ALBION â The Noble County Commissioners on Monday paved the way for a retail development at the southwest corner of where U.S. 6 intersects with C.R. 300E near the S.R. 9 North route to Rome City.
The commissioners agreed to change the zoning on 2.77 acres from A1 to C-3, âhighway commercial,â to allow for a 10,000-square-foot single business retail shop.
Permitted uses in a C-3 zone include businesses running retail ranging from low- to high-intensity but could also include things like automotive shops, bars/taverns, coffee shops, gas stations or restaurants, according to the countyâs Unified Development Ordinance.
The petitioner has said it intends to put in what it would only describe as âgeneral retailâ in the location.
ALBION â The Noble County Commissionersâ loss is going to be the Emergency Management Agencyâs gain.
The Noble County Commissioners Monday approved a recommendation by the Noble County EMA Advisory Board to appoint Commissioner Justin Stump as agencyâs new executive director when current position holder Mick Newton retired in early July.
Commissioner Anita Hess motioned to appoint Stump to the position. Commissioner Gary Leatherman provided the second. Stump abstained from voting.
Stump will be resigning his position on the Board of Commissioners, a position he has held since January 2019. The Republican Party will have to caucus to select a replacement for his elected seat on the commissioners. Stump represents District 1, which encompasses Washington, Noble, Swan and Green Townships in southern Noble County.
ALBION â Noble County Commissioner Anita Hess knows how precious and limited parking is around the Noble County Courthouse Square while construction work is being done on the new annex.
In fact, Hess said she had to drive around the block twice before finding a spot before Mondayâs meeting.
Once in session, the commissioners agreed to contact Doug Bonar, the person who owns the building which currently houses the Noble County Prosecuting Attorneyâs Office about using that accompanying parking lot after normal work hours.
âRight now, nobody parks there at night,â Albion Town Manager Tena Woenker said in making the case for more parking.
ALBION â The Noble County Highway Department is moving away from using inmates from Chain Oâ Lakes Correctional Facility as part of its manpower.
Noble County Highway Department Superintendent Richard Rogers and Engineer Zack Smith addressed the issue with the Noble County Commissioners Monday morning.
Rogers and Smith have adjusted how the highway departmentâs full-time work force is utilized, allowing for more productivity even when the prison crews were available.
âWeâre getting more done,â Rogers told the commissioners.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the highway department hasnât been able to utilize a prison crew for more than a year. The last full year the crews were available, Noble County Highway only had the use of a crew 70 times, Smith said.
Zoo welcomes new jaguar to Cat Canyon
Garden City Telegram
Luna, a four-year-old jaguar who now calls Lee Richardson Zoo home, has people seeing spots. It is not that visitors to Cat Canyon haven’t seen jaguar spots before, but past jaguars at the zoo have been melanistic, making the spots harder to see. Luna’s coat is yellow with black rosettes rather than black with black rosettes.
Luna came to Garden City from Elmwood Park Zoo in Pennsylvania in coordination with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for jaguars. On her first day in the outdoor habitat on March 25, she did not hesitate to explore the habitat and take an interested peek at her neighbors, the cougars.