Allen County commissioners Dick Works and Gary McIntosh said Tuesday they would decide later whether to support a proposal for Humboldt to have zoning control of land in nearby rural areas. Commissioner Rob Francis was out of town for Tuesday’s commission meeting.
Humboldt Mayor Bob Sharp said the zoning would permit Humboldt to “have some say-so about what goes on around us,” particularly in efforts to encourage housing development.
The proposal, not yet specifically defined, is for 10 to 12 sections of land north and east of town. None is west of the Neosho River, which is designated as floodplains, or to the south, which is occupied by Monarch Cement’s plant and quarries.
“Our focus is where it is because that’s where growth is likely to occur,” said City Administrator Larry Tucker. “We have no plans for annexation,” he added, and that extraterritorial zoning was a common practice across Kansas.
Having the area under Humboldt’s thumb would not affect most agricultural pursuits, Sharp said in answer to a question from Works, except that it would discourage such things as “hog houses and feedlots.”
The primary difference, Tucker said, would be that construction within the zone would require a building permit issued by the city and that it would be policed by the city’s code enforcement officer.
“We want to grow the city and anticipate that population could increase by as many as 500 people in the next 10 to 20 years,” he said. “We can’t grow that much within the city limits.”
If commissioners agree to relinquish county zoning control in favor of Humboldt’s, the first step would be a hearing before the county’s zoning board. All landowners within the area, as well as those living within a quarter mile, would be given opportunities to weigh in, with commissioners making the ultimate decision. Humboldt’s zoning board also would have a role in the process.
THE COUNTY’S special bridge fund, with predicted expenditures next year of $603,000 and depending on a levy of 5.405 mills, may be pared to help bring the 2011 spending plan’s total levy in line with this year’s.
The county’s preliminary budget, handed commissioners last week, included a levy of 79.398 mills, 14.885 mills more than this year’s 64.513. Commissioners then promised to reduce the proposed levy to as close to this year’s as possible by a public hearing Aug. 17 for the budget.
A levy of 1 mill raises $1 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. A house with a market value of $100,000 is assessed at $11,500, meaning a 1-mill levy raises $11.50.
Bill King, director of public works, said work on the new bridge on old U.S. 169 at the Allen-Neosho counties line would eat into the fund, perhaps by $100,000, and that $300,000 probably would be required for construction of a new bridge over Indian Creek east of Neosho Falls, anticipated in a year or two.
The levy was 2.409 mills this year. King said efforts were made to build up the fund over several years to deal with significant projects.
He also said $25,000 set aside annually for replacement of road signs — there are 1,100 intersections in the county — might not be sufficient to meet a federal mandate that requires that signs meet certain reflectivity standards.
Next week the county’s road reclaimer will be used to chew up roadway south of K-224, just west of U.S. 169 and east of Humboldt, and near the old Zillah School, five miles east of Humboldt, preparatory for surfacing.
King also noted that political candidates had been careless about putting their signs on county rights of way, a violation.
JASON NELSON, ambulance director, told commissioners county ambulances and crews stationed in Iola should be in their new quarters at 410 N. State St. by Friday.
Sheriff Tom Williams, in reviews of the sheriff’s, jail and emergency management budgets, said the overall increase was less than 3 percent, with all additional expenses dictated by personnel services.
