Planners express ire

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Construction on Maple Glen Phase II was to be shut down for violation of city requirements as conditions of approval of the large scale development plan.

Overhead electric lines were repeatedly requested to be removed, city officials said, and enumerated as a condition for approval. Street Department head Nathan See said he had spoken with Derek Thurman, engineer for Carroll Electric Cooperative, who told him there is no plan for those lines to go underground. See said the developer, Kevin Felgenhauer had told him the lines would go underground.

"You shut them down and make a believer out of them," Dr. Karen Sherman, planner, said. "He is chronic about telling us he'll do something and not following up. I didn't realize we'd let him get away with that."

"The city needs to let them know ... that we have no intention of giving him approval on anything until he complies," Zach Hoyt, planner, said.

"You can't build a permanent structure under a power line," Townsend told planners.

City Water Department employee Mike Nida said that too often builders don't provide the "as builts" as required by the city and the construction differs from the plans.

"There needs to be a way to enforce providing proper as builts," Nida said.

"We're only going to get more development," planner Chris Johnson said. "Let's work as a team. Let's hold their feet to the fire."

General News on 09/13/2017