The regular meeting of the Development Advisory Committee was held on February 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in the Porter County Administration Center, 155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso, Indiana.

Informal for lake on 600 W. South of U.S. Hwy 30.

Attorney Bill Ferngren stated that he is representing and accompanied by the  petitioner in this matter, Mike Krischke.  Mr. Ferngren stated that this is about 56 acres.  IF you are familiar with the Brazilian Steakhouse, Gauchos, on 600 W., if you went South on 600 W., maybe about a half a mile, that’s where his parcel sets.  He’s owned it for about years now with his wife. Mr. Krischke approached him about wanting to build a lake, but one of the issues is it’s a pretty big lake, and there’s a lot of sand on his property.  They visited with Robert W. Thompson Jr. and Ray Joseph and talked a bit about what they needed to do next and came up with a plan.  Everyone should have received some information. The real intent is to construct this lake, and it’s about 21 acres of lake out of the whole property and is pretty rectangular, but there is the mineral extraction component with it, because there is going to be a lot of extraction of sand and the soils are conducive to the lake.  The sand is good quality, but the goal is to build the lake, not be a sand mining operation. They wanted to come before DAC to get suggestions.  They did meet with Harvey Nix on a couple occasions.  Mr. Nix did a lot of research and provided them with a lot of the goods and bads on the property and he commented that this could work here. They had some time where soil borings were done that indicated the water levels are between 16 to 19 feet below grade.  The previous owner did some extraction in this area already.  A small portion of it, not to the extent that Mr. Krischke and his wife hope to do.  The long-term proposal would be to possibly include some subdivision of the parcel, though that’s not the full-blown intent today.  He visited with Mike Haller about the creation of open space and how does that affect this parcel.  They will need to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals to obtain a Variance to allow the construction of the lake.  The ordinance requires that any lake over 3 acres in size would need a Variance from the BZA. He asked to come to DAC first to get some design input and address some of the concerns prior to going to BZA.

Harvey Nix stated that he voiced some concerns, some good things and things they need to look at.  One is the amount of material that will be hauled out. It’s going to be a lot of material.  The lake will be affected by groundwater.  It’s not going to have much runoff going into it because of the depth they are going to be digging in and it’s going to be sand, and that determines the water level.  The day he was there he guessed the water level before they did the borings.  It will require a permit from IDEM and review and will probably require a permit from DNR for mineral extraction.  It is a big area.  It’s a wooded lot, mostly all, except in the area where there was some borrow before.

Joey Larr asked if Mr. Krischke lives here.

Mr. Krischke stated that he does not.

Mr. Larr stated that County erosion control ordinances will have to be followed.  If they are going to mine the sand out, they are going to sell it, as well, correct?

Mr. Krischke stated that he will.  He wants to maintain as much of the wooded area as he can.

Mr. Larr asked if this is on the East side of 600 W.

Mr. Krischke stated, yes.

Mr. Larr asked if it’s where there was some mining some years ago.

Mr. Krischke stated that he thinks so.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he doesn’t know if that’s where it was.

Mr. Thompson stated that they will have to go in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals in order to be able to build this via a Use Variance.  It’s mineral extraction, which is only allowed in an Industrial zone. They could be including this as a hearing part of the BZA. They are really going to have to work with Highway Engineering about the truck routes and he will encourage the Commissioners to make sure that road is bonded. Yes, other people were stopped out there; they had semi trucks lined up down the street, and it was for taking the sand to the parking lot over in Merrillville.  How far do they have to dig down before they hit the groundwater where it will stay as a lake?

Mr. Ferngren stated, 16 to 19 feet.

Mr. Thompson asked how deep they are going to have it below the water.

Mr. Krischke stated that the borings also indicate that the sand goes 30+ feet deep, so they were anticipating a 20-foot plus lake after they get down to the groundwater.

Mr. Thompson asked what kind of slopes they will have on the walls.

Mr. Krischke stated that right now they have it around 45 degree slopes to keep the runoff and erosion minimal.

Mr. Thompson stated that, essentially, that would be 1:1. He knows of some sand pits where they thought 1:1 would be sufficient for the slopes and the next thing they knew it eroded and blew out into their County park systems.  He doesn’t necessarily believe that 1:1 is very safe.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he thinks the areas of 1:1 slope are these areas that are kind of a heavy line you can see there.  Really, the water would be down more in this area here and the difference in depth between this location here would be 5 feet.  This area here, for sure, would be a steeper slope, but that’s not really the principal water area.

