Linn County planning office reports higher permit revenue; Marion airport overlay to be reconsidered after city exit

Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols told the Linn County Board of Supervisors on April 15 that building-and-zoning permit revenue is running about 107% of projections and the department will add roughly $160,000 to a spring budget amendment to reflect that surplus.

Nichols said the office had extended and filled a temporary planning intern position that will run from May through late August, and described several major commercial projects under review or construction, including the Morgan Creek event center, the winter overflow shelter, a Secondary Roads facility and stabilization work at Cornell Kings Chapel. "They have sensors built into it right now where they are calculating how much it's leaning and how much stabilization it needs," Nichols said of the chapel stabilization project.

The report also raised an open policy question about the Marion airport overlay district after the City of Marion said it plans to stop operating the airport by June 30. Nichols told the board that when the overlay was adopted about five years ago state code allowed a city to compel a county to adopt an airport overlay; with Marion no longer owning or operating the airport, the county would not be required to keep that overlay in place. Nichols said Linn County currently has a "2080 agreement with Marion" that requires 30 days' notice before removing the overlay and that the board would face a formal decision on whether to retain the overlay later in the summer.

Nichols reported that the historic preservation commission's grant program this year has about $28,800 available and received seven applications totaling roughly $38,000; the commission will meet April 16 to review applications and plans to present recommendations to the board on April 30. He described a Food Systems Council symposium on March 28 at the ISU extension office in Hiawatha that drew 80 registered participants and cost under $2,000 to run. "This event is pretty good bang for the buck," Nichols said.

On staffing and operations Nichols said the building division is working to get an associate inspector certified to perform electrical inspections for single-family homes before summer, which would increase inspection capacity. He said clerical traffic and permit workload are rising with the season: year-to-date permit counts were down about 8% (172 permits) compared with the prior period, but permit valuation was up about 16%.

Nichols also flagged a county-level fiscal question tied to a possible new nuclear power project. He said recent state tax legislation capped revenue growth at 2% but includes an exception for new construction; Nichols said he has asked the Department of Revenue whether new generation tax from a nuclear plant would be treated as "new construction" for the cap so local taxing jurisdictions could capture the new growth if it is exempt.

The board asked clarifying questions; Nichols said the airport-overlay issue, the nuclear-tax question and several ongoing land-use items would return to the board later in the summer for formal direction or action.