Colfax approves annexation for Timber Technologies

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board has approved annexing 1.6 acres from the Town of Colfax for a proposed expansion by Timber Technologies.

The Colfax Plan Commission met prior to the Colfax Village Board on April 22 to review the proposed annexation and recommended approval by the village board.

The resolution approving the annexation also included a zoning change to industrial.

Scott Rasmussen, director of business development at Durand Builders, told the Colfax Plan Commission that he had started working with Timber Technologies on the proposed expansion in December.

The expansion will extend the Timber Tech building out of the back of the existing facility, and the addition to the building will be 100 feet by 72 feet, he said.

The annexation will provide enough room for this expansion and another planned expansion later on, Rasmussen said.

Durand Builders is both a customer of Timber Technologies and is working with the business on the expansion, he said.

Rasmussen noted that he works in many communities of all sizes, but that this was the first time he had met Jackie Ponto, Colfax administrator-clerk-treasurer.

“Jackie gets it. I was made to feel very welcome … she represents your village well,” Rasmussen told the plan commission.

Dave Hovre, a member of the plan commission, said he had started working with Timber Tech in December of 2003 to encourage the business to locate in Colfax.

Timber Technologies has been very successful and is good for the community, he said.

 

Dale Schiferl, co-owner of Timber Technologies, said that the Colfax community has been good for the business in a variety of ways.

“We’re looking towards the future. We’re going to be here a long time,” he said.

Colfax holds “great opportunities” for companies because it is close to Highways 12/29 and I-94 and has access to the railroad as well, Schiferl said.

“I think your business is a real asset (to Colfax),” said Gary Stene, plan commission member.

Timber Technologies has expanded several times over the past decade, and each time, the business has added jobs, Schiferl noted.

Timber Tech currently employs 22 people, he said.

The last expansion at Timber Technologies was in 2007. The business is a production facility that works in a straight line. The product moves north to south, Schiferl explained.

If the business could not expand to the south, the equipment would have to be removed from the building and reinstalled to make a 90-degree turn, he said.

Moving the equipment would mean that Timber Technologies would be closed down for twice as long as it would be for an expansion to the south, Schiferl said.

“This is really important for us,” he said.

The Colfax Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Colfax Village Board approve the annexation and the change to industrial zoning.

The Colfax Village Board also unanimously approved the annexation and the change to industrial zoning.

Timber Technologies purchased the 1.6 acres from Don and Marcia Henderson. Prior to the annexation, the property was zoned agricultural in the Town of Colfax.

The annexation and zoning change will go into effect upon publication in the Colfax Messenger in the May 1 edition, Ponto said.

Because it was direct annexation and a unanimous petition by the landowners, the village’s only requirement is to inform the Town of Colfax, she said.

In addition to Hovre and Stene, the plan commission includes Scott Gunnufson, village president; Beverly Schauer, village trustee; J.J. Johnson, village resident; Mike Buchner, village resident and newly-appointed trustee to the village board; Nancy Hainstock, village resident.

Other business

In other business, the Colfax Plan Commission scheduled their regular meetings for the first Tuesday of month at 6 p.m.