Mr. Thompson stated that they’re not really that far from 600 W. with that.  That’s one of his concerns right there because we’ve not really had good experience with 1:1 slope.  That is that concern with the slope and being that close to 600 W.  If allowed, they are going to have to have some kind of stabilization program on that. His concern would be what it would take with the sand.  His next concern is, if they are looking at the residential in that area, with proposed lots and stuff, a 1:1 is not exactly that safe.  One of the things they are going to recommend are within the mineral extraction ordinance for a Special Exception, if they were zoned properly, is to ask the BZA to make sure they go through those and some of the items would be routing the truck traffic, a definite plan on what to do with the sand.  

Mr. Breitzke stated that this is zoned RR, so they want to make sure that the record reflects that.  The lake level needs to be set. If they are going to set it at 19 feet below the current grade, he needs to state that.  He agrees that 1:1 probably won’t work.  Their slopes aren’t very stable, so they are going to have to adjust.  They have guidances in the open space and storm water control ordinances for other types of construction.  More typical slopes would be 3:1.  A safety ledge around the edge of it.  One of the reasons for not having 1:1 is in case emergency personnel have to get down to the lake to try to rescue somebody.  Who did the borings to determine the water levels?

Mr. Krischke stated that it was Salisbury engineering and done back in the late ‘70s and he can use that because nothing really has changed much since.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they might just want to reverify that before they go to this expense.   The other issue is working with Highway with the trucks, trucks leaving the site and protecting our roads, working out a schedule and totally avoiding going South on 600 W.  The drivers should all be heading North onto 30; likewise for staging equipment.  There is quite a bit of water that goes down in that direction from the Southeast to the back side of Pheasant Hills and there are a couple of draws that come through Northwesterly.  Then, between the two properties, he thinks there is somewhat of a swale, a ravine, a ditch.

Mr. Krischke stated that he believes so, but he hasn’t seen water in that area.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they are getting more and more in that direction, just as they are working things from the South.  He is wondering if there is something they could work out to move the water into the lake or pond from the South.  He would like to see some kind of legal lake level set as the impact as the impact on the surrounding houses.

Jim Vaughn of the Highway Department stated that the questions they would have would be the timeline and the truckloads, if it’s a year project or a 5-year project.

Mr. Krischke stated, from discussions he’s had, he has a contractor that would be interested in moving the sand.  The amount of sand is going to be substantial and his guess would be that it would be somewhere between a 2 to 5 year job, depending on the economy and how they could use it.

Mr. Vaughn stated that there should be a bond for the road, and they would be interested in the timeline.

Mike Haller asked what the distance is from the road to the pond.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he would guess at least 100 feet.

Mr. Haller asked what the surface area of the pond would be.

Mr. Ferngren stated that it looks like it’s about 3 to 4 acres, eventually.

Mr. Haller asked if the water area there is equivalent to where the dark lines are.

Mr. Ferngren stated, no.  The permanent water area would be inside this interior component.  This is a sloped area down and more of a flat area around it.

Mr. Haller asked if the water surface is 20 acres.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he thinks the entire thing would be about 20 acres, and the permanent water level would be in  the area that looks like it would be about 3 to 4 acres.

Mr. Haller asked about how many cubic yards of material that translates to.

Mr. Nix stated, about 500,000 to 700,000 cubic yards, he thinks.

Mr. Haller stated that he thinks the next guy who comes in here to dig a pond should state some of those facts right off the top.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he thought they had that.

Tim Cole asked if the focus on this property is to mine the sand or prepare the site for a residence.

Mr. Ferngren stated that the focus is to build the pond, and you can’t build a pond without removing the sand.  It’s impossible to build the lake if they can’t excavate the soils.

Mr. Cole stated that Pheasant Hills is on wells, and we have to consider what an area of 5,000 cubic yards excavated could do to wells in the area. They are reducing the amount of mass that’s replacing water and providing a pool which all the water can flow into.  Being sand, it’s going to flow rapidly into that lake and reduce the level of wells.  This has to go to the BZA and be brought to DLZ’s attention, probably. He stated that there are many standards out there that express standards for angle of repose, yet we talk about it in here as maybe it could be this, maybe it could be that.  We need to be very specific on angle of repose.  One area that angle of repose is not recommended is in a sandy area where water is involved. Don’t we need approval from the Army Corps of Engineers, as well?

Mr. Nix stated, if a wetland is involved.

Mr. Cole asked if this is a wetland area.

Mr. Nix stated, not on Tracy soil.

Mr. Cole stated that it looks wet. 

Mr. Nix stated that what they did there, is you picture a big ridge, maybe 20 feet high, they went in and started to take this big ridge off and then it’s cut 3 or 4 foot below grade.  But they started to mine off a big ridge, started to push some of that back and the sand right there.  There are a lot of hills.

Mr. Cole stated that there is water coming from the Southeast through Pheasant Hills, which is retarded by detention ponds and hopefully better engineered drainage processes. It is a natural watercourse.  They might want to consider, and he would strongly express, engineering of a forebay so that proper settlement could take the water into the pond. 

