By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Delavan Common Council on May 14 unanimously approved an amendment to its zoning ordinance and three conditional use permits that will allow HVD Recycling LLC to open a metal recycling center at the former Stock Lumber truss plant property at 1835 and 1849 Hobbs Drive.
U.S. Tanker occupies one building of the former lumber business. The new recycling center will occupy the second building on the property and a new building that will be constructed on the site. City Planner Mike Slavney said a zoning change was necessary because the city’s ordinance lumped all recycling uses together as “heavy” recycling and included no provisions for “light” recycling of metal like HVD Recyling will do. Slavney said recycling has evolved since the city originally wrote its ordinance and the amendment should have been passed years ago. It is important that recycling on this level is handled correctly, that is why more metal recycling centers such as the waste metal recycling Bishop Auckland company wastemetal.co.uk, as well as others within certain locations, are needed for the correct handling of this material.
Slavney said three conditional use permits are required because of the different uses proposed for the property. One permit is required for recycling, one is required for outdoor storage of truck, truck trailers and rail cars, and one is required because of the multi-tenant and multi-building nature of the site.
HVD will use about 20,000 square feet of the 54,000-square-foot main building. The rest of the space will continue to be used by tenant Wild Impact Marketing Inc. The proposed additional 11,309-square-foot building will accommodate short-term storage and processing of ferrous metals. It will have concrete floors and walls and a fabric roof supported by framework. The site will have several areas of outdoor storage.
Slavney said the conditional use permits will allow the city to have tough conditions for which it can revoke the permits if they are violated. He said the business has incentive to meet the 15 conditions laid out in the permits because it has invested money in the site and would endure severe financial hardship if the permits were revoked.
Alderman Ryan Schroeder, who said he has an interest in the property because it is in his district and he worked at Stock Lumber for 11 years, asked how many jobs the business would create. HVD Recycling Owner Henry Van Dyken said the business would probably start with 10 jobs and expand later. Some of the jobs would employ people who already working for the company’s Elkhorn location, and some would be new hires.
Alderman Bruce DeWitt asked if the company had plans to consolidate all of its business into one site. Van Dyken said that is possible.
HVD Recycling, also known as Southern Lakes Recycling, looked into locat-ing at the former Wick’s Lumber site on Highway 11 between Delavan and Elkhorn in August. That request was denied, according to Town of Delavan Administrator John Olson, by an extraterritorial zoning committee made up of representatives from the township and the City of Elkhorn because of concerns expressed by neighboring property owners.
Curb and gutter
The council approved special assessments for adding new curb and gutter on the east side of Terrace Street from 130 feet south of the south line of Matthew Street to 200 feet south of the south line of Geneva Street and on both sides of Main Street from the south line of Geneva Street to 200 feet south of Geneva Street.
Public Works Director Mark Wendorf said the project is in conjunction with reconstructing the roadway, and city policy is to add new curb and gutter where it did not previously exist with property owners being responsible for the cost.
Administrator Denise Pieroni said the cost to property owners will range from $403.20 to $2,165.72 depending on how many linear feet of curb and gutter a property owner has.
Some residents questioned why curb and gutter is necessary where it hasn’t been before. Wendorf said the street has some problems with erosion and roads typically last longer if they have curb and gutter.
Alderman Ryan Schroeder moved to approve the assessments with the allowance that property owners have 10 years to pay them off as opposed to the five years the city has typically allowed. Schroeder said economic times are tough and budgets are tight. He said he does not want to make it more difficult for property owners to pay their mortgages.
The council unanimously decided not to approve special assessments for a new sidewalk on the south side of Geneva Street near its intersection with Fifth Street. The sidewalk project would be in conjunction with reconstructing the street. As with curb and gutter, the city’s policy is to add sidewalks when a street is reconstructed.Property owners opposed the installation of the sidewalk because it would come too close to one house and would also most likely result in the removal of two mature trees. Like the curb and gutter being added where it had not been needed before, some questioned the need for the sidewalk.
DeWitt said he feels the negatives of losing the two trees outweigh the benefits of the new sidewalk. Alderman Gary Stebnitz said the other side of the street has a sidewalk.
