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DECORAH, Iowa -- The Winneshiek County Supervisors discussed Floodplain zoning, land sale restrictions, and Emergency Management budget in their latest meeting on Monday, Jan. 22. Planning, Zoning, and Floodplain Administrator - Floodplain Zoning Planning, Zoning, and Floodplain Administrator Tony Phillips was asked by the Winneshiek County Supervisors to attend Monday's meeting to clarify some questions the Supervisors had regarding proposed floodplain ordinance that covers development within a floodway fringe. "The question I was told that you want answered is 'What can be built there?'," Phillips said. "The very first part. Permitted uses. All development within the floodway fringe district shall be permitted to the extent that they are not prohibited by another ordinance and provided they meet applicable performance standards of the floodway fringe district. So what does that mean? The next four pages basically say [that] you have to build it flood proof…if you scroll down just about two inches, it says 'Paragraph B: Residential Structures.' The very first line says that 'it will be elevated 1 foot above the base flood elevation,'" Philips stated. Phillips had been asked previously about the proposed building of solar panels by Rotocast Plastics on the barrier zone, and after having done his own research on the matter, Phillips had concluded that the panels would have to be on elevated posts that were secured in a way that prevented them from being carried away by flood water. That post design would be up to an engineer to create. "When they apply for a [floodplain] permit, they would have to declare what it is they're building," Phillips said. "If it's a residential structure, solar panels, or whatnot. They declare what they want, and how they want to build it. Then from there the criteria is added on." Supervisor Mark Faldet questioned Phillips about the potential implementation of basements in the structures. Phillips assured Faldet that while basements were technically allowed to be built, that they would have to be built in such a way that would allow for the flow of potential flood water to pass through them, effectively disincentivizing the building of basements to some capacity. Freeport Land Sale Discussion County Attorney Andy Van Der Matten was in attendance to discuss the process, timeline, terms, and restrictions for the potential land sale in Freeport. Supervisor Steve Kelsay asked Van Der Matten about the issue that had arisen due to concerns about possible Native American burial mounds in the area. According to Van Der Matten, that was "no longer an issue," as there had been an archaeological study done as recently as 2007, which determined that the designated parcel was outside of the designated perimeter made by the mound sites that had been discovered. Supervisor Chair Dan Langreck recommended that the supervisors proceed with including the floodway fringe policy that had been brought up by Tony Phillips, and proceed with the sale that way. Van Der Matten asked the Supervisors where they were at with adopting a floodplain ordinance, to which County Auditor Ben Steines replied that they had set a public hearing about it at the end of the month (Jan 29). Van Der Matten suggested that they should finish putting that ordinance in place before beginning to try to sell the property. Shirley Vermace cautioned the other supervisors to listen to their constituents who had bothered to show up to meetings to show their opposition to any building being done on the site. "I think we need to be careful going through. Because what Tony just shared with us in that other document says that structures could be put in there as long as the basement is storage with pass-through for water flow, so that still would allow for some kind of construction," Vermace said. "And we heard from 376 petition signers, and a room full of people twice, one in Freeport, and one here, that they don't want this land sold and taken out of a flood mitigation buffer." Emergency Services Budget Winneshiek County Emergency Management Coordinator Sean Snyder and Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx joined the Supervisors to discuss the research done with County Attorney Andy Van Der Matten on a 911 tower funding option of putting some of that expense into the Emergency Management Commission budget. Snyder and Van Der Matten turned to a pending litigation in Mahaska county about what kind of funding Emergency Management is allowed to provide to 911 services. That litigation was recently resolved and according to Van Der Matten, the Emergency Management Commission was not allowed to provide funding for ongoing costs for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP). "Something that is dictated in 34A that speaks directly to how surcharge dollars are funded," Snyder said. "As I understand, Mahaska was kind of supplementing that, so to speak. I know it's difficult to decipher, but the tower project upgrade they were doing is separate from that of 34A and 911 in how it deals with PSAPS." According to Steines, the Supervisors have the okay from Hacker-Nelson and Van Der Matten to make an agreement with the Emergency Management Commission to fund some of the tower through the Commission's budget. The move would relieve stress on the general funds, but require a tax levy increase. Steines cautioned that he believed that it would not be a good idea to lower the Supervisor's general fund levy. The Supervisors could impose restrictions that would set a lower starting point next year. Snyder stressed that the difference between Mahaska and Winneshiek was that the latter's Emergency Management Commission genuinely wants to build a strong relationship with its county Supervisors, where Mahaska's didn't. Supervisor Vermace noted that the levy seems easy to market to the Decorah citizenship. "We're talking about 911 capabilities for law enforcement and emergency management to be able to communicate in situations where they can't right now, due to dips in our topography…it makes sense," Vermace said. "We don't want to lose services in this county, that's why a lot of us live here. It's a really good county to live in."

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County Supervisors continue discussion of Freeport land