Thursday, August 05, 2010
 
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Regional planning commission looks at possible restructuring

Director's position eliminated

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[August 05, 2010]  With Logan County Board budget hearings to begin later this month, regional planning commission chairman Bill Martin had a tentative budget totaling $41,282 in revenues and expenses for the coming fiscal year. However, Martin told commission members that he was unsure if this would be the budget submitted as there are currently many options and decisions to be made.

The Logan County Regional Planning Commission was established by ordinance of the Logan County Board in the late 1960s. The commission's board is all volunteer, but it has one salaried employee to carry out directives and who manages the enterprise zone. It is funded by participating municipalities and is a stand-alone entity with its own tax ID.

Due to changing times and technology advancements, such as the geographic information system, the county's planning and zoning needs have gradually changed.

Also, the city of Lincoln reduced its annual commitment from $17,500 to $10,000.

The primary expense in the budget has been the director's salary. Planning director Phil Mahler was given 30-days' notice on Wednesday afternoon that his position is being eliminated. Mahler's primary work has been managing the enterprise zone.

The budget also includes some operational and functional costs.

Martin said that he would be meeting with various people including county board chairman Terry Carlton, finance chairman Chuck Ruben, county highway engineer Bret Aukamp, who is currently directing the GIS work, and others to try to figure out what is best at this time.

"We may dissolve this and then put it back together. What I'd really like to see is us lose our independent identity," Martin said.

By reorganizing under the county, the planning commission could then come under the county's insurance and that would benefit the salaried employee, Martin said. The commission's budget would then be incorporated into the county budget, and this would provide a bookkeeping benefit as well. If reorganized, the commission may even get a new name more reflective of its changes, Martin thought.

Other discussion of the evening revolved around GIS-related topics.

County engineer Bret Aukamp reported that there is a movement by McLean Tri-County Regional Planning to have new aerial photography conducted. McLean is looking to surrounding counties to band together for the project in hopes of getting better pricing for the work. Municipalities would be contacted as well and offered to upgrade their photos to 6-foot-per-inch pixel size. The project would take place in 2011.

Logan County had its current aerial photography performed in 2004, which was then parcel-mapped and prepared for the base layer of the county's GIS.

While there are aerial photos on the Web that are available to anyone, Aukamp said that he gets calls from developers who are willing to purchase the better photos that he has. They ask for aerial first, then the parcel mapping with its parcel lines, and lastly, contour maps.

Martin commented that when Lexington was preparing to put in a new sewer system, photos taken there with topography cost $40,000. The costs were recouped in savings as engineers were able to design the whole system without even setting foot on the ground.

Aukamp said that the Illinois Department of Transportation has begun taking the more expensive aerial photos of some counties, which would provide topography. He felt that eventually this would be done in the entire state, and it might be worth waiting for the state on that.

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In the meantime, pooling resources with IDOT, the U.S. Geological Survey and other counties may be a great opportunity, Aukamp said.

Zoning officer Will D'Andrea is currently working with Illinois State University on getting the county's zoning map overlay prepared for GIS application. D'Andrea explained in an early meeting with the county board's planning and zoning committee that he has encountered a number of errors between maps and documentation. Corrections are being made, but it will be a slow process.

On another matter, Martin explained that there may be a change in the enterprise zone.

The Lincoln Community High School board recently voted to step-down their participation in the Lincoln and Logan County Enterprise Zone. Rather than relieving 100 percent of the property tax increase they would receive on a new development in the first five years and 50 percent the second five years, they would allow 50 percent abatement in both the first and second five-year increments.

"While we don't necessarily like to see that, we're trying to be somewhat understanding of their position at this time. We'll probably have more conversations with them on that in the future," Martin said.

Details of how and when this would begin are being looked into.

Present for Wednesday evening's meeting were Martin, Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder, Gerald Lolling, Dean Sasse, Dave Hepler, Bill Graff, Mount Pulaski Mayor Jim Fuhrer, Derrick Crane and visitor Gene Rohlfs.

[By JAN YOUNGQUIST]

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