BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council approved the site plan for construction of six storage bins on Eastbrook Drive for CRC Global Solutions and took care of other business this week.
The bins will provide storage for fully processed soybean seeds, according to the attachment to the agenda available on the city’s website. The bins will be 44 feet high, which is approximately the same height as the existing hoop structure on the property. The applicant met with the development review team on Aug. 23 to discuss the project. Since the area is zoned Industrial I-1R, there is a requirement of at least 10 trees per acre. In this case, 350 trees are required due to the large size of the parcel, according to the attachment. There are about 100 existing trees and a hedge on the property.
The applicant proposed adding a total of 28 trees to provide screening from surrounding businesses and the Interstate 29 corridor, according to the attachment.
The development review team recommended approving the site plan, with the condition: “The proposed trees shall be strategically placed as shown on the landscape plan, have at least a 3-inch caliper at time of planting, and be of at least three different varieties as approved by the Parks, Recreation and Forestry director,” according to the attachment.
City Engineer Jackie Lanning also had recommendations about the drainage plan.
“A drainage plan is required if the bins on the west side of the parking lot are installed where they are shown on the proposed site plan. However, I recommend that the bins on the west side of the parking lot be placed where there is existing asphalt so the impervious area does not increase and a drainage plan would not be required in that case,” according to the attachment.
Councilor Mary Kidwiler, acting as mayor in the absence of Mayor Keith Corbett, wanted to know if the bins would be visible from the interstate, because the trees were planned to go on the west side.
Thomas Lombard, special projects manager for CRC, said motorists can’t see the bins anyway, since the interstate goes up on a bridge, putting the site “in a pocket.”
“I’d have to have some awful tall trees,” Lombard said.
Councilor Patty Bacon asked about putting the bins on the existing parking lot.
CRC could work on that, but they’ll have to tear up the asphalt and put concrete down anyway, Lombard said.
Lanning said if the bins are on a hard surface, there’s no need for a drainage plan, but if they are on grass, then there has to be a drainage plan.
The council approved the plan with the conditions proposed by the development review team.
Flooding investigation
In other business, Matt Schmidt of Windemere Way thanked the mayor, councilors and city staff who came by his house Sept. 12 to listen to him and his neighbors who were flooded by the heavy rain July 18 and to explain the study that was underway. He did ask them to provide more details about the expanded search, how much it was expanded and the timetable for completion.
Lanning thanked Schmidt for hosting the meeting, and said they were expanding the base of the study to include areas of 17th Avenue up to Moriarty Park, and to 20th Street South. This will include the basin of drainage for the area to give them more complete information.
Lanning said she expects Banner Associates’ report in October but doesn’t have a specific date. The results will be presented to the council.
Joint law enforcement agreement
The council approved a joint law enforcement agreement between the Brookings Police Department and the SDSU University Police Department. The two entities are under a fourth extension of the original contract.
Councilor Nick Wendell pointed out the original contract was from 2010. Police Chief Dave Erickson said the original agreement was intended to have a shorter life span, and they’ve operated on extensions because they didn’t have anything they felt necessary to change.
The new extension has some changes, which Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne asked Erickson to explain.
Updating the agreement was a big thing, Erickson said. Other issues were sharing information, sharing a records management system, training requirements to familiarize officers with the other jurisdiction and changing verbiage, especially to include part-time officers.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
