Meeting Information
-Convene
-Pledge of Allegiance
CONSENT AGENDA
(1) (a) Consider approval of Commission Orders
(b) Consider approval of Resolution concerning reimbursement of County employees
for the use of their personal motor vehicles for County business (Pam Madl)
(c) Consider approval of Douglas County Mitigation Plan (Paula Phillips)
REGULAR AGENDA
(2) Planning Item (deferred from <1/2xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Wednesday, September 14, 2005): Z-07-47-05: Request to rezone a tract of land approximately 10.09 acres from A (Agricultural) District to A-1 (Suburban Residential) District. The property is generally described as being located at 771 Highway 40. Submitted by Elnora Burggraf, property owner of record. (Paul Patterson)
(3) Discussion of possible resolution, prohibiting the keeping of dogs on property not occupied by owner of the dogs.
(4) Consider waiving Purchasing Policy requirements for acquisition of professional services for Bridge Deck Replacement Project on Kansas River Bridge at Lecompton; Bridge No. 21.30-06.15/Project No. 2005-11 (Keith Browning)
(5) Consider request received from Scott Chesbro for an entrance onto Route 1-E at Lone Jones called the meeting to order at 8:36 A.M. on Monday, September 19, 2005 with two members present. McElhaney was absent. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
CONSENT AGENDA 09-19-05
Jones moved approval of the following Consent Agenda:
- Approve Resolution No. 05-29 concerning reimbursement of County employees for the use of their personal motor vehicles for County business; and
- Approve Douglas County Mitigation Plan.
Motion was seconded by Johnson and carried unanimously.
PLANNING 09-19-05
On September 14, 2005, the Board tabled Z-07-47-05: Request to rezone a tract of land approximately 10.09 acres from A (Agricultural) District to A-1 (Suburban Residential) District. The property is generally described as being located at 771 Highway 40. Submitted by Elnora Burggraf, property owner of record. The Board had requested that staff research claims that 767 Road was a private road since they preferred that the applicant take access off of E 767 Road instead of Highway 40. Keith Browning, Director of Public Works/County Engineer, stated that E 767 Road south of US Highway 40 is a private road. Discussions with Rick Prosser, owner, indicated he was not interested in granting permission for access since he had plans to build a house in the near future.
Jones stated that he was not supportive of the rezoning request since access would be taken off of Highway 40 and it is a non-contiguous piece of property.
Johnson stated that while he didn't disagree, she already has access to the road and the reason she requested the rezoning is really the Genesis of the 5-acre exemption. He said he believed that she should be allowed a shared access and he would be inclined to support the request.
It was the consensus of the Board to place this item on the Consent Agenda on Wednesday, September 21 when McElhaney would be present. No action was taken.
MISCELLANEOUS & RESOLUTIONS 09-19-05
The Board discussed the possible adoption of a resolution prohibiting the keeping of dogs on property not occupied by the owner of the dogs. Midge Grinstead, Director of the Lawrence Humane Society, was present for the discussion. Grinstead noted that adopting such a resolution might be difficult to support for a number of reasons.
Jones stated he thought that an additional position had been approved for the Sheriff's Department with the understanding that a portion of that position would go to vicious dog enforcement. He requested that information be provided as to how much time is spent on that type of enforcement and to check to see whether additional manpower is available.
It was the consensus of the Board to table this item until a later date when the Sheriff was available. No action was taken.
PUBLIC WORKS & ZONING 09-19-05
Paul Davis appeared before the Board on behalf of Scott Chesbro to request approval of an entrance permit onto E 715 Road, which is a road within Lone Star Lake Park. Davis noted that Phil Metsker previously requested the entrance permit which was considered and denied by the Board in 2004. (See minutes dated October 4, 2004, October 13, 2004, November 22, 2004, and December 1, 2004 for details.) Mr. Chesbro discussed this situation with the Board on March 21, 2005. Mr. Chesbro is now making a formal request for an entrance to his property. Davis pointed out that in 1996 and entrance permit was granted to the previous owners (Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Fishburn) of Mr. Chesbro's property. This permit was for a field entrance because the Fishburns were farming the property. However, the Fishburns elected not to act on the permit and construct an entrance. In addition, a residential entrance permit for adjacent property to the north was granted before Chesbro's property was divided off of it.
