Sharp, and Gordon Flesch was $81.59. Access/Sharp has now come in with a monthly
lease of $78.00 and the copy fees would stay the same. The new monthly average based off of our
previous usage will be $103.39 for Access. Gary Northouse made a motion to approve the bid from
Access, seconded by Mike Lieurance. Motion carried.
Discussion Regarding Transferring Money to Cost Share Account
Lynda reported that in the 2021 budget in account #562030 there was $20,000 set aside in the anticipation
that the groundwater study would be coming out earlier this year. If any additional study showed that
some areas didn’t test well enough, Lynda wanted some additional funding set aside to possibly take the
next step to fine tuning the ground water study. The researchers were hoping to have the ground water
results out by September, but we have not heard any updates. The county cost share requests have
increased this ye ar. There is an increase in landowners that signed up for rye cover crop cost sharing
leaving us with -$2,494.42 and an additional 4 well decommissioning cost share requests waiting for
county cost sharing approval. Pat Schroeder made a motion to transfer the full $20,000 from the ground
water study account to the county cost sharing account, seconded by Gary Northouse. Motion carried.
County Cost Sharing: Beginning Balance $3,506.41. Ending Balance $17,505.58.
Lynda presented a well decommissioning extension request for Randy Reynolds, Waterloo Twp., $720.00
to September 2, 2021. Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Porter Wagner to approve the extension
request. Motion carried.
Lynda presented a waste facility closure extension request for Kevin & Chealsey Zart, Mt. Ida Twp.,
$2,857.00 to September 2, 2021. Motion by Gary Northouse, seconded by Mike Lieurance to approve the
extension request. Motion carried.
Lynda presented a final approval request for county cost sharing on a well decommissioning for Laura
Ley, Fenimore Twp., $613.75. Motion by Porter Wagner, seconded by Lester Jantzen to approve payment.
Roll Call: 6 Yes, 0 No, 1 Absent. Motion carried.
Mike Adams reported that Andrew and Kaleen Fosselman asked about planting a hybrid rye that costs
$50.00 per bushel. Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Pat Schroeder to only pay the average cost of
what the regular bushel of rye seed comes in at. Motion carried.
Lynda presented tentative approval for 11 county cost sharing requests for 1st year rye cover crop for
Bryan Tippett, Hazel Green Twp., $411.36; Terry & Helen Adams, Watterstown Twp., $393.00; Scott &
Carolyn Runde, Hazel Green Twp., $900.00; Trent Pritchet, Bloomington Twp., $234.72; Steve & Julie
Mulrooney, Mt. Ida Twp., $264.00; 2nd year rye cover crop for Mark & Emily Mumm, Bloomington Twp.,
$204.00; Lonnie & Rochelle Holthaus, Mt. Hope Twp., $1,000.00; Matt Berning, Jamestown Twp.,
$1,000.00; Andrew & Kaleena Fosselman, Mt. Hope Twp., $600.00; Tim & Patricia Adams, South
Lancaster Twp., $300.00; 3rd year rye cover crop for Darren & Tammie Katzung, Beetown Twp.,
$1,000.00. Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Gary Northouse to approve all 11 rye cover crop
requests. Motion carried.
SWRM Cost Sharing:
2020 DATCP Cost Sharing: Beginning Balance $17,539.05/Ending Balance $17,539.05
None to Report.
2021 DATCP Cost Sharing: Beginning Balance $49,863.00/Ending Balance $49,863.00
None to Report
2021 MDV Cost Sharing: Beginning Balance $27,250.93/Ending Balance $27,225.71.
Lynda presented a final approval request for MDV cost sharing on 2 grade stabilization structures for
Lange Century Plus Farm LLC, Paris Twp., $6,850.22. Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Mike
Lieurance to approve payment. Roll Call: 6 Yes, 0 No, 1 Absent. Motion carried.
Storage Permit Approval
Lynda presented a storage permit approval request for Quinn Kirschbaum, Cassville Twp. He is
decommissioning an 80X8X8 concrete under hog barn facility. Deconstruction plan was developed by
Erik Heagle on July 6th. Lynda tentatively approval the storage permit on July 6, 2021 and is asking for
concurrence from the committee. Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Lester Jantzen to concur with
Lynda’s permit approval. Motion carried.
Fee Schedule Review
Lynda passed out a proposed 2022 budget for the Conservation, Sanitation, and Zoning Department. This
budget has been submitted to the finance with a 7% increase in the budget. Finance asked the departments
to review their fee schedule to see if any changes could be made. Lynda had a fee schedule comparison
drawn up which included: Crawford, Richland, Iowa, Lafayette, and Grant counties. After further review
with the Sanitation and Zoning Technicians they came up with a few fee adjustment recommendations.
