The City of Rushford Village held a public hearing before beginning their regular council meeting on July 7. The meeting was to allow the public to share their concerns and ask questions regarding a conditional use permit for the construction of a new building for Farmers Win Coop in the village along Hwy. 43.
Planning and Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit noted that he had the application from Farmers Win; he shared that CRV had followed City Engineer Derek Olinger’s lead on the application so they wouldn’t miss anything. Pettit felt it was important to use Olinger’s expertise; Olinger joined the hearing via phone to answer any questions.
Olinger explained that because of the building’s placement in the flood plain, a conditional use permit was necessary. This triggered the need for a public hearing to allow citizens the opportunity to comment. Olinger informed the hearing that he had no concerns about the project. The draft resolution included the provision that gravel dust control will be mandated. The developer will provide wastewater information regarding the grinder station. There will be no outdoor storage at the facility; if, in the future Farmers Win wanted to add such storage, another CUP would be necessary.
When Mayor Dennis Overland asked for questions or comments from the public, no citizens commented. Councilman Bob Hart presented a question he had been asked by a citizen earlier. The citizen wanted assurance that there would be no runoff from the site into the river.
Olinger noted that the land was actually on the “flood fringe” and commented that he was not concerned about this. It had been ascertained that the site was designed with runoff requirements.
Eric Johnson of Farmers Win addressed the issue, commenting that a run-off pond which met state requirements was included on the site plan.
With no further comments from the public, Mayor Overland closed the hearing and opened the regular council meeting.
The first item on the agenda was to consider the resolution for the Farmers Win agricultural warehousing and distribution facility. With no further discussion, the council approved the CUP.
City Clerk Mary Miner presented the current city budget as of June 30. Miner asked the council to start thinking about next year’s budget and needs since they were halfway through the year. The preliminary budget for 2027 will be due in September. Bob Hart asked if PWD’s Darrin Dessner was part of the budget discussions. He felt Dessner should be preparing requests for what PWD needs. Councilmen Mike Ebner and Travis Link will work with Dessner on this.
Jon Pettit shared the new Planning And Zoning permits. Rick Ruberg received a permit for the demolition of a house, pump house and milk house on Ridgeview Road; Steve Wenzel got a permit to reside his Plummer Street property; Janet and Brett Wynia received a permit for siding, windows and roof for their Hayes St. home.
Pettit pointed out that Rasmussens have people who want to build in CRV; he encouraged residents who want to sell their property to come to Planning and Zoning.
PWD’s Darrin Dessner reported that lead and copper samples had been sent to the lab for testing. He will be attending wastewater classes in Rushford next week.
Dessner shared that there had been quite a bit of washout on roads during the recent heavy rains. Aspen was the worst of the roads. In Trout Spring, quite a few trees were downed. There is still a lot of grading of roads needed in CRV.
The spring clean up was discussed. There had been a small increase in prices for the cleanup, but Miner did not feel that it was large enough to have affected the attendance. The council felt they needed to avoid Mother’s Day weekend next year for the cleanup date in order to improve the use of the event.
Mayor Overland informed the council that he had some South Rushford residents volunteer to help with fundraising and planning for new playground equipment for the South Rushford park. Overland asked for permission to create a committee of these volunteers, asserting the council that he would inform them about who was on the committee.
Councilman Travis Link commented, “That’d be great! There are lots of kids who use that park!” The council unanimously approved the committee creation.
July 14-28 is the filing period for CRV open seats. The positions currently held by Travis Link, Bob Hart and Dennis Overland will be up for election.
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