County  of  Antrim

PLANNING  COMMISSION

Jill Barnard

Al Luurtsema, Chairman

 

Jim Gurr

Joe Allen

Tom Maleck, Vice-Chair

 

Laura Stanek

Barbara Bradford

Alan Martel, Secretary

 

Marshall  Wright

 

Terry Morris

 

 

Minutes

February 5, 2008

7:00 p.m.

Antrim County Building - Board of Commissioners Room

 

Members Present:

 

Jim Gurr, Joe Allen, Al Luurtsema, Barb Bradford, Jill Barnard, Laura Stanek Terry Morris, Tom Maleck, and Marshall Wright

Members Absent:

 

Alan Martel

Advisory Present:

 

None

Staff and Others:

 

Joe Meyers and Pete Garwood

Audience Present:

 

None

 

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

2.       Public Comment

 

None.

3.       Minutes

 

Discussion ensued over corrections to the minutes.

 

Motion by Barb Bradford, supported by Joe Allen, to approve the January 8, 2008 minutes as amended.  Motion carried – unanimous.

4.       Soil Erosion Ordinance

 

Al Luurtsema spoke on how the Board of Commissioners would be having a public hearing on

February 14, 2008 at 9:45. 

 

Joe Meyers informed the Committee of the public notice regarding the Soil Erosion Public Hearing.

 

Jim Gurr indicated that he endorses the ordinance.

 

Barb Bradford spoke on all the hard work and the diligence that the committee put towards working on this ordinance.

 

Discussion ensued over the ordinance as a whole and the changes that were made.

 

Joe Allen inquired about the interpretation of the agriculture section in ordinance.

 

Marshall inquired about mining being excluded. 

 

The Committee discussed what was different from the ordinance and Part 91 of state law. 

 

Jill complemented the Committee on all of their hard work.

 

Discussion ensued over what beach nourishment was. 

 

Barb thanked Al Martel and Heidi Lang for all their hard work. 

 

Motion by Terry Morris, supported by Jill Barnard to recommend the Board of Commissioners approve the Soil Erosion Ordinance, with the following changes:

  1. Deletion of Section 3-204.3 (Post holes for fencing, decks, utility posts, mailboxes, or similar applications, if no additional grading or earth change occurs of the post holes) because it is a duplicate. 
  2. Changing of 3-204 to read “A residential propriety owner who causes the following activities to be conducted on the individual property owned and occupied by him or her, if the earth change activities do not result in or contribute to soil erosion or sedimentation of the waters of the state, a discharge offsite, a discharge of stormwater at a different location, and/or at a great velocity do NOT require a permit.  Such activities include:

Motion carried Unanimous.

 

5.      Various Matters

 

Barb Bradford spoke on how Kearney Township might be attending our next meeting to speak with NLEA. 

 

Al Luurtsema asked Jill Barnard to give a presentation on Solid Waste and Recycling.  Jill will discuss this further with Joe Meyers and they will report back to the Planning Commission.

 

Barb would like to have a regional discussion regarding issues involving Northern Michigan.

 

The Planning Commission would like a copy of all correspondence sent to townships.

 

6.      Public/Member Comment

 

Joe Allen spoke on the good job the Soil Erosion Committee did on the Soil Erosion Ordinance.

 

Tom Maleck spoke on the USAID Program and what he would like to see the county do.  Discussion ensued over the program.

 

Al Luurtsema spoke on the amount of mortgage foreclosures throughout the county.

 

Barb asked the Planning Commission to write a letter to Wal-mart and Meijer asking them to look at Antrim County as a store location.

 

Jim Gurr did research on historic wells in Antrim County and discussed his findings.  He also spoke on how Elk Rapids Township responded to our correspondence regarding their Zoning Ordinance.

 

Jill Barnard returned to the Wal-mart/Meijer discussion and said she would not like her name associated with inviting them to Antrim County.  Jill also spoke on how challenging taking the Planning Commission minutes are.

 

Terry Morris spoke on how important it would be to have someone (part-time secretary) take the minutes at each meeting.

 

 

Pete Garwood spoke on the planning commission minutes.  He also discussed the Alba Injection Well and the NLEA.

 

Discussion ensued over the USAID.

 

Barb spoke again on inviting Wal-mart and Meijer to Antrim County.

 

Discussion ensued over Big Box Developments (Wal-mart & Meijer).

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

 

 

 

Submitted and Approved

 

 

Alan Martel, Secretary       Date:

Antrim County Planning Commission