No Due Process, NO Development Plan, No Problem

The Globe has their story and here is the rest of the story.
This is what the County of Ford, in open court, made a clean breast to.

**** The County of Ford admits that the application (all three of them) was not signed prior to the public notice hearing in the Globe on November 4th, 2006.

**** The County of Ford admits that the application WAS BACKDATED by Mark Shirwise, the Zoning Administrator from November 9th to November 3rd, 2006 to try to make it look like the application was signed on the correct day.

**** The County of Ford admits that the application fee was not paid until November 9th, 2006.

Zoning Regulations state that the application has to be signed and the application fee has to be paid prior to the Public Hearing Notice in the Official County Newspaper.

Jack Shultz, attorney, was able to unquestionably prove that there was no “Development Plan” submitted with the application and what was finally submitted on November 20, 2006 was not a Development Plan. He said: “You can't just take a bunch of papers, staple them together and put 'Site Development Plan' on it,".

Taken from the Biofuels “Development Plan” page 9 and 10

(“Which has not been hired yet” was added by Jack Shultz in his summary of the case before Judge Daniel Love).

“The following is taken from Article 12 of the Ford County Zoning Regulations. It addresses various aspects of the design that may or may not be available at present as indicated. Updates of these aspects of the development plan can and will be provided as the project progresses,

1) A Development Plan, drawn to the same scale as the topographic survey, indicating:
a) Existing and proposed contours (1 -foot intervals)
1) Tentative-See Diagram C- A civil engineer needs to be hired do the site grading plan, storm drainage, etc. The civil design typically takes 1-2 months.
b) Location and orientation of all existing and proposed buildings;
i) The site is a Greenfield site with no existing structures, Proposed buildings are identified in Diagram D.
c) Parking areas, including arrangement and number of stalls;
i) Tentative-See Diagram B~C and D. Approximately 70+ parking stalls but final number to be determined at a later date by the civil engineer. (which has not been hired yet.)
d) Areas to be developed far screening, including the location of plant materials, and screening structures and features;
1) Final landscaping to be determined at a later date; however, we will have a fence in place for security purposes in designated locations throughout the site.
e) Pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and their relationship to existing streets, alleys and public right-of~way;
i) Tentative-See Diagram B, C and D. This is done by the Civil Engineer. (Which has not been hired yet) Traffic circulation will be addressed in a Traffic Study which will be done in the immediate future. Direct discussions with KDOT have been held and initial discussions with the Wright community have occurred. A comprehensive traffic plan will include input from all resident and regulatory participants as well as the BNSF, with safety the foremost consideration,
f) Points of ingress and egress;
i) See e (i) above.
g) Location of all existing and proposed utilities (sanitary sewage systems, water systems, storm drainage systems, gas lines, telephone lines and electrical power lines);
i) Storm drainage systems are being considered and will be addressed at a later date by Civil Engineers. (Which has not been hired yet) No existing utilities are on the site. Boot Hill has employed US Energy Services to explore the optimal means for delivering the appropriate electrical and natural gas infrastructure to the site, Preliminary reports from US Energy indicates multiple options for each and few impediments.
h) Location of Proposed Utilities-

i) See g(i), The proposed utility design will be done by the Civil Engineer and 1CM electrical, (Which has not been hired yet)
i) Drainage controls (retention or detention ponds);
I) These are designed by the civil engineer (Which has not been hired yet) and require that the civil engineer (Which has not been hired yet) conduct a drainage study, complete the calculations, do the site grading design, etc.
,j) Location, size and characteristics of identification and business signs;
i) We will have an entrance sign in place and will follow any guidelines and limitations set forth by Ford County,
k) Lighting layout, appurtenances, and intensity of illumination;
i) We will have ample light as required by OSHA during construction; This is designed by 1CM electrical after the site layout is complete. 1CM designs all outside plant lighting to limit light pollution by attempting to direct light downward and only as and where needed,
I) Proposed finished floor elevations of all buildings and structures,
i) This cannot be done until the civil engineer (Which has not been hired yet) has completed the site grading, rail design, etc. An estimate of the size and dimension of significant structures based on the Arkalon design can be found on Diagram 0,

The final design determination for significant aspects of the Development Plan require further study and engineering. (by an engineer which has not been hired yet).”
End of page 10

As Jack Shultz read this, the lady doing the computer work (Powerpoint) for the Rebein legal team could not keep from laughing. Dave Rebein just hung his head. Mr. Goodnight looked lost and Mark Shriwise looked like he could faint any minute.

Glen Kerbs in his presentation tried to tell Judge Love that the Development Plan is only for the Zoning Board and the County Commissioners to have and sturdy. That there is no need for interested citizens of Ford County to have a copy or be able to view this so that they can go to the Public Hearing and deliver an informed opinion.

I got the feeling that that did not fly well with Judge Love.

Jack Shultz again: “They want you to believe (the county administrator) can make it up any way he wants to or ignore it any way he wants to," said Shultz. "These regulations are meant to be followed."

I can tell you what I got out of this. I can’t think of a better way to kill public confidence in Ford County Zoning Law then to allow this abuse to continue. They should be made to start all over. The backdating of documents, by the zoning administrator, was enough for me to decide that enough is enough.

I can only hope that Judge Love was just as mad as I was.

[Bubba]

Thank you unregistered, I wish you would register so that I could give rep points for that FINE reporting. It picked up where the Globe left off and reported the WHOLE story.

[Made in the USA]

And the "suspense" continues!! ONLY IN DODGE CITY!!

[Value Pack]

As Jack Shultz read this, the lady doing the computer work (Powerpoint) for the Rebein legal team could not keep from laughing. Dave Rebein just hung his head. Mr. Goodnight looked lost and Mark Shriwise looked like he could faint any minute.

“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence. “ H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 - 1956)

You have to keep in mind that attorneys receive “laugh control training” (along with gag reflex) in law school. The blonde in the picture did not get the benefit of that excellent training.

I noticed the blonde and Judge Love in the Globe. Who was everyone else?

[booger]

Real powerful points here, I just wish that enthol plants were using "White Corn", rather than "Yellow Corn". This plan would help alot.

One plant ready for construction, another battling lawsuit

Associated Press

DODGE CITY, Kan. - As one proposed ethanol plant in Ford County continues to fight a lawsuit filed by angry landowners, another is ready for construction nine miles to the west.

Omaha, Neb.-based Dial Bio-Renewable Fuels is proposing to build Kansas' largest biofuels complex. The plant, four miles west of Dodge City, would be capable of producing 226.8 million gallons of ethanol and 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

A request for a conditional-use permit was filed last week, and the Ford County Zoning Board will consider the application March 26. A final decision would come from the Ford County Commission.

"All I can say is we'll begin construction as soon as the permitting process allows us," said Dave Wehner of Dial Bio-Renewable Fuels.

Wehner said a plant that would produce 113.4 million gallons would be built first, followed by the biodiesel complex. An expansion of the first ethanol plant would double its capacity. The entire project, valued at $550 million, would eventually employ 70 to 80 people.

The plant would include "state-of-the-art technology to control smoke, dust, odor, gas and noise," according to the application, and be located on about 66 acres of land just outside of a 100-year flood plain.

"We have filed (all paperwork) according to the rules," Wehner said. "We played according to the book."

Landowners five miles east of Dodge City say that's not the case with another company that is trying to build an ethanol plant.

Residents of the small, unincorporated town of Wright are suing the Ford County Commission for approving a plan by Boot Hill Biofuels to build a $185 million facility.

They contend the company did not comply with all local zoning rules in seeking county permission.

County and company officials said proper protocol was followed in approving the plant, which would produce about 110 million gallons of ethanol a year. A final brief of the lawsuit is due Wednesday and a judge is expected to render a decision soon.

I don't get it.

quote:

**** The County of Ford admits that the application (all three of them) was not signed prior to the public notice hearing in the Globe on November 4th, 2006.

**** The County of Ford admits that the application WAS BACKDATED by Mark Shirwise, the Zoning Administrator from November 9th to November 3rd, 2006 to try to make it look like the application was signed on the correct day.

**** The County of Ford admits that the application fee was not paid until November 9th, 2006.

Zoning Regulations state that the application has to be signed and the application fee has to be paid prior to the Public Hearing Notice in the Official County Newspaper.

Jack Shultz, attorney, was able to unquestionably prove that there was no “Development Plan” submitted with the application and what was finally submitted on November 20, 2006 was not a Development Plan. He said: “You can't just take a bunch of papers, staple them together and put 'Site Development Plan' on it,". "

end of quote.

I am stunned also. I guess there is no need for anyone to be a good citizen and take part in the legal mess in Ford County. What is the use?


Ignoring protocol in Wright ethanol plant cited; plaintiffs stunned by decision

By Tim Vandenack

The Hutchinson News

tvandenack@hutchnews.com

DODGE CITY - A judge here rejected a lawsuit on Friday that accused Ford County officials of ignoring proper protocol in granting a green light to developers of a proposed ethanol plant.


That has one Ford County commissioner speaking of a "new chapter" in area economic development and project developers eager to carry on with their plans.

"We always did what the county instructed us to do," said Gary Harshberger, president of Boot Hill Biofuels, which plans to build a 110 million gallon per year ethanol plant east of Wright. "Plans are going forward and they've never really stopped."

The plaintiffs, landowners around the planned plant site, seemed stunned at Friday's outcome and were still mulling their options. "We'll just have to talk it over," said Rodney Helfrich, one of nine who took part in the suit.

Helfrich and the others filed suit last January in Ford County District Court against the Ford County Commission, asking that the body's Dec. 18 decision granting Boot Hill a conditional-use permit to build be voided.

But in rebuffing the suit, Magistrate Judge Daniel Love turned back the plaintiffs' contention that Boot Hill's permit application was lacking and that the requisite paperwork wasn't filed with the county in a timely fashion. He said certain elements of zoning rules that govern conditional-use permit applications and development plans are "directory only" and not, as plaintiffs had maintained, mandatory.

Moreover, he said county officials followed proper procedure in handling Boot Hill's application and affirmed the Dec. 18 decision. Critics of the process "were afforded adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard," Love wrote, alluding to their numerous appearances before county officials.

Kim Goodnight, chairman of the Ford County Commission, expressed delight at the ruling and the prospects offered by a new industry, ethanol, entering the county.

"I'm real excited this is behind us and we're able to move forward," he said. "I think it's a new chapter in Ford County's history."

Boot Hill's plans, one of two ethanol plant proposals in Ford County, call for a start to construction on Aug. 1. The $185 million plant would employ 45 to 50 people and have an annual payroll of around $2 million.

Some of the plaintiffs in the suit have expressed opposition to Boot Hill's plans because of the water the ethanol facility would use and the truck traffic it would generate, among other things. But those issues didn't figure in the lawsuit.

[K C Muffin]

Good Lord. So why even bother to oppose the idiots in charge?

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Kim Goodnight, chairman of the Ford County Commission, expressed delight at the ruling and the prospects offered by a new industry, ethanol, entering the county.

"I'm real excited this is behind us and we're able to move forward," he said. "I think it's a new chapter in Ford County's history."

The title of the new chapter in Ford County History is:

This is How We $hit on the Little Guy!

[Jolly Rancher]

Judge Love is up for re-election this year. Show your NON-support. Seems that the judges don't think they have to follow the law either.