2003 Wells County Fact Book

WELLS COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION
The Wells County Area Plan Commission (APC) serves all of Wells County except the Wells part of Markle (now served by Huntington County Plan Commission), and the Wells APC serves the full town of Zanesville (both Wells and Allen County portions). The office is located in the Wells Carnegie Government Annex, 223 West Washington St., Bluffton 46714, phone 824-6407.
Brad Buening is the executive director and by annual election the secretary of the APC.
Becky Longenberger is the administrative assistant.
The members of the Wells County Area Plan Commission are:
William Horan, president, home phone 824-0626, work phone 824-6412. (serves by virtue of his office as County Extension Agricultural Agent)
Mark Shaffer, vice president, home phone 346-2187. (appointed by the county commissioners through Jan. 1, 2008)
Jim Barrick, home phone 1-219-543-2298. (appointed by Uniondale Town Council, 4-year term through Jan. 1, 2006)
Harry Baumgartner, home phone 565-3366. (appointed by Vera Cruz Town Council. 4-year term through Jan. 1, 2008)
Angie Dial, home phone 622-6159; (appointed by the Ossian Town Council for a term through Jan. 1, 2006)
Mike Morrissey, home phone 824-4067. (appointed by Bluffton City Council for a 4-year term through Jan. 1, 2006)
Monwell Sheley, home phone 638-4775. (appointed by the Zanesville Town Council. 4-year term through Jan. 1, 2006)
Finley Lane, home phone 694-6535. (appointed by the Poneto Town Council. 4-year term through Jan. 1, 2008)
Joe Langel, home phone 694-6504. (appointed by county commissioners. Term through Jan. 1, 2008)
Thomas Byanski, phone 824-2620 or 824-5481 (appointed by 3 school boards of Wells County. Term through Jan. 1, 2008)
John Studebaker, work phone 824-6414. (serves by virtue of his office as county surveyor)
Michael Lautzenheiser, office phone 824-4049, is the APC attorney.
Meetings of the Wells County Area Plan Commission regularly are on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Wells Carnegie Government Annex Building.
APC reviews and approves Development Plans and Subdivisions and recommends on Rezonings. Any structure except single family buildings requires a development plan approval.
PROCEDURE FOR PETITION TO AMEND ZONE MAPS:
Petitions are to be filed in the Wells APC office by 4:30 p.m. by the posted deadline each month prior to the scheduled meeting for sign to be posted for notice to interested parties and the legal notice to be published in the appropriate local newspapers, in accordance with state law.
The following information is needed for notice to be published:
A. A legal description of the property to be rezoned. It SHALL come from an existing recorded deed (photostat copy of deed) or a survey prepared by a licensed land surveyor. (Purchase contracts will not be acceptable unless recorded in the office of the Wells County Recorder.)
B. Address of property which petition is filed.
C. A fee of $100 payable to the Wells County Plan Commission.
D. A fee of $35 payable to the Bluffton News-Banner and $35 payable to the Ossian Journal for publication of the legal notices. ( For properties in the Allen County part of Zanesville, legal will be published in Bluffton News-Banner and Fort Wayne Newspaper. Fort Wayne Newspapers will be paid in advance. Ad must be taken to the Fort Wayne Newspaper office.
E. A fee of $6 payable to the Wells County Recorder. This fee is to cover the recording costs for any conditions the APC may put on the approved site plan.
F. A site plan and other diagrams, according to Article 4 of the Wells County Zoning Ordinance, shall accompany the petition.
All petitions shall be signed by the property owners who own at least 50 percent of the land involved.
All persons, except attorneys, shall submit to the APC a signed authorization as provided by the APC, to represent the owner or owners of the property on which the rezoning is filed.
The Wells APC, at its discretion, may refuse to schedule a hearing if, in the opinion of the director, there is insufficient time to prepare notices, there are too many petitions for the meeting, or inadequate information has been presented to the APC to render a fair and impartial hearing.
WELLS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
Members of the Wells County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) are Jerry Petzel, James Schwarzkopf, Mark Shaffer, Joe Langel, Terri Hughes-Lazzell.
The officer positions shown in parentheses below are those for 2003. No meeting was held in January. The BZA will elect for 2004 when the first 2004 meeting is called for and held.
Jerry Petzel (president), home phone 824-2672. (appointed by mayor of Bluffton. Term ends Jan. 1, 2006)
James Schwarzkopf, home phone 765-728-5951. (appointed by the county commissioners. Term ends Jan. 1, 2005.)
Mark Shaffer (vice president), home phone 346-2187. (appointed by Area Plan Commission. Term though Jan. 1, 2008)
Joe Langel, home phone 694-6504. (appointed by Area Plan Commission. Term through Jan. 1, 2008)
Terri Hughes-Lazzell, home phone 622-6598. (appointed by town of Ossian. Term expires Jan. 1, 2006)
Secretary is Brad Buening by annual appointment of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Meetings of the Wells BZA are the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.
PROCEDURE FOR PETITIONS TO BZA
Petitions are to be filed in the Wells County Area Plan Commission office by 4:30 p.m. by the posted deadline each month prior to the day of scheduled meeting for legal notices to be published in the appropriate local newspapers, in accordance with state law.
The same information pertains to BZA filings as to APC filings, except the fee payable to the Wells County Area Plan Commission is $125 for BZA petitions.
WELLS COUNTY GIS DEPARTMENT
The Wells County GIS (Geographic Information System, serves all of Wells County and is located at 223 West Washington Street, Bluffton, (the Carnegie Annex). GIS is a computerized database management system for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial data. In other words, it is a digital database of the collective governmental offices. You can search from one office or your home or office via the Internet and obtain information about Wells County.
The new web site is www.wellscountygis.org
Wells County GIS has been on-line since November 2003. Feedback can be made to GIS@wellscounty.org
It is hoped that the site is self-serving and beneficial to the general public. We have made it free to the public to utilize the vast information as citizens desire. Our hopes are for this website to be the initial visit by the public and then to fine tune with individual offices as needed. By utilizing this technology, the counter and telephone traffic will be reduced, allowing the existing employees to perform more jobs in a timely manner. From the standpoint of the county government and serving the interests of the taxpayers, our long-term goal is to maintain the existing employment and still increase the productivity of county government.

(none)