Mr. Ferngren stated that this is actually zoned residential.

Mr. Cole stated that if this was ever classified forest, we need to know that upfront because those monies will have to be paid back to the state.

MR. Thompson stated that we can check that through the Auditor’s. 

Mr. Cole stated that he thinks that this would be a place that they should check that out.   They said possible future development and we want this to look nice.  They are going to have to have some security. A security fence will be imperative, but the fence they put up during the mining probably won’t be the fence they want to leave there after that’s complete and residential construction has taken place.  They want the place to look nice.  He can just imagine right now, the traffic into Pheasant Hills, the lineup of the semis and the traffic into and out of that area, which is going to frustrate owners of that property.  We have to have a good traffic plan. 

Mr. Breitzke stated that they should consider decel and accel lanes committed to, along with a construction pad at the outlet for mud and they need an erosion control plan.  What are the Variances they are asking BZA for?

Mr. Ferngren stated that it’s a Use Variance to build a lake; there are things that go along with that.

Pre BZA UV review for Opportunity Enterprises at old Fetla's building on SR 2.

Attorney Bill Ferngren stated that he is representing the petitioner in this matter.   He stated that he is representing and accompanied by Ellen Demartinas, the CEO of OE.  The UDO requires a Use Variance to come before DAC to explain what they are trying to do.  OE recently acquired the buildings commonly known as Fetlas.  They have different operations at their current facility on Evans Avenue that, while they could be characterized as industrial, they’re really not.  They visited with Mr. Thompson on several occasions and it required a Use Variance, because several of the things OE does are assembly, industrial-oriented, specifically they are looking to locate their shredding operation to the Fetlas site.  The Fetlas property is about 5 acres, at 4857 S. SR 2.  The building is around 30,000 square feet.  They are bursting at the seams at their current location, and there is quite a demand for the shredding operation.  Recently, Mr. Thompson, Tracy Burrell and Fred Siminski visited OE on Evans Avenue to get an understanding about what types of things that they want to do and what they sound like and operate in the structure.  They reviewed the shredding operation.

Mr. Breitzke asked if that is document destruction.

Mr. Ferngren stated, yes.  There are a handful of people that operate this machine.  Noticeably, one of the things he found interesting is that there are no hearing protection devices required when anyone is operating the machine. You raise your voice slightly. 

Ms. deMartinas stated that they have 5 staff that are working there side by side with 7 clients that they have.  They bale approximately 84 bales of paper.  It is a very green process. They pick up from different building locations throughout Northwest Indiana, bring it back to our facility, unload it, bale it, and then sail it back to the paper mills.  They have a trailer that comes onsite probably two days a week right now.  It is parked there for about two hours while it’s loaded with bales, and then it moves on.  They have two trucks themselves that stay on property when they are not running the routes.  They have a baler, the conveyor belt and two forklifts that run inside the building.  The challenge is they are outgrowing their space.  They do stock the bales.  They would like to save them a little longer, if they could, and sell them when the price is right for paper.  A high for paper bales is $250; low is $80.  They’re at $80 right now.  So, to store those to make the most use of it would be a great benefit to them and they’re just at capacity.

Mr. Ferngren stated, if you’ve been to OE, there are a series of tables and the assembly includes just basic hand construction assembly – parts for windows, assembly of jewelry boxes, things of that nature. It’s like a large classroom environment.  It’s a great program in Porter County and Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana.  This location offers great opportunities for OE.

Mr. Nix asked if the old Fetlas building is going to be updated regarding electrical code, fire code etc.

Ms. deMartinas stated, yes, they are having inspections done at this time on a lot of the systems.  Surprisingly, everything has been in good repair.  They do plan to make changes.  Aesthetically, it needs some help.  They talked about having the entrances defined better, as well.  What they are trying to do is determine what they can actually use the building for.  Even in the shredding, they have not required a full use.  They understand they have the opportunity to retail there, and that’s a possibility.  They have their own retail right now with the with the popcorn store.  They know that many changes need to be made, and their history is to stay in compliance with everything.

Mr. Ferngren stated that they know Mr. Haller wanted to visit the property at the appropriate time, and they are encouraging him to do that when the time comes.

Mr. Thompson stated that he and Mr. Siminski and Ms. Burrell went out to see the facility and the clients at work out there, and they were rather amazed.  Very well run. With the shredder, he was shocked.  He was concerned about noise, but the shredder they were able to hold a conversation in areas less than 10 feet away from the shredder and didn’t have to raise their voices to be heard…they are not required by OSHA to have any kind of ear protection, so he doesn’t think noise at all is a factor.  They said one semi truck leaves there a day with the paper. The only thing he requested during the meeting is that they try to have some access management off of SR 2, instead of the huge paved area, so that way they can channelize traffic and define the entryways on that.  The reason for the Use Variance is because of the storage and the shredding and with their clients doing the assembly of small parts, it is towards a light industrial-type use.  The popcorn sales, if they do it retail out there is more than appropriate for the zoning district. It’s just the storage of the paper and the type of operations.  He has no problems with what they are proposing.

