Pictured: Last year, Bethel CRC purchased two lots south of the existing sanctuary. They hope to expand their church building in the future. (Photo by Jill Fennema)

By Jill Fennema –

The Edgerton City Council entertained two different variance requests at their last meeting. One was for De Kam Seed and Fertilizer and one was for Bethel Christian Reformed Church.

The variance for the church was the first variance discussed. No one from the public came to dispute their request, which includes building closer to the lot lines than allowed by ordinance and covering 60 percent of their location with structure. City ordinance mandates a 20 foot setback and 40 percent coverage.

The church has not adopted a building plan or architectural rendering, but has a committee working on a plan. Part of their process is finding out what they will be allowed to build.

Andy Kooiker was at the meeting representing their building committee. Three of the five council members are also members of Bethel CRC – Kevin Caspersen, Craig Vreeman, and Del Hulstein. Hulstein was not at the meeting, and neither was Councilwoman Kathy Baker.

Baker had expressed to Mayor Kirk Bleyenburg that she had concerns about the variance, especially the plans for water drainage. Clerk Joel Farrington shared her concerns.

Kooiker addressed that question, saying that the church was working with DGR on the project and that he had talked with engineer Trent Bruce about storm water drainage. Bruce was not too concerned because while the church might build a sizable new sanctuary, that area was occupied by two houses with concrete driveways. So while the project would cover more ground with solid surfaces than was previously, Bruce did not think it was enough to be alarmed.

“We definitely want to keep this moving,” Kooiker said. “We are looking for approval as soon as possible.”

The clerk and council noted that the city’s Capital Improvement Plan will probably make any potential problems disappear, they were still concerned enough to ask Kooiker to have Bruce give them an opinion in writing before they would proceed with the variance approval.

Caspersen suggested that they table the matter for a month until they could have a full council discussion and double check the drainage questions with the engineer. The mayor agreed.

De Kam Seed and Fertilizer plans to build a 40’ by 60’ storage shed on their property on Mill and Klindt Streets. The variance request was to build closer to the lot lines than allowed by ordinance. Owner Darrin De Kam wanted to build 5-feet from the property line.

This property is next to the Edgerton Veterinary Clinic. The vet clinic had sent a letter to the council saying they were worried about how much snow would fall on their property from the building and if they would want to build at that corner of their lot, the buildings would be very close together.

The letter from the clinic said they would be happy with a 10-foot setback and the council agreed, noting that the commercial properties in that area are all quite close to the road and lot lines. The building permit and variance were approved with a 10 foot setback.

The council also approved a building permit for Mitch and Brittany Hartle to construct a garage addition at 216 Terrace View Ave.

In other matters, the council approved the 2021 Audit Report as it was presented by Dave Fredrickson from Meulebroeck and Taubert Accounting Firm. They once again received a clean opinion.

The city has operating expenses for about 11 months, which is twice the recommended amount by the state auditor. Fredrickson noted that the fund balance of $968,639 is very liquid – most of that is cash in the bank available to spend as necessary. Farrington explained that about two-thirds of that is earmarked for things like street repair, a new fire truck, and other items that they are saving for.

Total revenues for the city were $1,283,300 and total expenditures were $1,271,837. The EDA has a fund balance of $547,900 some of which is loans that are out and some of which is cash in the bank.

The three Enterprise funds – water, sewer, garbage – were all self-sufficient and had small profits, which is what the state auditor likes to see.

Jeff Snyder gave the public works report. Sealcoating will be done soon on 4th Avenue, Howard Street, Mechanic Street, and all the stub streets off Mechanic Street.

Snyder also reported that the Kernza will be harvested soon. However, with the drought they are not expecting much.

The council approved a request from the Edgerton Chamber of Commerce for some funding for promotional events. Chamber President Shela Gunnink said that the $200 a month that was requested would be used to advertise and promote events to bring people to Edgerton from other communities. The council granted that request and will entertain adding a “civic” line to their yearly budget.

The meeting ended with reports from Farrington on the various projects he is working on. He said that Edgerton will not receive financing terms on their CIP until March or April of 2022. This is not due to any fault on the city’s side or DGR, it’s just USDA and their engineers.

The Brands property is cleared and the city is waiting for the final invoices and then needs to organize an environmental plan. Several people have asked about the possibility of trails there, and the city will look into this.

September 24 is the projected DNR grant award date. This grant will be used for sidewalks and courts in the city park.

The bike lane on 4th Ave. was supposed to go to Capri Street, but was stopped at the top of the hill. He asked the county to extend it but they outsource the striping, so it could not be done. Right now, he has a request with the county to do it next year.

The city council will need to set a preliminary levy increase at the next meeting, which is Sept. 8, at 7 p.m.