Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

County commission reviews economic development plan

by Kenneth Lassiter

County commissioners sat down with members of the county’s economic development commission Monday to discuss the EDC’s work to promote the county.

Economic Development Director Jim McGrath and three members of the EDC – Terry Taylor, Shirley Walbridge and EDC chairman Mike Carmona – were present to talk about economic development in the county as requested by commissioners.

Commissioners said they wanted to discuss plans for next year with the EDC and they were provided with a sheet listing the EDC’s intentions to spend 70 percent of its time on “enterprise facilitation” including working with present and prospective businesses in the county, 15 percent of the time on infrastructure to generate more revenue and activity in the county, and 15 percent on tourism efforts in the county.

The sheet states the county’s 2008 EDC budget of $42,220 allows the EDC to operate its office in the basement an average of 18.3 hours a week, 40 weeks a year, which means McGrath is only paid for that amount of time on the job and is required to take 12 weeks off every year.

Commissioners asked McGrath if he had any figures on how much is spent by tourists in the county each year. McGrath said he knows between 600,000 and 800,000 people visit Perry Lake each year, which puts the county sixth or seventh in the state in terms of visitors, but he can’t put a dollar figure to that without going into much speculation. Commissioners said they would like to see more emphasis on bringing homes and businesses into the county rather than tourism.

McGrath said there is some development ongoing but most people that move to the county aren’t families with children. McGrath gave commissioners a copy of a new county brochure promoting the lake and other attractions. Commissioner Don Edmonds said he would like to see a similar brochure produced promoting the county’s schools.

“We need families coming in,” Edmonds said.

Commissioner David Christy said he sees a great deal of development going on in Shawnee and Douglas counties and doesn’t understand why there’s no similar “boom” in Jefferson County.

“I think we have just as much to offer as (Shawnee and Douglas counties),” Christy said.

Christy said he would like to see more subdivisions as well as small businesses and families moving into the county. The EDC officials agreed, although economical factors were discussed as part of the problem. McGrath said gas prices have some effect on people’s choices on whether to move to Jefferson County. McGrath said some of the activity with small businesses in the county is also out of the EDC’s control.

“There’s no way we can keep a business from closing if somebody is wanting to retire or go out of business,” McGrath said.

McGrath and the EDC officials said they feel their efforts are effective but they could do more with more money to work with. Commissioners said they thought the EDC could be doing more and asked the officials to work on a new plan of ideas with, perhaps, the idea of more money in the mix.

Commissioners also Monday discussed a zoning change and conditional use permit for a home and potential small business in Nortonville.

Sharon Tootle and Demity Piranian have requested a change in zoning from suburban residential to the even-smaller R1 single family residential classification for her home just off K-4 on Osage Street in Nortonville. Tootle’s home sits north of Bob Leflet’s service station and was the site of a fire in December 2008 that gutted the structure.

Eloise Tichenor, planning and zoning director, said the county had received a report in June that construction was ongoing on the property without a building permit and Tichenor had sent a letter to Tootle asking for construction to stop. Tootle said she stopped the work when the letter arrived and Tichenor said she and Tootle met to discuss the matter. Tootle decided to apply for a zoning change and a conditional use permit to bring the .7-acre parcel into compliance and also provide for her to open a flowers, plants and vegetable stand on the property once construction is finished. The City of Nortonville had recommended denial of the changes but the planning and zoning commission recommended approval of the zoning change.

Shirley “Peachie” Weishaar of Nortonville was on hand to speak in support of Tootle and said she should be allowed to put a business at the location. Nortonville Mayor David Schneider was present to voice the city’s position and said the city’s main concern is that Tootle hadn’t taken down the fire damaged structure prior to beginning new construction on the home. He said the city would also like to annex the property into its limits but Tootle has been opposed to it. He said there also was no access agreement between the city and Tootle for the water and sewer services that had been present at the property.

Edmonds said the city appears to have the upper hand in negotiating with Tootle but the commission and planning and zoning commission shouldn’t be used as a tool to force her into any action in that case. Commissioner Francis Grollmes said if the city forces Tootle into annexation, as Schneider stated may be a possibility, another nearby landowner should also be forced into the city through annexation.

Commissioners stated concerns about the construction of new parts of the house along with the fire-damaged sections but said that issue is separate from the zoning. They voted unanimously to approve the zoning change on the matter.

As to the conditional use permit for Tootle’s proposed flower stand, the planning and zoning commission had recommended denial because of the safety of the structure. Commissioners asked Tootle to have the old part of the structure removed before continuing construction of the new home and tabled the conditional use permit until such time as the house is finished and ready for the business.