Mr. Breitzke stated that number one on his list is access management.  This is an opportunity for them to help the site by improving the traffic conditions.  They should work with INDOT, as well as Porter County Highway.  Is this building sprinkled?

Mr. Ferngren stated, yes.

Mr. Breitzke stated, all things considered, this is an ideal re-purpose of this facility and building.  He liked what he said about kind of dolling up the outside.  This is a gateway into Valparaiso and this is one of the things we need to be looking at.  Behind them are some wetlands and swamps, so they want to be careful of material disposal, the dumpster location, etc.  If they have waste disposal they want to make sure those are covered in the back.  Are they going to have a cafeteria or some sort of facility onsite to feed employees?

Ms. deMartinas stated, currently, everyone who comes to OE brings their lunches, so they do have an open room for eating, but they don’t actually provide the food. 

Mr. Vaughn asked if all storage would be covered.

Ms. deMartinas stated, that’s correct.   Everything stays indoors. 

Mr. Haller asked if they are planning on using the entire facility for some operation or another, or would there be vacant portions?

Ms. deMartinas stated that they are exploring that now until they know what they will be allowed to do.  They haven’t made a floor plan. They were afforded this opportunity in December, and it was just too good to walk away from. Before they go ahead with plans, they want to make sure they have approval to do so.  In time, they would hope to use the entire building.

Mr. Haller asked if this building is all on one level.

Ms. deMartinas stated, yes.  Basically, it’s considered one level, although there is a portion that has a raised area.

Mr. Haller asked how many of the workers will be present at any one given time.

Mr. Cole asked if that’s all on a concrete slab.

Ms. deMartinas stated, that’s correct.

Mr. Cole stated that he wanted to strengthen the fact of the wind getting on the truck, ties breaking etc…he would like to see a plan for the recovery of any escaped materials from the site.

Mr. Ferngren stated that he would love for any of the members to come to the facility and see how they run the operations at this point.

Mr. Cole stated that he’s very aware they do a very good job.  That does not preclude a plan, nor reduce their responsibility.  We need to reduce the area of access.  It sits rather close to SR 2. We would want to look very close at landscaping, and he would like to hear from the City of Valparaiso, being that close to the City boundaries and that should be brought up at the BZA, as well.

St. Andrews final plat.

Matt Keiser of Duneland Group stated that he is representing and accompanied by Pat Kleighe of Great Lakes Development, the developer.  Mr. Keiser stated that they are here today for the final platting procedure of St. Andrews, a 41-lot residential subdivision on 900 N., about ½ mile East of Meridian Road.  There were a couple of comments during the primary plat review that were recommended to be included with the final platting.  One was the covenants and some language that Bob Detert wanted in those; those covenants are still being drawn through. They were asked to see what new UDO changes they could put inside the old covenants. They were platted under the previous set of restrictions, however, they are trying to incorporate any of the new UDO languages in this that they can that doesn’t necessarily hinder the existing conditions of the subdivision. The NIPSCO road platting was discussed and NISOURCE is handling the road easement and that will be done in May. Signage around the ponds was discussed, warning signs and those are included in the drawings. Mr. Cole had requested that a limestone path be placed around the perimeter of the pond and that’s shown on the drawings and included in the bond. They want to wait until spring to put that in and work that in with the landscaping so it’s all done at the same time.  Mr. Cole asked that the POA take care of the paths. That’s something that will be added to the covenants.  Mr. Breitzke had discussed easements along Lots 39, 40 and 41 and it was an access easement to give additional space from the top of bank from the subdivision onto a piece of property.  It turns out that only Lots 39 and 40 needed it.  Lot 41 currently from the top of bank had enough space.  They did not have any major changes from the primary plat to the final plat.  The infrastructure went in exactly as designed and the subdivision is looking very nice.  The roads are all in. Sanitary – this is in Damon Run Conservancy District – and water have all been run.  They have the bond amount included in the packages.

Mr. Larr stated that he looks forward to working with them on erosion control.

Mr. Thompson asked if the utilities tested and approved the sanitary and water hookups.

Mr. Keiser stated that the installer tested it and approved the amounts and Indiana American Water has accepted it.  He doesn’t know if the agreement to take it over has been completed at this point.  They’ve not received the agreement from Damon Run yet.

Mr. Thompson asked if they’ve met their punch lists.

Mr. Keiser stated, yes.

