The Adrian City Council met in council chambers on Monday, February 25th at 7:00 p.m. All members and department heads were present.
First on the agenda was County Commissioner Gene Metz. The County is purposing changes to the setback ordinances for animal barns. Right now the setback is 1 mile from any city limit, including churches, cemeteries and parks. The County is purposing to change the setback to 3/4 of a mile for a single 1000 unit barn. The larger double barns would remain at the present setback. Commissioner Metz commented that most barns have been granted some sort of variance. He also explained that the younger generation of farmers that wish to get into farming, start with barns and are buying land from the family. New regulations would allow for family to family sale and building without the restrictions applied now. After some discussion, the Council decided to draft a letter to the County Commissioners opposing the new regulations as far as the city limit setback is concerned. The motion passed.
A discussion was held on the purchase of the land adjacent to the city’s water wells. Bruce informed the Council that he has been in communication with the landowner as well as state agencies to help with the purchase of the land. He stated that he wanted to see the cities cash flow stay at a reasonable level and is hoping the city can find sources to obtain funding for purchasing at least the thirty two acres nearest the wells. As of now, discussions are being held as to how much land the owner is willing to sell and how much help the City could expect to get from state agencies. He reminded the members that this all would take time.
Work on the Senior Dining Center’s new home in the EMS building is coming along. They are presently working on plumbing. No time frame was given for completion.
The Suedkamp addition was discussed. Bruce informed the Council as to what marketing was being done. There was discussion on the signage on the edges of the addition and if they were in the most visible spots. It was decided to wait until the snow had melted and then take a look at placement. It also came up about the values of the lots in the addition. Bruce explained how the values were determined. He stated that it looked as though the addition as a whole was being looked at as a new “sub-division” and not a part of the existing city. He commented that there was a shortage of assessors for the County and that there could possibly be a change in how land is assessed. He will be staying on top of this and hopes to get the lots valued according to the land around it.
A discussion was held on the franchise agreement with Vast Communications. A suggestion was made to check out other town agreements that have different providers to see how they are handled. This will be revisited.
The Council approved a temporary on-sale liquor license for Adrian Town and Country as well as a renewal of the optional liquor license for the Sport’s Page.
There being no more business, the meeting was adjourned.