Davis stated that he wanted to make it clear that Mr. Chesbro's immediate intentions are to restore the existing barn, which would include electricity and water. He has no intentions to construct a residence at this time or to sell or subdivide the property. Because Mr. Chesbro did not know what he might do in the future, however, he did not simply want an agricultural field access permit. Davis also noted that there are entrances off of the road to almost every other property that abuts Lone Star Park, so there is some precedence for granting permits.
Davis pointed out that Mr. Chesbro's property line isn't just adjacent to Lone Star Lake Park -- it crosses onto the road. A surveyor hired by a previous landowner painted a mark on the road where the property line abuts the road. Davis stated that this mark was later moved 6-8 inches by the County's surveyor after further inspection. However, the mark still lies on the edge of the asphalt. Davis stated that Kansas courts have made it clear that if a landowner's property line abuts a public road, the landowner is entitled to access onto the road. The question hinges upon whether the park road is a "public road." Davis said that the issue is a little grey, but that he believes that it is a public road.
Without access from this road, Mr. Chesbro has to take access off of a township road that is designated as minimum maintenance and is in very poor condition, particularly in periods of rain and snow. If Mr. Chesbro were to upgrade the road, the cost is estimated to be $150,000. If the Board is willing to grant an access permit, Davis stated that Mr. Chesbro will be sensitive to restrictions on the subdivision of property using this access point and would accommodate any limitations. In addition, Mr. Chesbro would be agreeable to relocate the entrance location to a better location than the actual point where his property touches the road.
Johnson stated that he understood why this entrance was requested onto the Lone Star Lake Park road, but also understood what that could do to market the property. He felt that this property was not being denied access, even though the access isn't very good. Mr. Chesbro purchased it as-is and the seller and purchaser knew it would be difficult to get access from the Lone Star Lake Park road. He noted that he thought it was unfortunate that the original permit was issued and pointed out that he did not have the opportunity to vote on it at that time. He stated that he would have voted against the access permit request if he had the opportunity to vote on it back then. That it was voted on back then underscores that if there is any precedent, it is that the Commission has the opportunity to vote on the issue, not that the landowner automatically receives an access permit.
Jones agreed. He said there are lots of properties that have their only access off of a minimum maintenance road. If they want to build, they have to upgrade the road.
Davis argued that on the basis of consistency, the permit has to be granted. While he understood that the Commission didn't make that prior decision, precedence was set by a previous Commission.
Jones made a motion to deny the request for a residential access permit. Motion was seconded by Johnson and the motion carried. McElhaney was not present at the meeting and did not vote.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 09-19-05
Jones moved approval of accounts payable in the amount of $504,149.22 to be paid 09/19/05; accounts payable manual checks in the amount of $566.06; payroll in the amount of $631,191.55; electronic funds transfers in the amounts of $46,343.50 for FICA and $43,465.73 for KPERS to be paid 09/02/05; payroll in the amount of $645,542.64; and electronic funds transfers in the amounts of $47,428.49 for FICA and $44,433.59 for KPERS to be paid 09/16/05. Motion was seconded by Johnson and carried.
MISCELLANEOUS 09-19-05
At 10:00 A.M., Jones made a motion that the Board recess to go into executive session for 30 minutes with Craig Weinaug, County Administrator; Pam Madl, Assistant County Administrator; Keith Dabney, Director of Zoning and Codes, and Michael Seck, Special Counsel, to discuss potential litigation. Motion was seconded by Johnson and carried.
At 10:30 A.M., Jones made a motion to extend the executive session for an additional 15 minutes. Motion was seconded by Johnson and carried. The Board returned to regular session at 10:45 A.M. No action was taken.
Jones made a motion to adjourn; Johnson seconded and the motion carried.
_____________________________ _____________________________
Charles Jones, Chairman Bob Johnson, Member
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Jamie Shew, County Clerk
Time and Date