Mr. Thompson stated that he’s just asking that because of the performance guarantee. They did revise it because he did notice that they had a trail proposed at the primary plat, but he didn’t see where it was finished construction, but they do have that in there, $8,200 to complete that?

Mr. Kleighe stated that they would have that completed in the spring.

Mr. Thompson asked if the surface coat covers tack costs.

Mr. Kleighe stated, yes.   He believes they’re not putting tack on any more.

Mr. Thompson asked if everything’s been handled with the stream relocation there along 900.

Mr. Keiser stated that the stream was relocated exactly as planned. They’ve got the check dams put in.  The water is looking really nice as it runs down there.  He thinks they’ve had a couple of problems with the neighbors going over and pushing over the check dams, but they are put back up.

Mr. Breitzke stated that we’ve had excellence out there dealing with the check dams and we’ll have to see what happens. He thinks things are improving out there. Last year we did have some issues with Timberland subdivision and he thinks they ironed those out.

Mr. Keiser stated that happened when we had the 9.5 or 12 inches of water and that was over what had been designed for. You can’t design for that.  What they ended up doing is, they had a couple of low spots that had a rear yard that was about a 4-inch plastic pipe and it wasn’t a hard pipe, so it had valleys in it and simply could not handle the volume of water that landed from the rear yards of Timberland and St. Andrews, where the two converge.  So, what happened is, we came up with a solution to tie in two of those rear yards to the St. Andrew’s ponds, so that even if that storm event happens again, the water’s still going to fill up in all the low spots, but it does have a place to run out to faster than it did before.

Mr. Breitzke stated that he appreciates him and Mr. Kleighe and Mr. Barko working together to resolve the issue, because they are just coming out of Timberland onto St. Andrew’s from everything. He thinks they’ve reached a pretty good solution for the situation.

Mr. Keiser stated that that’s part of the responsibility of the Damon Run Conservancy in order to take care of the storm water, so they are going to facilitate between the owners to come up with a solution that offers some different ideas.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they are going to have to clear out the verbiage for the Drainage Board certificate. It’s not quite accurate.  They just decided that the conservancy could manage the drainage system within.

Mr. Vaughn stated that he really doesn’t have any issues.

Mr. Cole stated that he was more worried about the water. He hopes they’ve solved all the issues.  He’s very happy to see cooperation. He’s pretty much satisfied. There will be questions from the community as to why we didn’t follow the original streambed going across Lots 21, 14 and 4.  He doesn’t know that the water is still trying to follow that course.

Informal for VLACD lift station at Cardinal and Burling Beach.

Adam McAlpine and Bob Minarich stated that they are representing the petitioner in this matter.

Mr. Thompson stated that they’ve been working with Ray Riddell and him and Highway Engineering explained this and we put them on the schedule.  They are going to be working in the County right-of-way, if he remembers correctly.

Mr. Minarich stated that he’s the general manager of the VLACD. The lift station during the September flooding flooded out and lost in completely.  They did get it up and running that day, but the electronics were messed up, so, at that point, they decided to replace the station.  So, they are going to remove the old station.  The can in the web well remained in place. They’re fine.  They’re going to get controls in there with a back-up generator.

Mr. McAlpine, the general engineer for VLACD, stated that he has nothing additional to add. They are going to be doing some grading work to elevate this new fiberglass-imposed module on a concrete foundation with some steps in front of it.  They’ll be placing some steps around the lift station, expanding it out slightly from its current fence line, but it’s all within their property limits and replacing the drive with new stone and placing aggregate on the interior surface area for the lift station. One concern that was brought up by someone at the Highway Engineering was regarding the barbed wire on the top side of our fence line. This is a standard that they have on lift stations in Porter and Michigan City and he was concerned about and that was one of the reasons that prompted him to come before you today.  It’s an easy change to remove that barbed wire, but he just wanted to get DAC’s thoughts on that.

Mr. Larr asked if in removing the old lift station, are they going to be tracking anything onto Burlington Beach, as far as soils and things of that nature?

Mr. Minarich stated that the station that’s there now is an inground station.  What they are coming in with, they are going to have to bring in soil and raise it up out of the flood zone, then it will be flat mounded on top. So, there will be trucks coming in with soils.

 Mr. Larr asked them to stay on top of erosion control.

Mr. Thompson asked if the emergency generator is mainly what they are trying to fence in.

Mr. McAlpine stated that it will be the entire lift station area, with the wet well, the pump vault and this new foundation.

Mr. Minirich stated that the generator will be inside the station itself, so it’s not exposed.

Mr. Thompson asked how far back the situation is sitting off the right—of-way.

Mr. MInirich stated, roughly off of Cardinal, itself. 

Mr. Thompson asked if it’s consistent with other structures up and down Burlington, setback off the pavement.