Lynda provided a copy of the budget with the potential fee increases which would bring this budget to a
4% increase. Motion by Gary Northouse, seconded by Mike Lieurance to approve the increased fee
change recommendation. Motion carried.
Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Gary Northouse that we go from $1.00 per thousand to $2.00 per
thousand at $300,000 and above on a general zoning permit effective January 1, 2022. Motion carried.
Preliminary Budget Approval
Motion by Pat Schroeder, seconded by Lester Jantzen to approve the preliminary budget with the increased
fees. Motion carried.
CSZD Administrator Report
Lynda reported that she had 5 meetings scheduled in July.
● Precision Ag Field Day & Webinar – Cancelled due to low registration.
● July 13, 2021 – POWTS Update
● July 14, 2021 – USDA Local Work Group Meeting
● July 15 & 16, 2021 – Virtual County Con Meeting – Summer Meeting
● July 28, 2021 – Pollinator Webinar
Lynda reported that she sent out a camper letter to all the townships. Currently campers are technically not
allowed on properties to be used as a residence. A residence has to be 24 feet wide and a minimum of 800
square feet. Campers and RV’s do not meet those requirements. There are several townships that have
allowed this, and others have been turned into us. Usage of a camper examples are people want to live in
their camper while their house is being built, then the camper will be removed. Another usage is people
who live out of state want to come back and stay in the camper while they enjoy their property. Is this
something that the townships want to allow? Do we want it in Ag and/or Conservation, Forestry,
Recreation zoning only? There are counties that allow a temporary permit. They have to apply for a
temporary permit every year to set up their camper and to make sure that they have their sanitary taken
care of and to take down the camper during the winter. There are also individuals in Grant County that
live in a camper all year long. There are counties that do issue a yearly permit along with a fee with the
restrictions that the camper/RV must be drivable, must be registered, and must have sanitation in place. If
a camper permit fee were to be charged: who is going to monitor it for enforcement? Would the township
collect the fees? Do the townships want the county to enforce it? The camper issues are in zoned
townships only.
Continuous Improvement Update
Lynda reported she has been working with Corp Council on how to enforce the sanitary violations that
ignore the citations.
NRCS Report – Joe Schmelz
Joe reported that they are working on getting the CSP certifications done for 2021.
Joe reported that CRP is a big workload right now. It has been opened up for emergency haying and
grazing so they had 60 days to date from the Drought-2 status. NRCS has completed around 200
emergency haying and grazing requests. They also have a quite a few CRP contracts completed.
Joe reported that Josh Bushee’s last day being a Soil Conservationist in Grant County will be August 13th.
He will be going to Richland Center to be our Area Program Specialist. The new Soil Conservationist will
be starting August 30th. There are still 2 vacancies in the Lancaster NRCS office; 1 is for a technician and
1 is for a soil conservationist and are still waiting for them to be posted on the USA job site.
FSA Report
Emily reported that they still do have the continuous highly erodible land initiative sign up for CRP,
the deadline is Friday, July 6th. FSA may still be able to run new acreage for CRP next week,
assuming that NRCS can get the Conservation Plan done. The big thing with the emergency haying
is that people sometimes forget that it needs to be requested, paperwork that needs to be signed, and
NRCS has to do a Conservation Plan of Operations modification that needs to be approved by the
FSA County Committee or herself before they can start the managed haying/grazing process.
Landowners need to make sure that the haying and grazing requests with FSA get approved prior to
cutting of the hay. FSA has been contacting the producers by telephone to let them know that their
haying/grazing plans have been approved. They will also get a letter mailed to them, which takes
more time. Haying must be done by August 31st and the bales must be removed within 15 days of
baling it.
FSA is still finishing up with some crop reporting. If any crop reports are causing changes with the
ARC/PLC contracts with the change of shares the producer will be contacted for such revisions. The
revisions are due by the middle of September.
The Federal governments fiscal year ends September 30th. Lots of end of year clean-up is being
done at this time.
Can producers charge for the bales that are removed from the CRP acres? There is nothing in the
provisions that say that they can not charge. What is the penalty to cutting hay prior to getting
approval from the FSA office? It is considered a violation and is usually a per acre reduction of
payment. The first day that a producer could cut the CRP acres for hay was August 2nd. Spot mow
and spot spray can be done during the nesting season to control noxious weeds and woody
vegetation with approval of county committee to get approved.
Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Gary Northouse to adjourn to Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 9:00
a.m. The meeting is scheduled for Room#264, County Board Room for Committee Members, and the
Public participation will be by Zoom only. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted by Annette Lolwing for Lester Jantzen