After the recent default by Falling Waters subdivision developers left a “bad taste” in their mouths, the Porter County Board of Commissioners are exercising extra care in deciding if they should honor a request to appoint three initial directors to the pending Grand Oaks Conservancy District in Porter Township.

According to the circuit court order establishing the conservancy district, the commissioners have the responsibility for appointing the initial members within 20 days of the order.

Attorney David Hollenbeck who is the legal counsel for the conservancy district said the Conservancy District Statute requires that the board of directors be landowners or an appointee of corporate freeholders.

The commissioner’s appointments will serve through 2013. Subsequent members will then be elected by the landowners in the conservancy district.

The district board of directors expects to hold their first annual meeting next February. The board will oversee operations for sanitary sewer collection and treatment facilities, a drinking water distribution system and a stormwater management system serving the Grand Oaks subdivision.

The commissioners did not jump on a motion to appoint the initial members on Tuesday recalling the fiasco with the Falling Waters subdivision last fall when the developers went bankrupt.

Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper, D-Center, after the meeting said developers or governing bodies sometimes don’t figure in the thousands of dollars in resulting bond bills and end up not being able to pay them.

Harper said he would like to appoint someone non-partial to the board of directors like a township trustee who can represent the people not involved in the development.

“I want to know the people we put in there are the right ones,” said Harper.

The commissioners decided to table their decision until their next meeting on July 20 after County Attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger can fill the commissioners in on what power they have over the conservancy district.

“We want to make sure what we are doing is the right thing,” said Porter County Commissioner John Evans, R-North.

The plat approval for the Grand Oaks subdivision has not been given yet by the Porter County Plan Commission. The conservancy district will also need to have a public hearing and plan approval from the circuit court.

A recent amendment to the county Unified Development Ordinance by the commissioners also requires a conservancy district board or petitioners to provide a written commitment for the disclosure of district budgets, revenues received, disclosure of bond and bond payments in order to grant primary plat approval.

In other business, Porter County Building Commissioner Matt Haller presented an amendment to the commissioners that would raise the maximum amount for a building permit.

The change would affect multi-story buildings being built in the county. In addition to the $10,000 maximum for the ground floor and square-footage, each multi-story building can be charged up to $5,000 for each additional story.

Evans asked Haller if the new hospital site prompted the amendment. Haller said the change was in response to a few school buildings that have “bumped up” recently.

The rezoning case of a 109-acre parcel that had been voted against 5-1 by the Porter County Plan Commission was, however, unanimously approved by the commissioners on Tuesday.

Surveyor Don Bengel representing Jane Pecor of 950 N. CR 100W in Liberty Township said the petitioner wishes to rezone her parcel from Rural Residential to General Agriculture so she could sell the land in 10-acre lots instead of having the land be subdivided.

When the request was voted against by Plan Commission last month, members criticized it saying it was trying to circumvent of get the best of the Unified Development Ordinance. Members felt it was important to preserve the farmland but doubted it would be economically feasible with just 10-acre lots.

Bengel told the commissioners Pecor needed to sell the land for her retirement and felt this would be a better way to sell the land than putting up a subdivision.

This is not the first time this year the commissioners have approved a rezoning that was originally denied by the Plan Commission. The commissioners have final say on rezoning cases.

Porter County Expo manager Brian Schafer and fair board president Dennis Steinhilber will again feature Porter County employee appreciation days the first weekend of the Porter County Fair, Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25.

This is the second year county employees can enter the fair on certain days at a discounted rate. Employees will be given a discounted wristband. Fair officials hope to “drum up” some business from the deal.

“This is something we like to do for the employees. We really appreciate them,” said Steinhilber.

Steinhilber said this will be the fair’s 160th year and will feature entertainment acts like country singer Jason Aldean, demolition derbies, and everyone’s favorite, hog wrestling.

Posted 7/7/2010