Mr. Minirich stated, he would say so. The new house built on the opposite site of Cardinal is probably much closer to the pavement than they are.  They have very little problems with people trying to get  into the stations.  Most of the problems they have are stealing aluminum signs and that sort of stuff, or removing a horn that’s going off all night long due to flooding conditions.

Mr. Thompson asked if the fence is 6 foot tall.

Mr. McAlpine stated that he thinks it’s going to be 7 feet, six feet to the top rail, then an additional foot to the top wire.  It’s within 6 feet or so of the West line of Cardinal, right at the intersection.

Mr. Minirich stated that they have four lots that it sits on.

Mr. McAlpine stated that with the curbs and the turnouts, they wanted to improve the drainage in that area.

Mr. Thompson asked what are the chances they can move it in from Cardinal?

Mr. Minirich stated that the wet well is very close to the fence line now, to the South side of Burlington.  They wouldn’t be able to come in very much at all there.

Mr. McAlpine stated that the NIPSCO pole is the only thing on the Cardinal side, and the electrical panel is here; it’s an overhead line.

Mr. Minirich stated that they currently have a berm there, probably 3 foot high, where they have their evergreens planted to kind of shield it from the neighbors, then the fence is just beyond that.

Mr. Thompson stated that he just has a little bit of concern with the fence and they are showing the poles being planted right there.  Being so close to Cardinal, he would just like to see if they could push it over.

Mr. Minirich stated that the only thing holding them back would be the NISPCO box at that point.   They could probably move it in some.

Mr. Breitzke asked if the NIPSCO has to be inside the fence?

Mr. Minirich stated, only because when the guys are going in and out of the station and having to throw controls, they would prefer the ability to disconnect there, within the station itself.

Mr. Breitzke stated that the service handle is currently well within the existing fence.

Mr. Minirich stated that he would say 5, 6 foot.

Mr. Breitzke asked, then why not just put the fence along Cardinal in the same place instead of pushing it out?

Mr. McAlpine stated that they moved it out pretty close to the top of the existing berm and tried to preserve those existing landscape trees to kind of mask the future fence line.   But there’s no reason they couldn’t.  They were just trying to create room in there for the operator to do their work.

Mr. Breitzke stated that he’s glad to see that they are redoing that plant, raising it.  There’ve been issues with disposal of overflow.  Are they going to berm up higher around the edges of that?

Mr. Minirich stated, no, they are going to use the berm that’s there as their standard. When they did get flooded they came around the berm.  He wouldn’t see any need to go any higher than what’s there now.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they just might want to consider from containment from within.  He’s also glad to hear they are using natural gas for the generator.  There is a regulated ditch next door that the City has taken over, so, easements that are affected, they should be talking to them, too and come to an understanding.  They want to make sure they have enough room to maintain the ditch on the West side of the lift station, as well.  The tile is open about 200 to 300 feet South of Burlington Beach Road.  It’s all open.

Mr. Minirich stated that the property West of the ditch is part of theirs, but there can always be access.

Mr. Breitzke stated that the best access is on the East side for that particular stretch, but it affects them, as well. 

Mr. Vaughn stated that everything is good to go.

Mr. Haller asked if they got bids on this.

Mr. Minirich stated that they did.

Mr. Haller asked if it’s been awarded.

Mr. MInirich stated that it hasn’t been formally awarded. 

Mr. Cole asked where is the old inter-urban right-of-way through there?

Mr. Minirich asked, the railroad?  That’s way up there off Edgewater Beach, on the other side of Flint Lake.

Mr. Cole stated, so that’s not within their confines. That’s all he was concerned about.  If someday, somebody looks at that and says, the old inter-urban went out there because people wanted to go to the lake and see that area of Porter County, if we were to provide a bicycle path from Valparaiso, that could be a likely pathway.  We would want as much of it open or ready for use if that should ever happen. Windermere sub actually left it over but built their tennis courts adjacent to it or over it, so that there is still an open pathway through Windermere that follows the old inter-urban line.

Mr. Minirich stated that there are utility easements through some of that. There are some ways to capture it.

Informal for T-Mobile collocate at 109 E. 950 N..

Sonia Figueroa stated that there is an existing monopole structure at 109 E. 950 in Chesterton. They are looking to add an antenna onto an existing structure.  If you look at the drawings, that will give you a clear picture of what is existing on the tower and what is proposed, on Sheet A-2.  On the left-hand side, there is an existing mount of antennas there and on the right-hand side of that, there is what they are proposing to do, which is just adding a additional antenna.  There are currently six, and there would be seven.  At this time, T-Mobile has dropped calls and is in need of that to stop the dropped calls.

Mr. Larr asked who owns the tower.

Ms. Figueroa stated, U.S. Cellular.  They need more coverage for Route 90 (sic), especially for 911 services.

