MINUTES OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING |
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| STATE OF WYOMING | ) | OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF |
| ) | COUNTY COMMISSIONERS | |
| COUNTY OF HOT SPRINGS | ) | THERMOPOLIS WYOMING |
| October 22, 2010 | ||
| The Hot Springs County Board of Commissioners met in special session to hold a public hearing on the Pearce Land Use Change Application on Friday, October 22, 2010 a.m. in the Commissioners Room at the Courthouse. Present were Commissioners John P. Lumley, Brad W. Basse, and Mike Baker. Also present was County Clerk Hans Odde, Hot Springs County and Prosecuting Attorney Jerry D. Williams. Chairman John P. Lumley led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of Agenda Chairman Lumley noted the agenda contained a brief executive session to end the meeting. Brad W. Basse made a motion to approve the agenda. Mike Baker seconded. Motion carried. Public Hearing – Pearce Land Use Change Application Russ and Lisa Pearce have filed a land use change application for a 10 acre parcel just north of the present Dowdy Feed Lot. The applicants are requesting a change from agricultural land use to industrial for the purpose of temporarily mining and crushing gravel and mixing asphalt. Chairman Lumley opened the public hearing at 8:02 a.m. asked Planner, Lee Campbell to proceed with the presentation. Planner Campbell began by reviewing the procedural due process items such as the public notice placed in the Thermopolis Independent Record 14 days in advance of the hearing and letters mailed via certified mail to 18 neighbors and interested parties. The Planner also noted that per County Attorney, Jerry Williams' advice, testimony presented in the previous hearing on this matter will not be required to be reiterated. Other items presented to the Commissioners were a letter from WYDOT stating that a commercial access permit will be required and the present residential access from Highway 20 North will be sufficient, a petition from area residents requesting a ground water study be completed and two comment letters from Dorothy Milek regarding the potential for pioneer graves in the area of the proposed gravel pit. Planner Campbell stated that representatives from the State Engineers Office (SEO) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) both attended the second initial public hearing held in front of the Land Use Planning Board on October 4, 2010 and at that meeting assured the public that their departments regulated ground & surface water (SEO) and air quality (DEQ) for projects of this nature. Planner Campbell presented both the recommendations from the planning board and his recommendations for conditions on the land use change if passed by the County Commissioners. The Planning Board's 1 recommendation was a "do pass" with no conditions. However, by the County's scoring matrix for land use changes, the change earned a score of minus 8 (-8), which would cause the change to automatically fail. Planner Campbell's proposed Conditional Land Use Change Permit contained conditions that would mitigate the negative factors which resulted in the original -8 score, causing the new score to be a plus 3 (+3), which would enable approval of the land use change if the Commissioners wished to do so. Commissioner Baker asked to make comments on behalf of the Lucerne Pumping Plant Canal Company (LPPCC) regarding the irrigation water delivery line to the Jean Cotton property that bisects the Pearce property and will potentially be disturbed by this project. LPPCC wants to be certain that irrigated land continues to receive irrigation water however there is evidence that the pipeline has not been in use for as many as ten years and possibly more that that. Commissioner Baker went on to state as a County Commissioner that he did not believe that the Commissioners could demand that the pipe line be reinstated and has encourage the Cotton's to work with the Pearce's to re-establish the easement and restore the pipe line to working order. Chairman Lumley requested further public comment at this time. Mary Scheible, attorney representing Jean Cotton testified that the Commissioners are not responsible for ownership of the ground water in the area however they are responsible for the management of water. Ms. Cotton has a spring on her property that runs between 90 and 100 gallons per minute and it is feared that the gravel pit if approved would adversely affect the flow of the spring. This water source provides for domestic, livestock and wildlife use on the Cotton farm and would be a significant loss if it were impacted by mining operations. Ms. Scheible did note that the spring is not currently adjudicated but Ms. Cotton does have an application filed with the SEO to properly appropriate the water source. Ms. Scheible directed to the Commissioners attention to the policy in the County Land Use Plan which states "Developments that might limit the viability of neighboring farm or ranch operations by creating nuisance, liability or water management problems, are discouraged. (X5)" and asked what is going to happen to the water. Regarding the irrigation pipe line Ms. Cotton does want its operating capabilities restored so that her north fields can be properly irrigated. Ms. Scheible stated many benefits of the spring water on the Cotton farm and asked that a ground water study be done and that the land use change application be denied until such study could be completed. Ms. Scheible asked that if the Commissioners did not table or deny the application that they at least consider placing conditions on the approval including making the land use change temporary to expire on October 1, 2011 and requiring McGarvin Moberly to post a $500,000 bond for the purpose of assisting anyone who must repair damage to their water system. County Attorney Williams asked Ms. Scheible if any professional water consultant has stated with a reasonable degree of certainty that the proposed gravel mine will affect their water right. Ms. Scheible said no and that is why she is asking for a study to be completed. 