Lind Town Council sets public hearing for potential zoning change

During the March 27 meeting, the Lind Town Council voted to schedule a public hearing for a potential rezoning property on Third Street from residential to commercial.

The hearing is scheduled for April 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall before the regularly scheduled council meeting.

Chris Madison, owner of Auto Smith Inc., explained he is purchasing a parcel of land on Third Street where he would relocate and run his auto repair business. Madison explained he is waiting to finalize purchasing the lot from the owner, because he wants to ensure the zoning change is a viable option.

Madison would like to set up his shop toward the back of the parcel and has already purchased a 36 foot by 80 foot steel structure he would use to facilitate the business. He explained he would continue running his business like he has the last 13 years.

The Council voted to schedule a public hearing to provide residents on Third Street an opportunity to provide feedback about the potential zone change.

The Council also suggested Madison present a formal plan, detailing what he hopes to accomplish on the property.

In other business, the Town of Lind became one of the municipalities in Adams County in participate in discussions regarding a Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Jay Weise said the county is in the process of acquiring a grant to generate a mitigation plan.

In order to create the plan, the county is acquiring feedback from municipalities on the potential hazards the communities would face, as well projects to mitigate those issues.

Weise explained there will be meetings scheduled with representatives from cities in the county to gather information about potential disasters and hazards in each community, as well as identify projects to assist in mitigating those issues.

The county would hire a contractor to consolidate the data and generate the plan.

He added there is no financial impact to the communities for participating in the discussions and his goal would be to have one meeting in each of the participating municipalities.

Weise said he needed a letter from the Town stating it will participate in the discussions to designate an individual to represent Lind at the meetings.

The Council voted to have Council Members Rose Elkington and Richard Baldwin as representatives for Lind to attend the meetings.

The Council also briefly discussed the proposed cash handling policy for Town office staff.

Mayor Paula Bell said the only change was to implement that persons responsible for checking petty cash fund will establish a routine of checking at the beginning, middle and end of each work day.

It was a changed from “should” to “will,” which was suggested by Elkington at the March 13 Town Council meeting.

Council voted to adopt the cash handling policy and put into a resolution, which will be brought for a final vote at the April 10 meeting.

The Council also voted to amend Resolution 04-01 regarding charging for copy services at the Town Hall office. The amendments includes a 45 cents per sheet charge for color copies.

Bell also presented the Council with a draft of a proposed ordinance for a credit card use policy. She explained the purpose of the document to authorize the use of the Town’s credit card to transact official town business.

The policy provides procedures for using the credit card for travel for official business for the Town by employees, as well as purchases for ordering supplies.

The document also includes guidelines for credit limits in purchasing supplies and equipment for the Town.

It also states the Town credit card will not be used for cash advance and personal purchases, and receipts and verification must be provided after the card is used. The document explains the Mayor must approve purchases by Town office staff while the Council must approve purchases by the Mayor.

The policy also includes guidelines for city staff using fuel credit cards.

Bell also informed the Council one of the fire hydrants was damaged after an auto collision.

She added the cost to repair the hydrant is estimated at $6,418.50.