HOWARD COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS – SPECIAL CALLED MEETING –

COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN – APRIL 1, 2003

A Special Called Meeting of the Howard County Board of Commissioners and County Council was held on Tuesday, April 1, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. in Hearing Room No. 101 of the Howard County Governmental Building. The purpose of the meeting was to allow community leaders the opportunity to share ideas regarding the county comprehensive planning process. Those in attendance were as follows:

HOWARD COUNTY BOARD HOWARD COUNTY COUNCIL: OTHERS PRESENT:

OF COMMISSIONERS:

John B. Harbaugh, Vice President James Papacek, Vice President Larry Murrell, Co. Attor.

Paul J. Raver, Member & County Plan Commission Pres. Mark Fulk, Pres. James, Shearer, Councilman Russiaville Leslie Ellison, Councilman Town Board

Stanley Ortman, Councilman Jean Lushin, Center

Township Trustee &

Cand. For Mayor

HOWARD COUNTY Robert Whitacre, How.

PLAN COMMISSION County Solid Waste

Kathy Harbaugh,

Glen Boise, Director Realtors Assoc. of

James Papacek, (listed above) Central Indiana, Inc.

Max Custer, Member Jeff Hodges, Builder Cheryl Graham, Member Scott Maple, Maple

Michael Imbler, Member Farms

Rollin Matchmes, Member/ Ext. Agent Robert McKean, Howard

James Miller, Member County Home Builders

Assoc.

Michael Ullery, Builder Jolene Rule, Wildcat

Creek Guardians

Jeff Steers, WIOU/WZWZ Radio

Katie Burns, Kokomo

Tribune

Lynn Bolinger, Teacher & Cand. For Mayor

Mike Kanable, President

Russiaville Plan Com.

Greg Lake, Dept. of Health

Martha Lake, County

Auditor

County Comissioner Bradley Bagwell and Council Members Richard Miller, Jeffrey Stout and Dwight Stinger were unable to attend this meeting. It was noted that there were no City government representatives present.

Plan Commission Director Glen Boise opened the meeting and turned control of the discussion over to Ms. Kelli Lawrence, Planner from Ground Rules Inc. of Indianapolis. A Project Overview sheet was provided, outlining project goals and basic components of the Comprehensive Plan, which included a schedule of public meeting dates. Ms. Lawrence directed the introductions of those in attendance. Ms. Lawrence estimated it would take approximately 9 to 16 months to complete the first draft of the comprehensive plan. Some of the issues to consider would be:

· What are the County’s strengths and weaknesses?

· What areas do we need to work on or change?

· How do people outside of our area perceive our community?

· How would our Community like to be perceived?

· What percentage of measurable growth do we want to achieve?

· Where would we like to see our land use development in 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years?

· What information is needed to make these decisions?

She then opened the floor for participation and comments from those in attendance, not confining the discussion, but welcoming any and all thoughts relative to planning needs.

Commisioner Harbaugh commented that the community would greatly benefit by working toward offering the best school system and educated workforce in the state. Jeff Hodges felt City and County governments should collaborate in extending the infrastructure, especially storm and sanitary sewers, into the county to promote prosperous growth. Mr. Hodges also suggested creating a county sewer district and promoting the proper applications of on-site sewer systems. These changes would generate cost effective building sites.

Mr. Mike Imbler suggested the establishment of incentives to attract new business such as tax breaks, free utilities for industries and land at low or no cost. He said what we are currently doing is not working. We need to be creative and make changes in order to move forward.

Many people on this steering committee agreed that the community would benefit from a new spirit of cooperation between the City and County governments. Councilman Les Ellison assured that City and County government is working well together and has worked together well in the past on many community based projects.

Mr. Jeff Steers recommended taking the proposed upgrades of U.S. 31 into consideration when preparing the comprehensive plan. Mr. Glen Boise anticipates receiving the results of environmental impact studies soon and meetings will be held later this year to discuss these issues. The Committee briefly considered the impact, if any, from the proposed I-69 road project.

The Committee contemplated various goals and how to go about reaching them.