Mr. Larr stated that this is right behind the Wizard of Oz shop.

Mr. Thompson asked how many other connections were on there.

Ms. Figueroa stated that right now there are six antennas.  If you look at 81, that will show the height of the tower and what other carriers are on that pole.  It’s basically T-Mobile and the old Primeco antennas that are on there.

Mr. Thompson asked if they are coming in at 135 feet.

Ms. Figueroa stated, correct.  Right now there is…you always leave room for future expansion.  There is currently one cabinet on the ground and they intend to add an additional cabinet on the ground, because they set radios in there. 

Mr. Thompson asked if the cabinet sits up above on a platform.

Ms. Figueroa stated, yes.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they went over this pretty carefully when there was a subsequent carrier.  They are going to add another cabinet, though.

Ms. Figueroa stated, yes.

Mr. Breitzke asked if there will be something to elevate it.

Ms. Figueroa stated, yes.

Mr. Vaughn asked if Verizon is providing any additional T-1’s.

Ms. Figueroa stated, no. 

Informal for John Arndt, proposed 3-lot subdivision, located South of CR 1000 N. on the West side of 400 E.

Mike Duffy stated that he is representing the petitioner in this matter.

Mr. Thompson stated that these are reviews based on requests from the BZA.

Mr. Duffy stated that they went to the BZA to get some Variances, mainly for storm water.  On this site, they were only putting in 3 lots on 20 acres and the calculations don’t support putting in a detention basin for that.  BZA wanted some type of confirmation, so they were asked to submit to DLZ to have them agree with the calculations, and also to appear before DAC, so they knew what was happening when it is brought forward for primary plat.  The next case is the same thing. Some of you may remember the Arndt subdivision.  It was 12 lots before. DLZ reviewed it. They found for their assertions (after two reviews).

Mr. Nix stated that he needs to know where this is at.  Is there a viaduct to the North on 400 E.?

Mr. Duffy stated that it’s North of that and South of 1050, on the left side.  There’s a bunch of single-family houses on the East side.  This is the open field that’s across from them.

Mr. Larr stated that he assumes they filed for Rule 5.

Mr. Duffy stated that they will when they get to primary plat stage.  Part of the reason why they’re here, outside of the DLZ review, was to kind of bring DAC up to speed from what was going to happen at primary plat.

Mr. Thompson stated that one of the concerns was Sand Creek, which runs to the West side of this property.  There is a considerable distance between the open space and the developable lots and where Sand Creek is.  He thinks they are addressing some of the original concerns.

Mr. Breitzke stated that there is an existing house on this, so they are looking for two more building sites.  An issue that will come up later is that one of the lots will end up creating a non-conforming use right now.  That’s something they might end up wanting to deal with the BZA, also.  There is a pole building there.

Mr. Duffy stated that it’s not in the greatest of shape right now.

Mr. Breitzke stated that they may just want to simply remove it.

Mr. Duffy stated that he thinks that’s the plan.

Mr. Breitzke stated that he doesn’t see any issues from the calculations standpoint.  Because of the way the water flows, he wonders if there’s a way to preserve the water flow through some kind of easement through the lots.  He always worries that somebody’s going to impede that flow, particularly at what they call the middle 2 acres where the water goes Northwesterly though, he would strongly recommend some easement, just so they don’t end up with structures, fences, etc. that would impede the neighbors’ water.

Mr. Cole stated that he’s happy that they have preserved a nice buffer area for the Girl Scout camp back there.  He would hope maybe in their covenants that they would offer to the Girl Scout camp some sort of access into the open space for their own trails. That would be conditional as to how they use it, and perhaps they could be part of the maintenance.  The existing house, one of those houses along that road, is his great-great-grandfather’s house, and he understands it’s still standing.  If there is any destruction to that house, there would be conditions applied to care and look for possible artifacts in the walls or maybe even allow an old descendant to come in and photograph the destruction so that certain things could be documented.

Mr. Duffy stated that he will ask Mr. Arndt if he knows anything about it.

Informal for Ronald and Susan Stangebye, replat of Lot 2 of a minor subdivision, located approximately 400 feet South of the intersection of 950 N. and County Line Road, along the West side of County Line Road. (This case was continued from the 9-17-08 BZA meeting, at the petitioner’s request.)

Mike Duffy stated that he is representing the petitioners in this matter.

Mr. Thompson stated that this was before the BZA for Variances concerning the storm water.

