Fillmore Town Council hears pitch for county-wide zoning

FILLMORE – If asking Jim Ensley and Lisa Zeiner as its attorney and planning director, respectively, the county is now long overdue for a revamp of its zoning designations. The driving force for such an overhaul now being fielded is a move toward standardized zoning throughout.

In wanting more of an idea of where communities stand apart, Ensley and Zeiner discussed county-wide zoning to the Fillmore Town Council during its regular meeting Thursday evening.

For Fillmore itself, Ensley iterated that zoning for the county goes around it. While there was interest a few years ago about locally established zoning requirements within Fillmore, he provided that Russellville is the only other community without some kind of zoning governance. On the other hand, he said that the county’s zoning has not been redone since the early 1990s.

“Bottom line is we’re still operating under zoning that was based on a comprehensive study that’s change a lot,” Ensley said.

Ensley said the county planning office solicited bids for an engineering firm to lead the effort. As such, Zeiner asked that “everybody,” meaning every community, its leadership and its residents, should be included. However, HWC Engineering – which was chosen but for a contract that is still being drawn up between it and the county – quoted $8,300 for each municipality to have a comprehensive plan as well as a zoning ordinance.

Even if Fillmore decides not to have established zoning in its town limits, its stake in the county’s plan is there. However, Zeiner touched on how it could ultimately be beneficial for a town like it.

“You can have your own planning commission and your own BZA to govern the zoning and tell people, ‘No, we don’t want a strip club down here by the school,’” Zeiner said. “Because, right now, that could happen. You have no zoning. Anything could go in anywhere you want it.”

The other option, Zeiner said, is for the county to take over the zoning so that people would not have to be found to sit on a BZA and a planning commission. Nonetheless, a representative for the town could give input on what could go where within it. Meanwhile, rezoning would come back to the town before final approval by the county.

The other part of the bottom line, Town Attorney Jeff Boggess commented, is that, with “all due respect,” much of the current county zoning does not make sense. As Ensley said, someone out in the county who has purchased farmland and wants to split part of it for building a house cannot do so without five acres and 350 feet of road frontage.

As a local example, while the main building at Liberty Trailers is inside the town, the yard where the trailers are stored is actually outside in the county’s land. If the company wanted to build on that yard, it would have to be rezoned. As it stands now, Liberty is a legal nonconforming use.

Boggess added that with these changes and being invited into the process, the town would not incur a cost for the county zoning if it goes with it.

“What we’re saying is that even if Fillmore isn’t interested in zoning, we would like somebody to come to these meetings and talk about what’s a good idea and what’s a terrible idea,” Ensley said. “It (county zoning) is desperately in need of changing things.”

Looking ahead, Ensley anticipated that the contract with HWC will be signed by the Putnam County Commissioners at their meeting on May 16.

In other business:

• The council passed Ordinance 2022-2 designating Council President Meredith Trusty as the primary signatory for paperwork concerning the town’s repavement project for Westwood Road and East Street. Trusty said that $220,000 in state grant funding was secured for the project, which was approved last January.

While they did not actually vote on a waiving the second reading or otherwise suspending rules of order, the council nonetheless read the ordinance twice. Trusty provided that its passage had to be done then to begin receiving the funds.

• By consensus, the council set the town’s annual cleanup day for June 25 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The event was originally planned for June 11. However, Town Marshal Darrel Bunten said he would not be available then.

The setup will be the same as last year, in which there will be two dumpsters for residents to dispose of anything except hazardous waste, including TVs, paint and tires.

• The council agreed for Hendricks Street to be closed from First Street to Main Street on June 11 for the annual Charlie Johnston Memorial Ride at the Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department. The motorcyclists will stage on the road going out and coming back.

Bunten suggested that the council draft and sign a letter notifying the public about the closure. Terry Wood, who represents the fire department at council meetings, assured that Putnam County Dispatch would be aware of the ride, and that a “safe bet” for the closure would be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Trusty provided that the town was waiting on funding to come through to acquire Keystone, a software designed for payroll and other finances. Not being specific, Trusty said the purchase, a quote for $545, was contingent on receiving the funds, which are assumed to be the second half of the town’s allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Trusty explained that a time-sensitive document sent to the state contained a typo and had to be corrected. However, Clerk-Treasurer Bill Miles said that two recent calls made to the state were not answered, as the phone “just rang constantly.” Trusty finally suggested that other municipalities have had the same issue and that an extension was feasible.

Aside from Trusty, Miles, Bunten, Boggess, Councilman C.J. Huller and Utilities Operator Joe Cash were in attendance. Councilman Jerry Huff was absent from the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Fillmore Town Council is set for Thursday, June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Fillmore Town Hall.