Auditor Martha Lake said the tax breaks and other incentives sound good, but the county does not always have the resources to offer incentives. The money would have to be provided from within the community. There is a price to pay for this type of growth. There needs to be some research and education regarding where the finances would come from.

A comment was made that Kokomo’s quality of life is better than most crowded communities. Mr. Stan Ortman said the community is geographically located, having a stone quarry, train terminal and various other indemnities. There are a couple of public reservoirs nearby. We are strategically located in that residents can find a large variety of things to do within an hour’s drive or less from Kokomo.

Mr. Michael Ullery thinks the county has done very well without a comprehensive plan in place. He stated that perhaps the community should consider whether a plan is actually needed. Mr. Scott Maple suggested identifying soil types before deciding which areas are prime farm ground that should be preserved. Both Mr. Ullery and Mr. Maple stated concerns about protection of property owners’ rights.

Mrs. Jolene Rule addressed water quality issues relating to the Wildcat Creek and its tributaries. She said that farmers have already implemented buffer strips to filter out pesticides and animal waste to help protect the water quality in streams. Mrs. Rule felt the natural waterways should not be disturbed. She said, “We’re always trying to tweak that system, but man doesn’t do as good a job as the one who put it there in the first place.” In the long run, money would be saved if development locates farther away from the streams.

Ms. Kelli Lawrence said the community needs to consider how much percentage of growth and measurable goals should be put into the plan. Ms. Lawrence reiterated key issues that were discussed up to this point:

· Promote home ownership, affordable housing, and quality of life;

· Protecting the environment and watersheds;

· Extending the infrastructure into the county;

· Drainage issues and crossing farm fields;

· Property owner rights;

· Consider impact on traffic flow.

Mr. Rollin Matchmes suggested the comprehensive plan should respect property owners’ rights. He also felt the plan should identify land use areas that might encroach upon each other in order to reduce islands of a particular type of use.

Mrs. Kathy Harbaugh felt a 20-year plan was too extensive. She said the comprehensive plan should be an on-going project and be reviewed every 5 to 7 years. Ms. Kelli Lawrence said long term together with short-term goals would save the community money. Commissioner Harbaugh agreed and stated he was opposed to an inflexible plan.

Ms. Lawrence said the comprehensive plan would serve as a balancing act, to be used only as a guide and not the law. Mr. Mike Imbler disagreed. He said once the plan has been implemented, it would be considered “law” such as preventing industrial development in a residential area. Mr. Glen Boise reminded Mr. Imbler there are zoning restrictions established that consider the impact development might have on neighboring properties.

Mr. Mike Ullery commented that we need to review the progress of our community in the past 10 years. Mr. Ullery felt that the income ranges in the community need to taken into consideration when putting the plan together.

Mr. Harbaugh stated that the steering committee would need ample time to review the draft of the plan. Mr. Bob McKean said the former plan drafted three years ago had very little vision and inflexible control. The new plan needs to have a vision for the community and establish processes to help it grow. The plan must inspire home ownership, extend the infrastructure into the county, offer incentives for business growth, promote superior education, protect our natural resources and not contain unreasonable restrictions.

In conclusion, Ms. Lawrence said the community needs to think about what type of perception it wants to exhibit. Secondly, on what and where community leaders would be willing to spend money? Would the community leaders desire to invest in such activities as extending the infrastructures; working on sewer systems and separating the sewer water from storm water; promoting education; and, repairing the corridor along the streams? These questions were left open as the meeting came to a close.

The Board of Commissioners and County Council Special Called meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

HOWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: HOWARD COUNTY COUNCIL:

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Bradley J. Bagwell, President Richard H. Miller, President

_____________________________________ ____________________________________

John B. Harbaugh, Vice President James Papacek, Vice President

_____________________________________ ____________________________________

Paul J. Raver, Member James Shearer, Councilman

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Dwight Singer, Jr., Councilman

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Leslie Ellison, Councilman

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Stanley Ortman, Councilman

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Jeffrey Stout, Councilman

ATTEST:

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MARTHA J. LAKE, AUDITOR

Commissioner – Council Special Meeting April 1, 2003