The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday morning and approved four conditional use permits. Two of the permits were for septic systems for garages/shops at lake homes. Another permit was for the construction of an accessory structure/shop, and the fourth permit was for the construction of self-storage sheds just outside of Fertile.
CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS –
The commissioners received information about the four conditional use permits from Jacob Snyder, Director of Planning and Zoning for the county.
The first conditional use permit approved was for John Bohm. He is looking to build a garage larger than 800 square feet on a lot on Maple Lake. Snyder proposed approval with stipulations, including it cannot be used for a living quarters. Board unanimously approved.
A conditional use permit was requested by Tim Brinkman. He would like to hook an existing septic system to a new accessory structure on Oak Lake, near the Win-E-Mac School in Erskine. Brinkman said they would have minimal use in the workshop. The board unanimously approved.
A conditional use permit was requested by Troy Erickson. He is looking at hooking a new septic system to an accessory structure on a back lot on Union Lake. The lot is 103 feet wide and 184 feet deep. Erickson would hook it up to a 40 by 60 foot shed that was built last year and they would like to have a bathroom in the shed. The board unanimously approved.
The four conditional use permit was requested by Aaron Swenby for three self-storage unit buildings on 2.435 acres of land in Section 21 of Garfield Township. The land is right next to the Catholic Church on the southeast edge of Fertile (just outside the city limits). The proposed self-storage buildings would be 32-feet by 120 feet, 32 feet by 100 feet, and 32 feet by 80 feet. Swenby would be required to plant trees around the buildings and the sign can’t be over 10 feet in height and cannot be located in the right-away.
Plans are to construct one building per year. Swenby will landscape the property and it will be well lit. The board unanimously approved the permit. “We put in several stipulations to address how it could affect neighboring properties,” said Snyder. “The biggest one was the water and stormwater area collection. We wanted to figure out a way that we could push it to the northwest so we’re not pushing excess water onto the septic system to the south by the church. And anything that happens to the east with the residential lots in the area. We also put in a condition that they would need to spade in some pine trees and some shrubs to make it aesthetically pleasing and some conditions addressing outdoor lighting.”
With property and homeowners looking at doing work around their homes and lake homes, Snyder asks residents if they are looking at doing projects to contact his office beforehand. “Give us a call. Some dirt work things do require permits if they are in excess of certain volumes and any landscaping practices such as adding pavers,” said Snyder. “Sometimes it isn’t something we permit but it is something we can guide you on with some best management practice stuff like not doing it on the shoreline and working with you if you need or permit or not. Call early so we can get you all the information you need and if it is special permitting stuff you need, that stuff can take some time because there is a public hearing required. You need to get an application in 25 days in before the meeting.”
DESIRE TO LEARN PLATFORM
Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese informed the board that they will be using $14,000 of their budget to go to the Regional Prevention Coordinator that deals with substance abuse for 13 area counties. The money is in the budget because they saved money on a lack of travel costs because of COVID. Reese said she wanted to be transparent because it was a significant amount of money. “Because of COVID we weren’t traveling so we had a very large travel budget that the DHS and Regional Prevention Coordinators would like to instead use for this contract. We still have to meet the training requirements,” said Reese. “It is a one-time $14,00 payment that will go to the contract and no Polk County dollars will be used, it will all be from the DHS.”
