Elk Mound to begin update of village’s comprehensive land use plan
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has asked village staff and one volunteer from the village board to work on writing survey questions to begin the process for updating the Smart Growth comprehensive plan.
State law requires comprehensive land use plans to be updated at least every 10 years, but the law does not specify the level of the update, said Karin Wolf, village clerk-treasurer, at the Elk Mound Village Board’s June 6 meeting.
Public input is required for the comprehensive plan, but comments by the public could be obtained through a survey or through public participation at meetings, she said.
Wolf, along with several board members, acknowledged that the village board meetings do not typically include very much public participation.
A survey of village residents would probably be the best, but should the questions for the survey come from the village board, the Elk Mound Plan Commission or through the village clerks office? Wolf asked.
The last comprehensive land use plan survey to update the plan was conducted in 2012, she noted.
According to state law, municipalities that wanted to continue making land use decisions were required to have a Smart Growth comprehensive land use plan in place by January 1, 2010.
Each comprehensive land use plan must contain sections on issues and opportunities; housing; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural, natural and cultural resources; economic development; intergovernmental cooperation; land use; and implementation.
According to state statue 66.1001(4), “the governing body of a local governmental unit shall adopt written procedures that are designed to foster public participation, including open discussion, communication programs, information services and public meetings for which advance notice has been provided, in every stage of the preparation of a comprehensive plan.”
According to a checklist from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, the issues and opportunities element of the Smart Growth comprehensive plan, for example, must contain a statement of overall objectives, policies, goals and programs of the local governmental unit to guide the future development or redevelopment of the local governmental unit over a 20-year planning period.
The issues and opportunities section must also include information about population forecasts, household forecasts, employment forecasts, demographic trends, age distribution, education levels and employment characteristics.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved a motion to have village staff, along with one volunteer from the village board, work on survey questions for the update to the village’s comprehensive plan.
Emergency operations plan
The Elk Mound Village Board also approved updates to the village’s emergency operations plan at the June 6 meeting.
The updates included updates to the contact list and positions, additional telephone listings for Poison Control and HazMat and clarified language in the flow chart.
Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger said the village board should hold a tabletop exercise to help familiarize everyone with the emergency operations plan.
Terry Stamm, village trustee, said the tabletop exercise would be an excellent idea.
There is an urgency at this time of year, with the possibility of severe thunderstorms, to be familiar with the plan, he said.
Police Weinberger noted that hard copies of the plan are located in the police department.
Mark Levra, director of public works, noted that hard copies of the plan also are in the village’s well houses and at the wastewater treatment plant.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Approved changing the next meeting date to Tuesday, July 5. The regular meeting date for the village board would have been Monday, July 4.
• Approved the installation of fiber optic at the Elk Mound Solid Waste & Collection site, 401 E. Elk Mound Drive. Because the village owns the land, the village board must give permission for the installation, Stamm said. The Colfax Responsible Unit will pay for the installation, he said. Elk Mound is a member of the Colfax Responsible Unit. All municipalities in the state must be their own Responsible Unit for recycling or must join another Responsible Unit.
• Denied a request from the Settlers Ridge development to waive the park fees. Park fees for the village are $400 per unit, so an eight-unit apartment building would generate $3,200 in park fees. Village board members noted that park fees are part of the developer’s agreement.
• Approved renewing the application for a Class “A” retailer’s fermented malt beverage license and “Class A” intoxicating liquor license and intoxicating “Class A” liquor license cider only for consumption off premise for Cenergy, LLC, Elk Mound Travel Stop #3773.
• Approved renewing the application for Class “B” fermented malt beverage retailer’s license and a reserve “Class B” liquor license for Kat’s Pourhouse, Milovino Enterprises, LLC.
• Approved an original application for Class “A” retailer’s fermented malt beverage license and “ClassA” retailer’s intoxicating liquor license for Dolgencorp, LLC /Dollar General.
• Approved bartender operator license applications for Danielle Berger, Roxanne K. Gibis, Meagan Johnson, Maxwell Lindsley, Brianna Mizer, Weston Moschkau, Michelle Lynn Mousel, Tiffany Schrantz, Jenny Yount — Elk Mound Travel Stop.
• Approved bartender operator licenses for Kathleen J. Degre, Nicole Gardner, Timothy Heit, Kelsey Hobart, Robert Myers, Nicole Linberg, Virginia Thomas, Erin Whyte — Kat’s Pourhouse.
• Approved a cigarette and tobacco products retail license application for Cenergy, LLC, Elk Mound Travel Stop #3773.
• Approved a cigarette and tobacco products retail license application for Dolgencorp LLC.