Mr. Duffy stated that this is a very similar situation to the previous case. BZA asked them to appear at DAC, seeking the same Variance.  Woodland View was originally to be developed by John Kadish as a subdivision.  He did a minor sub and cut off the existing home that’s on the Southeast corner of it and then came back with a replat of Lot 2.  There is a small cul-de-sac. That petition failed, and the Stangebyes bought the property.  They want to take the 18 acres that was left and cut out just four building sites.  He’s been contemplating the covenants that he wants to put on it to try to keep some nice houses out there.  he wants to preserve that entire wooded area on the Southwest corner.  There’s a wetland in the center of it.  That’s open space.  The smallest lot out there is about 3.5 acres or 3 acres. The calculations again don’t support a detention basin being necessary.  They’ve submitted to DLZ and got two reviews and they concurred with their assertion and provided a letter to that effect.

Mr. Nix stated that the swale on Lot 4 is existing; is that going to be redone or reshaped?

Mr. Duffy stated that it’s going to be exactly the way it is, he believes.  He thinks when they did the original plat for the minor sub, he thinks at Mr. Breitzke’s recommendation, they put a drainage easement at that point.  At some point, according to the neighbors, at some point the water was routed away from County Line Road and this swale was used to move the water North and South, so there’s a culvert pipe that goes underneath 950 N., so they put an easement on it through the property.  There wont’ be any effect to it at all.

Mr. Larr stated that there was some contention about the ditch along County Line Road.

Mr. Duffy stated that there is some debate on who’s doing what to that ditch down there. The residents on the Porter County side contend that there’s some yards that were built up in the path of the ditch on the LaPorte County side so that the water backs up on the Porter County side. It crosses over at some point.  It’s come up at both hearings that there’s something going on with that ditch.  He talked to a couple residents out there and they believe it’s on the LaPorte  County side.  This swale is part of that network. He know there was some work done after the initial public hearing, so he doesn’t know if those problems were relieved or not, but there were some crushed pipes that were replaced under some driveways.

Mr. Larr asked if they have talked with LaPorte County authorities.

Mr. Duffy stated that he has not.

Mr. Breitzke stated that Porter County Highway cooperated with that.  There is a regulated drain easement here, but they are trying to deal with the obstruction.

Mr. Thompson stated that this is considerably different from what was originally proposed.  There’s a street now, much larger lots, larger open space, it almost looked like.

Mr. Duffy stated that it’s probably about the same amount of open space. It was just the easements before.  As far as an outlot goes, it’s a much larger chunk.

Mr. Breitzke stated that he’d like to see a bigger easement; he would probably recommend 50 feet, 25 feet each side of the centerline.  The other issue on the minor sub….

Mr. Duffy stated that he can’t do anything with the one.

Mr. Breitzke stated that we should have, for the access pieces…he’s not quite sure that qualifies for the open space, the 30 foot.

MR. Duffy stated that that was one of the other BZA requests. They are talking about 50 feet of frontage on the County road.

Mr. Thompson stated, but, really, it states 50 foot off an internal road. There are no internal roads.  If they can increase it to 50 – great. He thinks in this situation, if there’s an outlot, there’s sufficient going up against the back of the lots.  The language states off an internal road, and he knows they don’t  have an internal road here. His hopes would be…they should provide access for all lots to be able to use it.  There again, other Plan Commission member might have other opinions. He would like to see it go to 50 feet.

Mr. Breitzke stated, with the water that comes from the North, there probably should be some kind of tile, although they do have access on the North side of that. As long as that doesn’t get blocked off – on the East side, South of Lot 4. 

Mr. Duffy’s intent was  just to let it go natural, but he will let him know that if they don’t…they could put like a preservation easement or something.

Mr. Breitzke stated that that would really be the best thing. He’s worried about it getting dammed up and then the pressure behind it builds up and overflows. He has to emphasize they have another access off of 850, so, there are other ways to get access. 

Mr. Duffy stated that he’ll just come up right to the outside of the drainage easement that cuts through there and make it a preservation easement for that portion.

Mr. Breitzke asked where the wetland outlets to.

Mr. Duffy stated he believes it’s just a pocket of wetland.

MR. Cole asked if they are asking for release from storm water Variances, the ordinance.

Mr. Duffy stated, the ordinance itself.

Mr. Cole stated that he’s a little hesitant on that, because of the problems that were brought to the Plan Commission concerning the adjoining property and the outlet of the water along the ditch on County Line Road.  He thinks that has to be brought to the BZA’s attention, and they really have to take strong consideration of that.  IN other words, have their homework showing that there’s not going to be any additional water, and, in fact, they could alleviate some of  the flooding that that gentleman experiences in his back yard, or the guy next to him downhill on that ditch on County Line Road. He really has concerns.  He really thinks BZA needs to take that into consideration.  He doesn’t recommend total or even substantial release from the storm water ordinance.  It’s there for a very good reason.  Releases need to be frugally doled out. Have a definite answer on the outlet of that wetlands to any adjoining properties; we need to know that, not guess at it.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m.