2 Chairman Lumley questioned citizen and gravel pit owner, Harry Hughes if his gravel mining operation on Owl Creek has affected any of the farms or ranches in his area. Mr. Hughes answered that it has had no adverse affects on farming, ranching or ground water. Harry Hughes suggested to the Commissioners that they place a time limit on the on the Land Use Change to coincide with the expiration of McGarvin Moberly's contract with the State of Wyoming Department of Transportation. The reason for the limitation would be based on previous testimony by a representative McGarvin Moberly that this mining crushing operation would be for a single project, the Black Mountain Highway overlay. Mr. Hughes noted that neighboring Counties already use this type of restriction. Commissioner Baker asked if such a restriction were to be adopted how the need for reclamation could be met. Mr. Hughes stated that the reclamation could be done after the expiration of the permit due to the reclamation activity being essentially farming. Vice President of McGarvin Moberly Construction, Ernest M. Skretteberg offered rebuttal to Mr. Hughes comments. Mr. Skretteberg stated that Mr. Hughes is correct that a very limited number of WYDOT projects are set up with only one project per pit however there are a few other smaller projects being let in the region subsequent to their initial application. If the Commissioners placed a specific time frame and limited the crushing and mixing to only the Black Mountain Road project that would limit McGarvin Moberly's ability to competitively bid on the other smaller projects and would then give Mr. Hughes and his gravel operation a strategic advantage. Hot Springs County Citizen and neighbor to the proposed project, Nancy Scogins stated that she agreed with Ms. Scheible and that the Commissioners should not push off their responsibilities on to State agencies when those agencies have very clearly stated what they are in charge of. Land use change applicant, Russ Pearce stated that he purchased the property knowing that the potential for selling gravel was there and felt it was a good way to pay down some the debt on the property. Mr. Pearce addressed the irrigation pipeline and stated that McGarvin Moberly had agreed to replace any of the line that they disturb however he does not believe that will make the line whole. Mr. Peace has had persons who have farmed the property prior to his ownership tell him that the line had been cut many years ago so the portion that McGarvin Moberly replaces could be a line to nowhere. Mr. Pearce reiterated his testimony from the previous hearing that he does not want a permanent gravel pit, by removing the top soil, mining the gravel and then replacing the top soil it will make another five to six acres available to farm. Mr. Pearce continued to address other issues brought forward such as the possible pioneer graves and stated that if he wanted to dig up the graves (if any) and move them he could. If he wanted to dig up the 10 acres of gravel and spread it around his field he could without anyone having any say over it but now that he wants to sell the gravel it's a sin according to the neighbors. Commissioner Basse read a portion of the proposed conditional land use change permit as presented by Planner Campbell, the paragraph states that any portion of the buried irrigation line that is disturbed shall be replaced. Mr. Pearce agreed and stated again that was his understanding all along. Commissioner Baker referred to the Planner's 3 conditional use permit language that would limit the pit only to the Black Mountain Project and proposed to revise the language to allow for other projects as long as it did not exceed the proposed 10 acres. Mr. Pearce was in agreement. Neighbor and property owner Don Scogins who also owns D & N Drilling stated that he is afraid that this project will lead to several more gravel pits and will create a mosquito nuisance. As a water well driller he is concerned that this gravel pit may have an adverse affect the area ground water. In closing he stated that another gravel pit is not needed. Neighbor and property owner Steven Boyer stated that we need to protect the water and air. McGarvin Moberly employee, Gordon Sticka testified that he is in charge of this project from beginning to end including reclamation and has dug the test holes and has encountered no water in any of the eleven foot deep holes. Mr. Sticka stated that there is about twelve feet of gravel on average throughout the proposed pit with top soil on one end only 2 inches in depth and up to 5 feet at the other. After the mining operation is completed the top soil will be spread out in a more even fashion and therefore should facilitate a better area to conduct future agricultural activities on. When questioned if stipulations as to hours of operation would be a problem for the operation Mr. Sticka stated that it would not be in issue and in fact is generally a normal part of most contracts they operate under. Nancy Scogins questioned Mr. Stika about the total tonnage to be mined and Mr. Stick responded that the plan was for approximately 57,000 tons to be extracted. Chairman Lumley asked three times for further public comment and hearing none closed the public hearing at 9:50 a.m. Commissioner Baker recommended reviewing the check lists, one with conditions and one without. Commissioner Basse felt that the check list with no conditions could be immediately eliminated because it does not meet the absolute policies of the Land Use Plan regarding irrigation. Commissioner Basse went on to say that he would like to review the conditional use permit to determine if all of the proposed conditions are necessary or if any need to be added or subtracted. Commissioner Basse made a motion to approve the Russ and Lisa Pearce application for land use change from agriculture to industrial for a 10 acre parcel subject to the drafted conditional land use changes delineated as "revised draft CUP-1" dated October 12, 2010 with one change to item 6. a. delete the reference to the Black Mountain Road paving project only and insert limited gravel in that place. Commissioner Baker seconded. Motion carried. County Attorney Williams clarified that the Commissioners decision to adopt the land use change was based on the check list having a positive score with the conditions in place. Commissioners Baker and Basse both stated that was the case. (A Copy of the conditional land use change permit is available in the Hot Springs County Clerk's office) 4 Dan Evans – Emergency Life and Death Situation Just prior to the Commissioners entering executive session Citizen Dan Evans asked to approach the Commissioners with an "emergency life and death situation". Chairman Lumley allowed Mr. Evans to approach. Mr. Evans presented the Commissioners with a letter addressed to County Attorney Jerry Williams alleging that the Sheriff's Department is dispensing medications to prisoners in the jail without medical supervision. The Commissioners accepted the letter, but due to the fact that this item was not on the published agenda, no official action was taken at this time. Executive Session – Personnel Commissioner Baker made a motion to enter into executive session. Commissioner Basse seconded. Motion carried. Commissioner Basse made a motion to exit executive session. Commissioner Baker seconded. Motion carried. As a result of the executive session the Chairman will meet with the Sheriff regarding the personnel issues and also present to the Sheriff a copy of the letter received from Dan Evans. Being no further business before the Board Commissioner Basse made a motion to adjourn at 10:25 a.m. Commissioner Baker seconded. Motion carried. | ||
| Attest: | ||
| John P. Lumley, Chairman | Hans Odde, Clerk to the Board | |
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