Commissioners receive Planning & Building update

ALBANY — Linn County issued 291 total building permits in April, Planning & Building Director Steve Wills told Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker Tuesday morning.

Wills said permit numbers are comparable to the same time period a year ago.

There were 31 permits for dwellings, including three single-family units, 24 additions and four accessory buildings.

Wills said the quarterly meeting of contract city representatives went well, with four cities represented. He said the main topic was the implementation of a new Accela program. He said the department is about half-way through set-up and hopes to be completed in July.

Commissioner Sprenger said she attended the meeting and is pleased with how much information is shared in a cooperative manner.

In his written report, Wills said there were 24 new code enforcement cases in April and 11 cases were closed.

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.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Approved an easement for $7,697 with Floyd Zumwalt and the Kathy Zumwalt Trust and an easement for $19,824 with Loretta Norris of the Loretta Norris Trust, both for the Goldfish Farm Road project.
• Approved transferring Ralston Drive, a private road that serves 10 residences, to the City of Lebanon. The property was foreclosed upon in 1979 and totals about one-fifth of an acre.
• Recognized that Board Chair Nyquist notified Millersburg Mayor Scott Cowan by letter that the county’s decision on March 14 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 until next Tuesday a request by the Health Department to transfer $50,000 from the contingency fund to real property fund to potentially be used as earnest money to purchase property.

Media contact: Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer, 541-409-8025 or email apaul@co.linn.or.us.