MINUTES OF THE EUREKA CITY PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
February 19, 2009

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mick Simenc at 7:00 p.m. and roll call taken.  Present were Hinnen, Cuffe and Wertz.  Mr. Knepp was absent.

The minutes of the January 15, 2009 were moved for approval by Mr. Cuffe, second by Hinnen.  All voted yes.

The public hearing for the variance request by Russ Discarpentrie to reduce the side yard lot requirements from six feet to two and one-half feet for the William Glass property located at 121 Glen Drive (lot 7 – Aikman Acres) was held.  The commission discussed the request to reduce the side yard to two and one-half feet.  The consensus was that the commission did not want to grant the variance and that Mr. Discarpentrie would need to re-plat lots 6 and 7 at Aikman Ackers to acquire the needed 3.5 feet for lot 7 to meet the City’s side yard requirement of six (6) feet.  Mr. Discarpentrie has already made an offer and signed papers to purchase lot 6 in Aikman Ackers next to the lot in question due to the error in the side yard requirement on lot 7.  There will be no occupancy permit issued until the lot is platted showing the six (6) foot side yard.  It was moved by Mr. Cuffe to approve the request to reduce the side yard lot requirements from six feet to two and one-half feet for the William Glass property located at 121 Glen Drive (lot 7 – Aikman Acres).  Second Mr. Hinnen.  Roll Call taken - Cuffe – no, Hinnen – no – Wertz – no Simenc- no.   Motion failed.

Discussed was the request from Ed Klaus to place an 18 inch round by 6 foot long propane tank in his rear yard to run his generator when there is a power failure.  The current City code does not regulate propane tanks therefore the commission did not have an objection to the placement of the tank in the rear yard to be used for his generator.  The new code covers LP tanks.

The Commission discussed the request from Eureka Community Hospital to construct a communication tower.  The Hospital will use the tower to improve electronic communications between BroMenn Hospital in Bloomington and Eureka Community Hospital.  There were no towers in the area that the Hospital could use that would support the 6 (six) foot dish that is to be mounted at the top of the 125 foot tower to provide the communication needs of the data to be transferred back and forth between the facilities.  It was moved by Mr. Cuffe and second by Wertz to approve the tower location and construction.  All voted yes.

The commission reviewed the plat presented by the Kupferschmid’ to subdivide a lot at the corner of North Main and Church Road.  This is within the one and one-half mile of the City jurisdiction.  The commission questioned the 2.5 acres +/-.  There was nothing that stated that the acreage was 2.5 plus and that the lot was not less than 2.5 acres as required by City code. This has been a problem in the past as with odd shaped lots to determine if the property is actually a minimum of two and one-half (2 ½) acres.  This property is also odd shaped and the minus (-) sign could mean the lot is less than the minimum of two and one-half (2 ½) acres.  The City reduced the minimum lot requirement from twenty (20) acres to two and one-half
(2 ½) acres and will not allow less. Mr. Cuffe state he would accept a plat that stated it was 2.51 or if the engineer certified that the property was a minimum of 2.5 acres and not less than that.   This would place the liability on the Engineer. It was moved by Cuffe to approve the plan as presented, second Wertz..  Second Mr. Hinnen.  Roll call taken - Cuffe – no, Hinnen – no – Wertz – no Simenc- no.   Motion failed.

Mark Maloney discussed the possibility of an increase in building permit fees and to include interior remodeling to be permitted and inspected.  He provided several fee structures from other communities which the commission will take under advisement.   Mr. Cuffe also brought the fee structure for Washington.   Mark explained that now there is one fee with the builder providing the estimated cost to figure the permit fee.  An example is the 4-plex and the duplexes being constructed at College Park Subdivision building permit costs were only separated by $50.  He will have 4 buildings to inspect for the same cost for two in the duplexes.  He felt there needs to be a building permit fee for each unit per building or inspection fee for each.  There is also no additional fee if Mark has to go back and recheck something that was not completed correctly by the builder in the initial inspection.  He also would like to see the City change the time frame to complete a building permit from two years to one.  The longer time period is difficult to track.  Mark would also like anyone picking up a permit to contact him for instructions prior to his signing off on the permit.  Mr. Cuffe stated that there is a lot to these inspections and that Mark should be compensated fairly for the work he does.  Mr. Cuffe asked Mark to prepare a proposal to bring to the Commission and to the City Administration Committee for discussion.

It was moved by Simenc and second by Wertz to table the discussion on the supplemental section of the zoning code until next month.

Simenc moved for adjournment at 8:30.

Respectfully Submitted

Anne L. Sandvik