The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Linn County Planning & Building Director Steve Wills outlined April’s building-permit numbers at the Tuesday, May 9, county board of commissioners meeting.

Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker were present.

According to Wills, the county issued 291 building permits last month, comparable to the same period a year ago. Some 31 permits were issued for dwellings, including three single-family units, 24 additions and four accessory buildings.

In his written report, Wills noted 24 new code enforcement cases in April and 11 closed cases. Year-to-date, the Planning & Building Department has generated $1,478,361 in revenue for building permits, administrative fees, building permits for contract cities, electrical permits and planning fees.

Wills added that the contract city representatives’ quarterly meeting went well, with four cities represented. The main topic, he said, was the implementation of a new Accela program. He said the department was about halfway through setup and hopes to be completed in July.

Sprenger, who attended the meeting, said she was pleased with the amount of information shared in a cooperative manner.

In other business, the commissioners:

-- Approved a $7,697 easement with Floyd Zumwalt and the Kathy Zumwalt Trust and a $19,824 easement with Loretta Norris of the Loretta Norris Trust, both for the Goldfish Farm Road project.

-- Approved transferring Ralston Drive, a private road serving 10 residences, to the city of Lebanon. The one-fifth-acre property was foreclosed upon in 1979.

-- Recognized that Board Chair Nyquist notified Millersburg Mayor Scott Cowan by letter that the county’s March 14 decision to not approve a land swap in and outside the city’s urban growth boundary stands. The city had asked that the commissioners meet to reconsider that decision.

-- Tabled a Health Department request to transfer $50,000 from the contingency fund to real property fund to potentially be used as earnest money to purchase property.

The discussion was moved to Tuesday, May 16, after The New Era went to press.

– Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer