Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

this meeting of the planning and zoning commission for September 4th, 2025 to order. All right. So, second item on our agenda is roll call. Kate, can you help us out with that? David Larson, present. John Meyer here. Pete Ford here. Stephanie Garner here. David here. Kane here. Kathy Olson here. All right, that means we have a quorum. So, we'll go ahead and get started. So, item C on our agenda this evening is the approval for the agenda for tonight's meeting. I would ask for a motion. Move approval. Second.

All right. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. I. Seeing none opposed. That motion passes. All right. Item D is approval of the minutes for July 3rd and August 7th um as printed in the agenda for tonight. I would ask for a motion on that. I move the both be approved as presented. Second. All right. Motion's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I.

All right. Hearing none opposed. That motion carries as well. All right. That brings us to item E. And uh I just want to take a moment since we have uh quite a gathering here. So basically what we'll do for both items, item one and item two in the public hearing section is I'll open the public hearing for item one. We'll ask for any feedback from the audience here. Just approach the podium, state your name, your address, give us your feedback. Um and then once we're done and everybody's had a chance to speak, we'll close the public hearing just on item one. We'll discuss that, take action, and then we'll open the discussion in the public hearing on item two, close that, etc. So, just if nobody's seen that process before, uh that's what we'll do. Uh so, really the first item in our public hearing section, um item one is um a reasonzoning application for 195 20th Street Northwest and 110 20th Street Northwest, Waverly, Iowa. Kate, if you could just walk us through that agenda memo.

Yep. So, NBN Partnership has applied to reszone 195 of 20th Street Northwest and 110 20th Street Northwest from S1 shopping center District to C2 Commercial District. This includes parcel ID 0904 230014 094 230015 094230013 0942300 09 and 090423006. The buildings include our Will Lone Mall and Mercy 1 Waverly Family Medicine. Over time, the Will Alone Mall area has transitioned from a traditional retail shopping center to a space primarily used for office and commercial purposes. The resoning request aims to align the zoning with the current and potential future use of the property. According to the future land use map, this area is designated for commercial use.

Thank you. All right. So hearing that, I'll go ahead and open the public hearing for item one under section E of our agenda tonight. So if anyone has any public comments for that, now would be the time to step forward. Okay, seeing none, I'll close the public hearing for item one and go to the commission for comments, questions, and discussion. I I guess the question I have is why isn't the entire S1 area being switched to C2? Why is it just piece pieces of it? when you look at the the aerial and the um and the existing zoning map, why isn't that entire I mean I I can understand the transition, but why isn't the entire piece being changed from um S1 to C2?

So Mike Shehan is the applicant and the parcels that I listed off would be the ones that he owns. Well, but MDM partnership, unless I'm misinterpreting the the aerial map, is that um you're saying it only includes basically the uh the mall and the clinic, but there are other pieces of there's other parcels that are incorporated in that. So, if you look at is it all the MDM parcels? Okay. Okay. Yep. So, that's why it's I misinterpreted the photograph. Well, the outline doesn't have the old McDonald's in Well, yeah, that's what I'm asking. That's what you were referring to. Yeah.

Right. Yeah. But it is all of the MDM partnership properties. Yeah. Yeah. That's what Mike, you know, I called and I said, "How come you aren't doing the other one?" He He said that is supposed to be all That was your That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Right. Okay. So, that's what we'll assume that it covers where Old McDonald's was, right? I guess the part the numbers do. Yeah, it does include 0609 and so on. Okay. Yeah, I just it wasn't in that blue outline or greenish blue or the graphic confused me. Yeah, me too. Sorry. Okay.

Okay. Other discussion with the commission? If not, I would ask for a motion. I would move that the planning and zoning commission recommend approval of this application for 195 and 110 20th Street Northwest to convert from C or from I'm sorry, S1 to C2. Second, sir. Okay. Been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I.

Hearing none opposed. That motion passes. All right, moving to agenda item two in section E in our public hearing statement section, excuse me. Uh Kate, if you will read us the agenda memo on this one.

Kaiser Corson Corson Properties LLC applied for a special provisional use for a building addition at 218 2nd Street Southeast. The addition is proposed to be 3 foot from the north property line. This can be approved through this special provisional use process. The site plan includes a six-foot privacy fence from the northwest corner of the building west to the property line. The two parcels have been officially platted together, but due to Bremer County requirements have to be shown as two separate parcels on Beacon. The commission and council already approved the plat survey lots and that plat was recorded. Premitories must be licensed through the state of Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing. Premitories must meet federal EPA regulations for items such as disposal, air quality, and emissions. Staff is supportive of this SBU request.

All right. Thank you. All right. So, I'll move to the public hearing. I'll open the public hearing for item two under section. So, again, if you have comments, uh, please approach the podium. State your name and address and you can share with us. Hi there. Thank you for allowing me time to speak. My name is Emily Gonsky. I live at 112nd Avenue Southeast here in Waverly. I live there with my husband and our seven children directly across the street from the proposed crematorium project. I have major concerns regarding the pro the construction of the crematorium and I'm asking the zone commission to deny the special provisional use of lot 09021810. This lot is currently zoned as R2 or residential district. The lot is in the middle of a residential area and is simply not suitable for a crematorium. The proposed addition would be straight out my front door and the main view from the apartment building windows behind it. A crematorium should be set in an industrial location and away from our front yards. According to the National Collaborating Center for Environmental Health, crematoriums emit harmful chemicals and particles such as mercury from dental amalgam of the deceased as well as metals and tissues of the individual or even memorial items in the casket. They also emit carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxides to name a few. These pollutants can even include polycllorinated dyenzo P dioxins. Dioxins are highly toxic causing a range of serious health problems including cancer, reproductive and developmental issues, immune system damage, and hormone interference. This is a quote from the NCC.

The pollutants of most concern from crematoria emissions are PCDDD and FS HG and fine particulate matter. PCDDD and FS and HG are known to be toxic to humans and can bioaccumulate in the tissues. PCDDD and FS are classified as possible human carcinogens and HG is a neurotoxin. Exposure to PN2.5, which can reach deep into the lungs, can increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and adverse birth outcomes and exacerbate other conditions such as diabetes. For these key pollutants, agencies such as the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency advised that care should be taken to limit exposure, particularly for vulnerable populations such as babies, children, pregnant women, and the elderly. This is the exact demographic that surrounds this lot that's proposed for the crematorium. Kaiser Corson submitted a study done by the TRC who completed an emissions compliance study. Despite the study appearing to clear up emissions concerns, the document was quote was to determine visual emission rates during normal operating conditions, not environmental or chemical. I'll touch briefly on the odor concerns regarding crematoriums. You're not supposed to have a smell when functioning properly. If the system malfunctions, there is potential for thick black smoke and the odor of quote burning meat or plastic. This quote was taken from the news article done by a reporter in Phoenix during CO 19 who interviewed neighbors surrounding a crematorium. Their statements were gruesome. I can direct you to the article for more information if anyone is interested. There are things that malfunction and need repair in my home all the time. my car, my dishwasher, and my water heater. I don't want to hope that a crematorium will not malfunction so that we don't have to worry about smell from a cremation process. My other concern is resale value for our homes. A

study done by the Nora Real Estate Investment said homes decrease in value by 6.5% simply by being near a funeral home. Without a doubt, the property value of the homes surrounding the proposed crematorium will go down significantly. There is already concern for resale value living near a funeral home in the first place. If the city allows a crematorium to be built next to an already decreased valued property area, it will no doubt put the surrounding homes into serious financial loss when it comes to resale opportunities. I actually also spoke with two realators here in Waverly who agree that it would greatly decrease the value of our homes. And I have some on my petition as well who signed. On behalf of many in the community, I can say with assurance that having a crematorium built in a residential area would greatly affect our everyday life. I personally would not have bought my home that I live in now had I known a crematorium would have been built across the street. The zones established by the city are put in place for our protection and the functioning of the community as a whole. Please advocate for the families in this community by denying the zone special provisional use. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. [Applause] [Applause] My name is Benton Ganssky. I live at 112 Second A Southeast. That's my lovely wife. And I don't believe that a crematorium should be in a residential neighborhood. It's zoned as residential for such for a reason. I don't believe it should be there. I think it should be built somewhere else. [Applause]

Thank you. [Music] My name is April Perry and I live at 317 First Street Southeast um with my four children. And everything that she just said, I mean, you have to agree with it's all the statements are pretty powerful. Um, and if you were across the street from something like that, you would definitely um have some uh don't not feel too great about it either, you know, with your kids and and that kind of um chance of of those smells. And so I agree with everything that was just said by Emily.

Thank you. Hi, I'm Gary Sadi, 91 Second Avenue Southeast. My concern was it seems like this has been railroaded through pretty quickly. Uh I believe the plans must have been in the works probably for over a year. Um the parking lot was purchased more than a year ago, my understanding. and suddenly we've got all the plans done, everything's going, but nothing has ever been said to the people in the whole neighborhood. Maybe get a survey or something before you go through with all this. I can guarantee you the people we're talking to, a lot of them are not here, are not happy about this. This is not something that belongs in the neighborhood. We have plenty of commercial property throughout the the city that this could go to. why it has to be right in the middle here with the apartment complex next to it. I can't even imagine living there with a 30 I don't know if it's 30 foot stack and you've got rooms that are going to be above that that are going to see and smell perhaps some of this immediately right from the uh this building. It just doesn't make any sense why it has to be here with all the farmland we have around here and commercial areas. at least get it out of this particular area. I just I I don't understand. And then it had to be uh done so quickly and then they give us one week, less than a week to even try to defend our position. Um it's over a I knew people weren't going to be around. They go away for the weekend and people got two days to try and fight this. And boy, if we had a number of people and we could give six months of

our time to it, I think this would have made a difference for us to try to compete with the views that we're getting from the funeral home. So anyway, I'm very much against it and I live right across the street from it and I love the area and I'm telling you I I get up in the morning, I look over the river, it's great to be alive and everything else and then I go to the east. Oh yeah, there is that mortality thing. Um and I think that's the thing that bothers me. It's a constant reminder. Um to see whatever is coming out of this smoke stack is just not something I think we need to have in the neighborhood. And it is, as a lot of people have said, it's kind of creepy. I know that's not a good defense, but it is. So, thank you for your time. Um, okay. My name is Destiny Kramer. I reside at 809 Second Street Southwest. Um, however, I manage the property located at 2011 First Street Southeast. I did not prepare for this. I don't have an essay written or anything like that. However, for anyone familiar, um, that address is the address of Waverly Historic Lofts. Um we have 34 apartments um located throughout four stories. Um and as Gary was mentioning, I am concerned um for the air quality. Um ages of our residents, we literally just had a baby born in like June. So we have like a 3-month old baby located on that property and our oldest woman is 74 75 years old and she already um is so paranoid about the air quality of the city. Um, and this would just be so much worse for her. I am worried about our

business reputation. Um, I do believe that people will not want to reside at a location located next to a crematory. Um, and we are also affordable housing, which is not something that's really offered throughout Waverly. There's not really multif family homes or affordable housing. So, this is the only option that a lot of people do have, and I am afraid that they will flock from us. Um, and then we also have multiple kids under the age of 12, which as Emily mentioned, um, they are very greatly at risk, and they're always playing outside, riding bikes and scooters, and playing with chalk, and we have a picnic table, and they love to eat out there. And I am very concerned for the air quality and their house.

Thank you. Hi, I'm Randy Norf. I live at 3 Street Southeast and I just don't think a crematorian should be in a residential area. That's it. Thanks. Thank you. Uh my name is Ryan Tucker. I'm um actually a resident of Denver. Uh but I'm one of the owners of the funeral home here in in Waverly. Uh we serve three other communities as well. Um, just to give a little background on um, the funeral home itself and I guess where we're coming from, it was never our goal to to try to ramrod this through in any way. Um, this is really still part of our feasibility study to see if this is something that even was going to be allowed in our area. Um, so really at the funeral home, what we've done for over a hundred years and what we're going to keep doing is serving our community. Um we we have seen a shift um year after year in the the needs of the families that we serve um and the needs of uh or the increase in the cremation rate. Um just to give you um a little background on that we as a funeral home about half of the families we serve u their request is cremation in in some form during the service. Um the the national average is closer to 60%. And the Iowa average is about 59%. Um but we're seeing an increase just

like they are on a national level. We're just not quite up to um those national numbers. But um our ultimate goal as funeral home and funeral directors is to to serve the public. And I I greatly respect the the opinions of of our neighbors. And we want to be neighborly. Uh the last thing we want is is upset people in the community. Um and like I said, we're here to serve. Um one of the big questions that we get uh from families that we do serve and their loved ones cremated. I think it's fairly well known we don't have our own crematory right now. Uh we use the Waterlue Cremation Service uh that services a lot of uh area funeral homes and we've worked um I partnered with them for uh quite some time. um well before my time here. Um the the design process um we were trying to get the cart ahead of the horse. Uh but we needed to see again if this was going to be feasible for our area. Um we we kept uh you can maybe see in some of the design work with uh Cardinal Construction kept the um our neighbors in mind throughout the design process. Um the the structure that we're proposing being directly connected to the funeral home um does create a great expense, but uh we we wanted that continuity of of care. Um where once we do received the loved one, someone's loved one into the funeral home, we don't have to uh for lack of a better term, wheel them out to a a garage somewhere. Uh we have access right from the funeral home. Um that was something really important to us. the um the outward appearance of the crematory itself. Um I would say that if

someone drove by um or was living nearby and didn't know it was a crematory, uh more than likely they wouldn't notice it was there. Um, a lot of times if you see funeral homes or crematories portrayed online or in in a movie, you notice a big stack towering above a building. Um, and that's simply not the design that we have. Um, and I don't know I I do have pictures of of what that would look like. I don't know if anybody be interested to see that at any point. Um but it is a um uh a covered I would you call it is chimney the right word?

Yeah it kind of looks like a chimney but it's a metal stack on top cap. Um the uh and I don't have the the data. I apologize on how far that sticks out of the roof. I believe it's six is it five or six feet? Um, just as a visual, this is what that stack would look like. You want to show that?

Yeah. Yeah. I have copies of this, too. This is what the the essentially what the what's that overhead so everybody can see. Sorry, I should have let you know I had that. Sorry. [Music]

I can pass those out. I printed several of those. I guess if anybody's interested. [Applause] So essentially um the stack this is this is portrayed very closely to the uh extent that it would stick out of the roof line. Um I believe it is 6 ft above the the roof and I apologize I don't have that exact u figure. Um this this sort of design um is very optional uh for for crematories. Um, this is more of a if you see the stack, a lot of times people see this or think of something much taller and very industrial that would stick out of a a rooftop and that's really not the design that we're after. Um, but it can show the difference in interpretation of potentially what the the building looks like. And um, I noticed in the designs that we submitted, there wasn't any of this portraying that. So, just to put out on the open what uh that would potentially look like. Uh in addition, design-wise, um it would be very um congruent with what structure we have there already. As far as the siding, the roofing, um the the overall goal that we had was to make that very continuous, to not have an eyesore, to not have a large stack. um to really have um you know the right sight lines and everything there. Um that that space also would be as you can see in the materials uh great majority of that lot would be turned

into green space. Uh right now it's very unsightly. Uh we understand that as the owners of that lot. Um there's a garage there currently that we would keep. Uh but the rest of that, if you want to call it asphalt, I don't know even know if it's that anymore, would be removed uh and create a green space there. Um just to to create more of an aesthetic piece. Um I can speak a a little bit to the uh maybe more on the efficiency of the crematory itself um and some of the studies um pertaining to the emissions. The actually the the testing is only done on a state level as far as the emissions control. The the federal government now does not deem this um enough of an of an emission for them to control. So it goes state by state. Um I am not super well verssed in what those numbers are. Uh but I do have an additional study on uh some of those carbon emissions, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide even that um will be produced uh when the cremator is running. Uh just a overview of kind of how the crematory operates. Um it's actually a two-chamber system. So when we think about cremation, certainly we we see or we can picture if if you must a individual inside being cremated. Um that's the main chamber. There's a second chamber within that crematory or some call it a retort um that that acts as a second cremator. So the individual that's being cremated um there can be when there when there if and when there was ever an issue with the crematory and if black smoke is created that is a big

problem um on a lot of different levels. um the efficiency of these units that that we're proposing um have safeguards in place for both uh heat through the stack and opacity. So if too much heat is coming out of the stack, if if there's too much opacity, which means smoke essentially that has color, uh the machine will shut down. Um that's that's monitored both remotely uh if we happen to not be on site for whatever reason. It's also monitored by the crematory manufacturer. Uh they can see in real time the data that um is being created with each time we use the crematory. So I greatly understand the concern um for odor, for black smoke, for any smoke for that matter. Um, when this is running, the stack is there to release heat. So, you'd see heat coming out of the stack. Um, if it malfunctioned, yes, that's a huge problem. There have been reports of black smoke. That's a problem. Um but we believe the safeguards in place um that we would potentially um have with this unit uh at an added cost um are very much diminished with the data, the sensors, uh the protections there. Um [Applause] I think that's all I

Ryan, I have a question. Yes. How many uh cremations are you anticipating on an annual basis or a weekly basis? Do you have your

Thank you. That joged my memory of where I needed to go next. Um we do I would say around a 100 cremations a year. Um which means for us currently um when we use the waterlue cremation service that's 100 trips to take an individ individual to the crematory. Um typically we go down the next day to bring the ashes cremated remains back. Uh so the family can have a burial or a service or can take possession of the ashes. So essentially it's two trips for us every time we have a cremation um to service. Um, so not only do we quote lose control, uh, when we're using a third party crematory, um, there's that concern, we we do have a very good relationship now with the crematory that we work with. If we didn't, we we would look elsewhere. Um, but about 100 per year. Um, that brings up the point I um almost forgot, so I appreciate it, uh, Dave. the the crematory now uh as we see it into the future would not run every day. It wouldn't uh all day and night it's not running. Um typically a schedule is created where the the crematory would potentially run um two to a maximum of three days a week uh for a couple hours a day just depending on our schedule. Uh it's much more efficient um so to speak uh to run it just a couple days a week rather than use the resources and energy that to heat it up just for one cremation then it cools down the next day. You wouldn't want to heat it back up again uh for a cre single cremation and have it cool back down. So um we would look to add efficiency to to our operation and um just to have it make

sense too. It it certainly would not be an everyday um operation. So, do you anticipate doing any work for any other funeral homes or just your own? Not as of now. No, just your three.

Yeah. So, our four locations, Waverly being our main location. Um we don't have any plans right now to service any other funeral homes. Um it could happen in in the future. Um but u we don't have any current plans. Nobody's approached us. Um, we cover quite a a large area just with our operation. Um, being the only funeral home in every town we serve. So, we cover a pretty wide range of of communities the way it is now. So,

did you chat with any other facilities in the area to kind of get a feeling for what their experience has been? Sure. Sure. Um the uh so the the nearest I would say similar size town that has a crematory would be New Hampton. Uh their crematory was just built a few years ago, 5 years ago. Yeah, somewhere in there. Um and theirs is right on Main Street in New Hampton. The funeral home is and then their crematory is in a separate building on the same site. So it' be similar setup to what we have. Um just I pulled it up. It's maybe on Walnut Avenue. Yeah. The uh right around the corner.

Yeah. The So the funeral home's on Main Street and then similar to our setup. Um they have their crematory on site just in a separate building. Um and just to the north of them is a residence. Um and maybe a few other houses. I'm not 100% sure. Um, so they would be similar in size to our funeral home, maybe a little bit smaller. Um, Mason City has two funeral homes on the same street. Um, and that's a mix of residential, commercial, historic district. Uh, there's a library right across the street from from the one crematory. Um, and they're within three or four blocks of one another, and each funeral home has its own crematory. Um, Hampton has a crematory within city limits. I'm not super familiar with their operation, but um, I would say it's somewhat common to have a a crematory within uh within city limits, certainly. Um, yeah. Have you looked at other possible locations within the city?

Um, we have not within the city. Uh, when we saw the opportunity with the lot next door, um, and our our main goal was continu continuity of care, keeping the individual in our care through the whole process. Um, since it was available, um, again, we wanted to see feasible wise if it would work. Um, but we have not looked beyond this current site. So would you lose most of the advantages if it were a mile away for example?

Um I think what we would I don't think we'd lose advantages. Um I think cost would be a consideration that it would be more costly to build. um this will would be a significant investment in the business where it sits now. Um having it closer would be much easier operationwise uh for us certainly. Um but having it uh right now the way we we're operating with a crematory a half hour away is not really efficient or you know the the direction we want to go with the families we serve either. So,

so earlier we heard uh from Ms. Emily, you know, quoting some studies. I I'm always worried about cherrypicking some particular individual studies that that uh may not be reflective of of what is reality. Um but uh you know in terms of chemical emissions uh and so on that uh was referred to is can you clarify is this an issue or or

um I'm certainly not an expert in this uh field. Um, but again, we're we're not really uh being super cutting edge here, reinventing the wheel uh by adding a crematory to our funeral home. Uh I I do understand the concern. Um the I do have additional numbers not just on particular particulate size which what we provided to you. um that that study uh is important and the study is um measuring the particulate coming out of the stack and the numbers were zero which is ideal certainly you don't want anything coming out of the stack. Um my question to the crematory uh manufacturer was what about the particulate you can't see? What about the quote the pollution? Um I do have those numbers. Um again a lot of these I I'm not familiar so much with the numbers. Uh the carbon monoxide this is measured in pounds per hour. This is for the crematory is 0.00004 as measured emissions. Um I did look briefly because the current method we use driving individuals to and from Waterlue in a vehicle um the carbon monoxide numbers for a vehicle is 027 pounds an hour. Um I don't want to say I'm cherry-picking. That's one that's one number from uh from this study. The other number to be safe uh that I did look up uh because I'm a little more familiar with carbon dioxide the measured emissions in pounds per hour is 217 rounded

for a vehicle it's uh for the amount of driving we would do is close to 100. So it's crematory is about double for carbon dioxide but carbon monoxide quite a bit less. There's six other um emissions that are tested on here as well. Um and again, the the there's no federal guidelines for these numbers. It's all monitored by the state. I have a full 11page emission study that I took all of it from if you're interested. Um and it's from the National Collaborative Center of Environmental Health.

And this one is from the TRC Environmental Corporation. Correct. Which is my visual emissions. So I have I have a question kind of along the lines here. Okay. You're obviously looking at a particular product, a thing you're going to buy and it's going to get installed in this what to me looks like a garage. Mhm.

Um but that product data that I would assume and maybe you have it and maybe you can get it. It includes information about the actual testing of the emissions from this product. I feel like that information would be helpful information for everyone to understand because I I'm sure that they have to test their product and they know what it puts out, right? Because they're selling it and installing it and you're going to partic this isn't a public bid kind of situation. You're going to pick a specific product. That's correct.

So, you will know exactly what the testing data for that unit is. Yes. And that's what this is here. And I apologize we didn't get that to your group um or to the public um I just got this um very recently. So, I apologize that it wasn't included, but this is for the actual unit that we're looking at. Did I understand it right that they monitor what's coming out of your stack? The crematory or the manufacturer manufacturer? They Yes, they can. Yep. Is that are you having that done or or is that part of your uh

that's part of the service that we're looking at um as part of the purchase and a a monthly monitoring of the emissions like a remotely they monitor it through that's correct sensors installed in the unit correct so if there's some sort of trigger that the numbers get high you get a phone call it's also um helpful on the maintenance side where they can remotely get into the system um and provide support that way as well. How fast do your safety shut down and how fast they stop the emissions?

Um I don't have that with me exactly. Um there was there's some data I did read through with this unit um where within 1 second of it reading um an output that's not ideal or that's not within range it will shut down in an ideal situation. Say that again. In an ideal situation. Yes. If this if the um if the safety features failed. Well, you're talking about maintenance on this too. I mean, obviously, you have to clean that chimney occasionally, right?

Later into the service before cleaning, you start grab it start building up stuff. Those those mechanical parts get a little slower. Yes. Yeah. That's part of the the maintenance monitoring as well with this company where they can provide that input. Uh whether it's on a monthly or weekly schedule, whatever that is, or if they're getting numbers that are coming back saying XYZ, you need to clean this part. Um that's part of the monitoring. Do you have a plan to test these safeties prior to every operation?

Um I don't know that there's a plan be that not sure you off that off this subject for a minute. You mentioned many times that you have a very good relationship with the Waterlue crematory and your efficiency because of traveling back and forth. How tight is the competition you're dealing with to make you want to build it here? It's a 30-minute drive. A lot of people go to Cedar Cedar Rapids which is a lot further. Mhm. So, comparatively, I'm not seeing an issue with driving 30 minutes. Mhm. Especially since you're in an earn. Sure. So, um

what's the competition like that makes you want to build here?

Um I think it's it's keeping things just closer for us. Um we we keep harping at at the funeral home. Again, our relationship is fine at the moment uh with the crematory we use. Um, but almost every cremation family that we serve wants to know where's my loved one going and we explain. We use a third party crematory. We don't have one on site like a lot of funeral homes. Um, and we haven't, to be quite honest, haven't got objection from families for that. Um, but I think it's just uh our operation to streamline, keep keep things in our control. U, we always look to the future. um where if that crematory were to close, we still would be having to outsource it uh to someone else. Um and just from a a business standpoint as well, uh to keep things um operational and cost efficient for the families, uh if we can keep it in house, it certainly controls uh some of the costs. So,

are any of the ones in Waterl in a residential area? Um Wood, excuse me. Yeah. Uh so Par and Wood um there are some apartments in that area. I'm not sure exactly how it's zoned. Uh Lock Funeral Home just built a new facility with a crematory. I would say that's more in a commercial space. Um and the one we currently use is more commercial. Uh there's a there's a couple restaurants in the in that area, but certainly commercially. Yeah.

Ryan, if I can ask, um how long has uh Kaiser Corson been in Waverly and operating at that location? Sure. Uh so the funeral home itself has been in operation since 1901. Um, but at this current location, 19

40 uh 1940s at this current uh location, it's been added on to a couple times uh just to meet the uh demand and kind of call volume. Um our ownership group has owned the funeral home for 6 years. We bought from the Corsons in 6 years ago September 1st. But a long history in operation at that location here in Waverly. Yes. Okay.

I I thought about this for a while at when this came across my radar this week. Um, and I I I didn't I looked at images online, you know, and you because my computer defaults to architecture sites, I get all these incredibly beautiful buildings all over the world that are these fabulously artful and lovely places that are crematories. Um, this is not that. No offense to the architects if they're here. Um, but it what I see when I look at the drawings looks to me like a garage that I built in my backyard

other than obviously the chimney situation is a little different. So what I think is I started and this is my husband's reaction too. He's like it's really the creek factor and I mean at the risk of being kind of crass I feel like that's the strongest thing going on here. Mhm. Um, and that it and maybe the particulates and the the gassing is is a concern and I get that. I truly understand that. But I have to believe that the regulations on that kind of stuff are real and managed and monitored

and that anyone who drove by what I see in these drawings would go, "Oh, there's a garage. They'd probably keep a vehicle in there." Sure. um unless they knew or could ascertain what those chimneys meant. But we don't just drive by. We live there. Right. Right. I understand that. I I get it. And they actually are not regulated. Like he said, I mean, he admitted so that the EPA does not regulate. I did a lot of the EPA on what's required, but they're not follow. Hold on. Hold on. You guys are We're talking.

It's okay. So, but my takeaway here is that um what people are this is more of an emotional issue more than it is an actual risk or f you know inconsistent with the zoning requirements issue because while it's adjacent to a residential area, the future land use plan says that it it is intended to become a commercial block. Correct.

I understand that there is a residential building there with multiple units in it. Um, but I don't know if our prerogative here is to look at the specifics of what's required on a zoned lot the way it's zoned and not and that we have to be careful not to get caught up in the weirdness factor of this. Um, you know, when I start going down the weirdness aisle, I start thinking about it's just as creepy to think about a body being driven down the highway. You know, I think that's equally strange. But I I mean I I guess I just want to make sure that we're being careful when we talk about the difference between the sort of emotional side of this because there's absolutely an emotional side to this and the actual what are the zoning and planning and zoning kind of concerns that are actually in the special provisional use and the future land use plan that's actually on our docket of discussion. I think I said my piece.

Well, and to your point, I did mention before that um in our discussions, we you know, we have looked at other and visited with other colleagues that have built crematories. I currently have them. Um you know, some some put a crematory in a Morton building. Um we certainly had the space. It would it would function in a Morton style building with steel siding and a steel roof. Um even a flat roof, but then the stack looks even taller. Um and we got away from that idea um for a couple of reasons. Not cost. It's certain it would be much less expensive to put a steel building up, put a crematory retort unit in and and operate. Um but we we thought we were very cognizant that we want wanted continuity between the current uh layout, current building materials to make it all flow uh together there. So

all right, any other questions for Ryan? He's up here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Please,

Connie Miller. I live at 2092nd Street Southeast, which is to the east of the facility. I wasn't prepared to speak tonight, although I have, as a person in the neighborhood, I am not for this. I am downwind of this facility by about half a block. So, I'm not for it. But listening to this discussion, the neighborhood people have clearly indicated that they don't want this in their neighborhood. Their concerns are emissions. The other side is arguing aesthetics. I don't think anybody said they don't want this because it isn't going to look nice or that they're creeped out by it. They're concerned about emissions. And I don't much as I appreciate the services that you guys do, you don't I to me haven't presented um some mitigation of those concerns. So I feel like it would be kind of hasty and reckless to decide this before we can really see um those concerns addressed for emissions. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I heard from the people that were speaking against, not creep factor or it might be ugly. So, thanks.

Thank you.

I guess I never been anywhere that I don't speak. Okay. So, you get used to By the way, that was Thanks, Kim. Is it Kim? Oh, was it Ryan? Thank Thanks for your information. So, if I was sitting your desk and address that I'm uh I do not live there. Um I own properties that say your name and address. Who are you?

Roy Peterson 102 104 221 and it goes on and on. Okay. I own several properties in the area. And I'll be honest with you, um I wasn't prepared to make I wasn't ready for a speech either. Um obviously um but at the same time I don't think I got all the answers for me to make a clear decision. So, I came in here right now with no decision yet, and I have not heard yet to sway me one way or the other. It will affect, if I was to push uh tenants through, it will affect me somehow someway once they realize it. Okay? And that gets back to what Kate said a little bit. there is that that analogy of what's going on in front of you and you don't know it until after it's too late and then you'll have to deal with that and it will be too late when that time comes. Uh courses have been around I I've I've dealt with them. I've actually worked with them on properties and they owe me a discount when I pass away. So I'm I'm in this for them too. But at the same time, I want to make sure that if they move to a different location with this certain specific building, they could also pull the price down somewhat, not having to deal with the aesthetics. So, put the put the the cheap chimney on it and maybe they don't need to regulate it or have all the the bells and whistles that they are doing, which I think is wonderful. I'm trying to stay on both sides cuz I have neighbors that are next to me, too. So, I want to I I want to make sure everybody, you know, maybe hears me a little bit on both sides. Um, so I got that tenant thing and then I tell you what, um, this young lady here that spoke about the the uh the high-rise there, that's a big thing to consider. So, you live on fourth floor, you put yourselves on fourth floor, you look out your south window and you see

steam. In the winter time, you're going to see smoke. It's not smoke, it's steam. Because we all do that with our own chimneys. So, in the winter time, we always emit something. We just don't know if it has any danger to us. It's coming from our furnace. It's coming from our water heater. All of a sudden, now you know what that building is. You find out what that building is. And then all of a sudden, you see it two to three days a week. So, just keep that in mind. It's not about me. It's about the people on that fourth floor. And I'll be honest with you, they're 35 ft away from that stack. So that's what I have to add. I really don't have a a full decision yet myself, but I want to make sure everybody's doing their homework. And I always like plan Bs. I'm an engineer. 40 years of it. Let's have a plan B. And that's all I'm asking. So just make sure you

Yeah. Fair enough.

I I do want to clarify something here, too. We're not making the final decision. Planning and zoning commission is a recommending body and we will forward a recommendation to the zoning board of adjustment who is chaired by Mr. Pete Lampy here and that board will be the one that makes the final decision. Now I don't know whether that will be in one week, two weeks when will whatever our recommendation is. Um, if it is given a positive recommendation, I don't know when it goes to the board of adjustment. If it's a negative recommendation, certainly the applicant has a decision to make of whether they keep it going or not. Um, so I guess, you know, I I hope everybody understands that procedurally as well. We're not making the final decision here, but we make a recommendation. to my knowledge whether it's a positive or negative recommendation to the board of adjustment really doesn't make any difference in their cons consideration. They take that as part of the part of the evidence to evaluate. So they may be asking a lot more technical questions than than are available here. So you know that is not going to be the end of the the situation. Okay. I just want to make that clear for everybody. Ryan, could you talk about what kind of a time frame you're thinking of? I you know, I appreciated your uh clarification that you're not trying to I think it's important to know you're not trying to ram something through here by being a little bit nefarious about how you're sharing information, but what what kind of time frame are you working with? When do you want to make a decision? uh do you take this this discussion into into uh uh consideration when you're looking at feasibility? Can you talk about that a little bit?

Yeah. Um well, I I don't think we can really well, we wouldn't move ahead until we had approval from from the bodies. Um and and we have had um discussions, you know, as far as breaking ground, that sort of thing, but we can't really, you know, even get close to that without knowing that we can, you know, build on the property. So, it's not something we're trying to get done before the end of the year. Uh you know, anything like that. So, um you know, we

have you started any of the permitting process with the state for the crematorium? Um I have visited just to see what that process is like. Um and they don't um I shouldn't say they don't like they they prefer to have the the crematory that knowing that we can you know build on the property. So it's not something we're trying sounds like me. I think you did I was looking for something just we're almost in real time here in just a second. We're almost real time. There we go. Um, remind me of your question. Sorry. Sorry.

I I asked you about the state permitting process. Um, so they they have the request that uh once the crematory is in the the building state, um, usually within 2 to 3 months of completion is when they like you to apply. So, you probably won't start that until it you get through the city exactly

process. Yeah. And I will say with and one of our other um funeral directors and owners, her name is D. She's been working mainly with the city on this and she had uh she had to be away tonight traveling. Um, so she's worked really closely with the city, uh, since we've never added on to one of our businesses to know what the steps are and they have been very helpful um, as far as not letting us get too far ahead like, hey, you need to to do XYZ before you get too far. So, we appreciate that the guidance we've gotten there. Um, but certainly to Kathy's point, the the last thing we want to do and and the timing was through a a holiday weekend for this uh meeting and I understand that that was never our intention to to have people not prepared for this. So, um,

how long has it taken you to get to this point? How long have you been working on this? Uh well, we after we bought the lot, uh we were working with a different builder, not a different crematory manufacturer. Um we didn't have good progress with him for a number of reasons. Uh he was out of the area. um we don't need to get into what happened exactly, but we felt that it was not going to be a good move to continue um with his business as the general contractor. Um again, we were trying to get costwise potentially what this would be for the business uh to even see if it was worth buying that lot. Um and when we learned now we're working with Cardinal Construction, one of the representatives is here tonight. um obviously a well-known uh contractor uh in the area. Um so we've again I use a feasibility um we that's what this essentially has been. Um and the the building layout uh where it's at now is quite a bit smaller than when we started just to to see if we could uh be more efficient that way. So, um I don't know if I can answer exactly. It's been 9 months a year.

I remember seeing her sitting in the crowd. Oh, Marcy, it's been a while ago. Yeah. Yeah. It's taken a while. We've been at this. This isn't just a quick No, this isn't a No, we um it's been quite a while that we've been Well, not only talking about it, but just seeing if it's going to be something that uh that works within, you know, our business certainly and the community. So we're very mindful of that. We, you know, we're we feel we provide very essential services. I don't know if there's any any doubt about that. Uh we want to be very neighborly certainly. Um so we we do we have considered that quite a bit and I think we've we've displayed that. So

can you talk through any issues? Maybe I feel like we should talk through maybe it's after you close the clerk hearing, but I would like to understand what the ramifications are of this in terms of the special provisional use and the current zoning. And I just want to make sure we all understand that clearly, but that maybe after the public hearing is done. I agree. Um, so I'd like to give everybody kind of a a chance to speak again now. If you have any comments for the committee here, commission, excuse me. I was trying to get to Okay.

And we did have uh communications come in that all the commission members received. So there were three against and one for was the one petition. Correct. Yep. Just wanted to state that. Thank you. Okay. Seeing no more uh people rise here, I'm going to close the public hearing and start the discussion with the commission here. U thanks for bringing that up, Kate. I was going to ask that as well. Uh that everybody on the commission had chance to see those messages. Um and Kate, your summary was good. Um well

I think just for everybody's I think who asked it about go through the special provisional use so that everybody understands that you know again that's what I was looking for. I was trying to get to the code and hit the wrong button. That's fair. But I think that's something that would be helpful for just members of the commission to review that again plus for the public too. So, would you like to can you pull it up? I I I screwed up. I already tried to pull it. Pull it up on everybody's It's on here. It's on here. It's section 100.21.09 13. Okay, there we go.

Yes. So the special provisional use is approved by the board of adjustment with the recommendation and that can be a recommendation for or against in essence from the planning and zoning commission. Um the planning and zoning commission shall hold a public hearing which is what we did here. Um and then it's a include a publishing notice in the local newspaper which was published on August 28th. Um and then mailing to all the property owners within.

So the property right now is R4. The land use plan ch shows that potentially changing to a commercial block. Right. So there it's inconsistent today with what the future plan is. Correct. Now, I will make a statement straight out of the city code. Regardless of zoning, the SPU process applies for this type of no matter what the zoning situation. That's right. Okay. Yeah. Just as a reminder here. And within that uh special provisional use uh funeral homes, mortuaries and crematoriums

correct are allowed are required to come through process school. Yeah, correct. Yeah. Auxiliary class building. Let's go to the couple tabs over veterans posts. Thank you.

You're welcome. So, you know, really my summary of the special provisional use process is um you know, it's approved city code that this process is followed for these sort of requests. Um and we're following that process as John mentioned earlier to provide our advisement to in this case um

support of adjustment. I had to look at Pete to remember that. Um, and really, you know, our mandate in my mind is to um to review it from, again, as John said, from a a land use future um state, which we've talked about being um a transitional area here. It's currently one thing. It's on the very edge of being another thing. So that does add some complexity to any discussion around land use when you're in an area that's that's a transitional neighborhood. Um especially one within um you know a very old part of the city which um you know the funeral home here has a long history. Um they're a small business. You know, those are things that are uh we want to maintain and support in our community because that is part of what makes a community a community in my mind. Um so this is uh certainly the process that we're following and and our guidance um here is u to work through our discussion. So other questions in discussion? Well, I mean, I guess the comment I'll make is that uh turning this block into commercial, you know, in the comprehensive plan, it seems to me that the commitment that was made to the historic loss really kind of changes that perspective a bit.

Um, also the, you know, there has been some discussion that the old bank building and lots to the south maybe could end up being something besides commercial as well. I've heard discussions of, you know, dreams of maybe that those would turn into some residential units as well. That really gives me a hard time thinking that something like this fits the neighborhood. And I I really really struggle with this. I really do. This is just a thought going through my head. You know, does Did the results of this kind of a discussion and hearing from the neighbors in this way have any impact on how you look at it, Ryan? How your how your company looks at it.

You want me to approach? You may.

Okay. Um I I only speak for a a fourth of our ownership group, but um we we certainly don't want to um upset anyone. Um especially the neighbors. We understand that it's a funeral home. It's a it's a different type of business. Um we've been told that our whole careers. Um, and we're we're where we're at and we don't have any plans to move the funeral home. Um, so it is concerning uh to have neighbors that uh don't want this. Um, and that's without discussing with the rest of our people. But, um, again, I'll I'll point to, uh, our discussions as ownership group from the get-go was, uh, we were very aware of of our neighborhood, um, of the people around us. Um, so we've done our best so far in our designs to to, uh, hopefully keep the neighbors happy. Um, so to hear their feedback is concerning. And um I don't know if right now it changes our our plan. Potentially it could. Uh we we don't want the neighborhood mad. Uh if you get the neighborhood mad, you know, word travels fast, too. Uh where you have the whole town upset. So, um we're not here to do that. Um and you know, at the end of the day, we're going to keep serving our families in in whatever way we can. Um, but I don't know if I have a good answer to that just yet.

Okay. Question. Thank you.

I'm going to put it on the table and we'll see where we've discussed this this evening. So, I move that the planning zone commission recommend approval of the special provisional use for crematorium at 218 2nd Street Southeast Waverly, Iowa to the board of adjustments. We have a motion. Do we have a second? procedural question without a second. What happens?

Well, motion dies. Yeah, that motion dies, but we stopped at someone needs to make a motion for the other direction. an alternative. Does it take it off? Well, I mean it can come back, right? We can. So, I would ask for a motion on someone's thoughts

as an alternative. Make a comment. No. Well, it's a little out of protocol. If that motion dies, I believe we need to make we need to make a recommendation to the board of adjustments one way or the other. But it's being forwarded to the board of adjustments just whether it's with a recommendation or without a recommendation. Yeah. Say that again. Brian,

it needs to be forwarded to the board of adjustments either with a recommendation or without a recommendation. I I have to just say I'm I mean I I'm struggling with this because I don't see I don't see yet a really good reason other than emotional ones that say that it shouldn't be done. And that's why I'm really struggling. And I'm struggling because I haven't seen enough of the emission test or the the requirements for emission tests and what the state actually tests for. I looked earlier today and I got real busy and had a chance to finish, but uh it didn't seem a lot, but there was a lot there.

Would it be reasonable to ask that this just hold off for a month until we get additional data? You can table it. Yeah, for additional I mean, I guess I I don't understand the emissions thing. I don't know if I would like to pay for get more information on the emissions and and the regulations on that. So, can we present a motion in contrast to Well, you could just table this and then pick up the conversation the next meeting. Yep. We got to open up back to public hearing again.

You you you would have to table it until a fixed time. So, you would say until our next meeting. So you can't just table it indefinitely, but you have to say when we're going to pick it back up again. Does that Sorry for the procedural question, but does that require a motion and a vote or it's a just a I believe it requires Yeah, I don't know if it's a voice vote, but I mean I mean it's not a roll call vote, but I think a voice vote will do it. Yeah. Okay. Well, I make that motion that we table this. Do we have to unmotion? Yeah. So, seeing no second for uh commission member uh Huer's motion, I consider that.

Yeah, it failed for lack of a second. Yeah, failed for lack of a second. Sorry. I appreciate that. Um, and then so that allows us to make the motion to table this until the next meetings to learn more of this admissions and and and requirements and permitting for the premiator. And if the applicant chooses not to give us any more information, we have to be prepared to do something. You're correct. Okay. So, we have a motion to table. Do I have a second? Second. All right. I have a motion that's been moved and seconded to table this till our

October second October 2nd, 2025 planning zoning meeting. All in favor of that say I. I. Okay.

Seeing none opposed or hearing none opposed to that motion right now, that's that carries as well. So appreciate all the discussion. Um give you sar just so that you understand uh we do have a board of adjustment meeting scheduled for next Monday. Uh due to the fact that you have tabled and wanted to get more information, uh I will be talking with with Paige and Kate and checking with the attorneys to make sure that we can also table at the board of adjustment for Monday to wait for your further information. And that would be the what I would like to do, but I will check the legalities on making sure I cover.

I'm sure that would be prudent thing to do. Yeah, thank you, Pete. All right, so we do have an item under our regular business agenda item F, which is a plat survey creating and separating parcel AB from 607 30th Street, Southeast Waverly. Still coming up Waverly, Iowa 50677. With that, Kate, could you walk us through that agenda memo?

Uh, on February 17th, 2025, council approved an engineering proposal from Watermith Engineering to design the Eastgate sanitary sewer low station replacement. This partial separation will allow for the city to move towards purchasing this land to accommodate the low station. Justin, public works director and Russell and Nora runs agreed to the sale and obtained an option a agreement that will be approved by council prior to this survey. A temporary construction easement will be secured prior to construction. A utility and access easement will be approved at the time of the land purchase to allow the city to access this parcel.

Thank you. Um, so when I look through this, I guess I was just um looking. So there's there's a I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this, but there's a an upgrade plan for the lift station in this area as part of the service to the city, right? Mhm. To that addition, is it localized to that? The old lift station is being abandoned. A new one is being constructed. Okay. This is just the plan of survey to acquire the land. Acquire that land. Yeah.

And then the rest of it would just be city business, right? This is the land use discussion for that. Yeah. Well, it it becomes this subdivision to plat that was developed that was they had their own sanitary and that's what's there now. And the city kind of took over the Well, they took it over. I don't remember when it was. See, it's always been a lift station, but it's been up there on almost incursion into the highway right ofway. Yep. And now it's being moved back and enlarged and updated,

but it the current one is a city uh maintained. Yes. Lift station. This is an upgrade to that. Okay. I didn't know if anybody knew the answer to that, but I was curious. Kind of how I figured I read it. Yeah, that's where I was at. Yeah. Okay. Further discussion of the commission. I move that the planning and zoning commission recommend approval of the plat survey creating and separating parcel AB from 60730th Street Southeast Wling to the city council. Second.

We didn't hear you. It was the same time. So, so Kate takes it, I think. All right. So, we have a motion that's been moved and seconded. Uh, all in favor say I. I. Hearing none opposed. That motion passes. Moving to item G. Kate, do we have any staff updates?

Okay. Item H, commission updates. I just would say um last week gave our annual update to the city council. Um included in the uh agenda as well um good feedback. I did realize and I want to take an opportunity now is I forgot to thank the entire commission for your time and efforts. Um it does not go unnoticed by me um and hopefully others on the council. So I will say that now for public record. That's all I have for commission updates. Anybody on the commission have any further updates? Seeing none, that brings us to item I.

I move that we adjourn. We are adjourned.