Pennville proposes sharing personnel (05/30/07)

There's interest on the part of Pennville in joining the interlocal agreement between Portland and Jay County on zoning and planning.

But it's far from clear how costs would be shared.

Attorney Brad Burkett, who represents the town of Pennville, told Jay County Commissioners Tuesday afternoon the town is considering adoption of a zoning ordinance and wanted to explore using the services of the Jay-Portland Building and Planning office.

Currently, the city of Portland and county government share the cost of that office on a 50-50 basis. Adding a third zoning ordinance and site inspections of construction setbacks in Pennville would add some costs.

But Burkett and the commissioners couldn't come up with a feasible formula for calculating Pennville's share of the costs. Both population and total assessed valuation of property were considered.

"They (Pennville residents) want more local control," Burkett said, noting that the town is not interested in opting into the county's zoning system.

Commissioners asked zoning administrator Bill Milligan to research the topic to try to get a handle of what costs would be involved.

"I need to talk to the assessor and see what kind of building (activity) there was the last couple years," Milligan said.

Noting that Burkett also acts as attorney to the county commissioners, commissioner Faron Parr quipped, "Have your lawyer talk to our lawyer."

Commissioners deferred action on a new set of proposed permit fees presented by Milligan until their next meeting. Fees have not been increased for almost ten years.

In other business, the commissioners discussed truck traffic to and from Poet Biorefining's ethanol plant under construction southwest of Portland.

Once the plant is in operation, significant traffic in grain trucks is expected.

Commissioners said they would urge Poet officials to stress the use of state highways when they communicate with farmers. But the county cannot prohibit semi traffic on county roads enroute to the plant.[[In-content Ad]]