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Town staff announces public works campus groundbreaking, zoning-code grant and new GIS tool
Summary
Staff told the board the town approved bids for a new public works campus with a ceremonial groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m., said the town received a grant to begin rewriting zoning code, and described plans to adopt an interactive 'Maplink' GIS to make zoning and planning layers more accessible to the public.
A staff member updated the board on several administrative and planning initiatives: the town approved bids for a new public works campus and scheduled a ceremonial groundbreaking and photo opportunity for Saturday at 11 a.m., the town has a grant to start revising its zoning law, and staff are pursuing an interactive mapping product called Maplink to make zoning, wetlands and trail planning layers easier for residents to view.
The staff member reminded board members to file ethics disclosure forms and said the state's required update to a flood-protection law is moving toward final review at the town board. On the public works project, staff said bids came in "a couple million dollars less than where we had projected," and described an office reorganization that will move planning and zoning functions to the new public works facility while parks staff remain in the current building.
Staff also described a planned zoning-law steering committee that will include representatives of the town board, zoning board, planning board, the conservation board and resident participants to guide a multi-year code rewrite. "We got a grant for that," the staff member said, and the process will include outreach to business owners and the public.
On mapping and data access, staff discussed Maplink, an interactive GIS product that would allow users to filter zoning by use (for example, to find sites where a grocery store could be sited) and to overlay wetlands and other environmental data. Staff said county GIS resources remain available and that staff can upload master-plan layers once finalized.
Scheduling note: staff confirmed two items are on the next meeting agenda (June 11) related to "Lansing Station" — one new cottage and one addition to an existing structure — and asked whether the usual chair will be available; staff said those items will appear at the next meeting.
No formal decisions were recorded on these administrative items during the meeting; staff presented information and sought board direction on upcoming processes.
