County receives offer of $71,250 for land east of Hy-Vee Foods

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

The Henry County Board of Supervisors has received an offer of $71,250 for a section of county property just east of Hy-Vee.

Thursday morning, Kiley Miller, executive vice president of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance brought the offer to the board of supervisors meeting, but he did not reveal who was interested in purchasing the property.

The supervisors have set a public hearing date of 10 a.m. on Dec. 13 to provide the public the chance to comment on the sale of the property, which is about 1.7 acres on the southeast corner of Washington Street and South Prairie Avenue, Lot 7 and 8 in the Bakers Subdivision.

The supervisors also reviewed the request for proposals (RFP) for Henry County rural residential garbage and recycle collection services. After a few more changes are made, the RFP will be available on Dec. 9 at the courthouse for those interested in bidding on the permanent contract.

Lyn Whaley of WEMIGA Waste, who holds the temporary contract, proposed implementing some of the services included in the RFP into the current services being offered. He also said he would be willing to continue the service through Dec. 31, 2015 ? the ending date of the contract in the RFP ? as there was no actual ending date listed in the temporary contract he is currently working under.

However, the supervisors were in agreement that it was better to put the contract out to bid.

?For the transition period, we made it very clear we were going to do an RFP for a permanent contract,? said Kent White, supervisor vice chairman.

The supervisors did agree that Whaley could look into increasing the services provided and accepting additional items not currently included under the temporary contract, as Whaley said many of the changes could be implemented without additional financial cost to himself.

That would be improving the service provided to the resident, said White.

?We?re going to start accepting ashes effective immediately,? said Whaley. Both Whaley and County Auditor Shelly Barber have reported receiving numerous calls about ashes and whether they would be accepted at the collection sites.

In other business, the supervisors also approved the re-zoning of 2555 Lexington Avenue from A-1 Agricultural to C-1 Commercial.

The purpose of the re-zoning was to allow for a winery to be put in the eight-acre section of land is located on the southwest corner of the intersection at Lexington Avenue and 255th Street. Mike Henderson said that he plans to have a vineyard, winery, tasting studio and his wife?s photography studio on the property.

Joe Buffington, planning and zoning director, said that the neighboring property owners had expressed concern about the property being used for full-blown commercial business. However, explained Buffington, the zoning comes with conditions, limiting the use to agricultural or a rural tourism business.

The supervisors moved to waive the first and second readings of the amendment, as the amendment had been delayed for some time.

?The person requesting the zoning brought the request in plenty of time, but he zoning board had trouble getting a quorum,? explained Marc Lindeen, supervisor chairman.

The supervisors also had a signed letter from the two adjoining landowners saying they approved the re-zoning and that it was okay to waive the first and second readings.

In other planning and zoning business, the supervisors approved the final plat for three subdivisions in Center Township, including the following:

West Highland South Part 2, Section 7

West Highland South Part 3, Section 7

CY-Hawk Ridge Subdivision, Section 6

They also held a first reading on proposed text amendments to the Henry County zoning ordinance defining waste/recyclable convenience collection locations and listing the conditions these locations must meet.

Another amendment states that no structure primarily used for residential purposes shall be converted to any other use or used as an addition to any other structure.

?We?ve had instances of mobile homes being added onto homes as additions,? explained Buffington, also noting that multiple mobile homes have occasionally been tied together to create larger homes.

He said that this ordinance will not affect agricultural conversion, such as a mobile home being used as a chicken coop or a hog shed.

The second reading for this amendment will be held on Dec. 6 and the third will be held on Dec. 8.