Minutes and Agendas

MMRB Minutes

MEETING
CITY OF WALKER
MINERAL MINING REVIEW BOARD
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
2:30pm

The meeting of the Mineral Mining Board of Review was called to order by Steve Versluis, Chairman at 2:30pm at the City Hall, 4243 Remembrance Road, N.W., Walker, Michigan.

Members present: Steve Versluis, Chairman; Scott Conners; Frank Wash; and Gary Voogt. Member absent: Mark Koning. Also present: Dick Denney, Deputy Building Official; Mark Rambo, Engineering Dept., and Bonnie Antcliff, Recording Secretary.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Gary Voogt supported the motion to elect Steve Versluis as Chairman of the Mineral Mining Board.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

DECISION AND ORDER

Legal Description

Property located at 2471 Butterworth, 41-13-33-400-003

2468 O’Brien, 41-13-33-200-003

2472 O"Brien, 41-13-33-200-012

Applicant & Meekhof’s Lakeside Dock, Inc. Owner: Meekhof Properties

Mining Cont: 16861 120th Ave. 16861 120th Ave.

Nunica, Mi. 49448 Nunica, Mi. 49448

Meekhof’s Lakeside Dock has requested approval for a Mineral Mining license.

Finding of Facts

The meeting of the Mineral Mining Review Board was called to order by Steve Versluis, Chairman at City Hall, 4243 Remembrance Rd., N.W., Walker, Michigan.

Doug Meekhof showed the site plan and pictures of areas reclaimed. Not a whole lot was done here last year. He stated that they are proposing to take out the tee pee to the north between the Goodale property and ours, that is behind the Hendges property. He stated that they have a verbal agreement with Pat Goodale. He went on to say they did not do a lot of sand removal here.

Mark Rambo stated that there are no conditions on this property and last month’s inspection showed no soil erosion or sedimentation control issues. There is very little activity on this site.

Gary stated he was having trouble connecting the right map and drawing on this application.

The address on the site plan is not correct.

Scott Conners stated that he felt we should have the correct address on the site plan to correspond with the application.

Gary Voogt stated that on sheet two of the plan, parcel 012 on the application is not shown on the drawing as being part of the property. Parcel 012 has contour lines all over it and is not shown as being part of the property.

Doug Meekhof stated that is Rick Olivier’s property and we do have an agreement with him.

Gary Voogt stated that the Board should know the property that the mining permit is issued for.

Gary Voogt stated that the area that is shaded on the plan indicates it was reclaimed but the contours proposed are 20 ft. lower than that. So is this a temporary restoration or are you going to raise this 20 ft.?

Doug Meekhof replied that inside the curve is done and we are hoping that there is sand toward the north. We have been mining uphill against the face.

Gary Voogt asked if the intent was to start mining downhill?

Mr. Meekhof replied yes, we did bore it and it seems to go down towards the north. We may come in and take out the hill to the north and then turn around and come back rather than trying to go straight down hill. Everything that has been reclaimed is all clay.

Gary Voogt asked if the new emphasis will be to the north?

Mr. Meekhof replied it depends on the quality of the sand. Up front the soil is siltier and in the back it is cleaner. It will depend on the jobs we get. There is an oil well here also so we want to wait until we get a big job so we can get in and out of there quickly.

Gary Voogt asked if there was a wet spot on the north border that you are going to eliminate?

Mr. Meekhof stated that we are going to stay down into that depression. Anything draining into that now is going to come back up and we will mine around it. We are hoping to get this all cleaned up within the next couple of years.

Gary Voogt asked when they felt that they would be in Phase 6 of this plan?

Dave Meekhof replied that there is not much sand there.

Gary Voogt stated that Phase 6, north of this pond, does not flow into this pond the way the contours are on the plan. He felt there should be more of a buffer between this operation and the creek. He felt there should be some don’t touch land along the creek. Maybe you should move the pond in Phase 5 a little farther away from the creek and keep some vegetation and some land there so that this big sand hill does not someday wind up in that creek.

Dave Meekhof replied that we do not think we are going there at all. We poked some holes there and it is pretty much all clay. So it is not an issue. We can address that before next season.

Scott Conner replied that it really changes the reclamation, because if you are not going to do much in Phase 5 & 6, then the percolation basin is in the wrong place. The basin should protect the creek. He went on to say that he would like to see the reclamation plan adjusted to reflect what is really going to happen. The engineers need to adjust the contours to give an accurate plan.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to open the public hearing.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

No one appeared with respect to this application.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

Steve Versluis asked if the entire site is undermined and is there any ultimate goals on how this property will be utilized?

Doug Meekhof replied yes it is undermined and they do not have any definite future plans. Perhaps Millennium Park will be interested in the property.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Gary Voogt supported the motion to grant the Mineral Mining license for 2471 Butterworth until February 28, 2006.

The Board imposed the following conditions:

1. New site plan submitted with proper street address.

2.. Adjust the number on the plan and adjust the site boundry to include the parcel that ends in 012.

3. The reclamation on Phase 5 & 6 be redone for next year to reflect soil borings.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

DECISION AND ORDER

Legal Description

Property located at 2325 Butterworth, 41-13-34-200-016, and 2204 O’Brien, 41-13-34-100-018.

Applicant & Meekhof’s Lakeside Dock, Inc. Owner: Meekhof Properties

Mining Cont: 16861 120th Ave. 16861 120th Ave.

Nunica, Mi. 49448 Nunica, Mi. 49448

Meekhof’s Lakeside Dock has requested approval for a Mineral Mining license.

Finding of Facts

Doug Meekhof stated that there was not a lot of work done on this site last year. There were probably about 30,000 to 40,000 yards of sand moved here last year. We are working on Phase 1 and trying to get that done.

Mark Rambo stated that on the west side of the entrance drive are a couple rows of silt fence that are pretty over run. Was that placed there to protect something other than the percolation basin or the road?

Dave Meekhof stated that we are almost up to the trees where we will start restoring that area.

Scott Conners stated that the reclamation contours should be adjusted as that was a condition from last year. There are contours here at 688 with reclamation contours down to 642 so it does not work together. The percolation basin that is in the 640-636 contour range, we are concerned about to protect the creek. The reclamation contours should reflect what you have found out there in regard to the clay. It does not look like that has been done.

Doug Meekhof replied that two years ago we revised out final reclamation plans to the north off of O’Brien.

Scott Conners stated that Phase 1 is where we are most concerned, where you are not going as deep as you originally thought. That will have an impact on how the drainage is going to work through there. It is more sensitive here because of the creek. He stated he would like to see a new reclamation plan come in now because we asked for it last year.

Gary Voogt stated that the plan shows 30 ft. above what the proposal is. This plan shows 30 ft. lower than the ground already reclaimed. It is 50 ft. off. The bottom of the face is 690 and you have a proposal to go to 646--690 ft. lower than that.

Scott Conners stated that fortunately it is 50 ft. the good way and they have not gone 50 ft. deeper but we need this corrected on paper so that we know what we are going to end up with here.

Dave Meekhof replied that it is probably going to stay that way. We need to get the boring machine back up there and see if there is more than 10 ft. of clay. If it is a shelf, with clay under it, then we will have to come back with a new plan.

Gary Voogt replied that if it is going to be left there, you need to tell your engineer. 40 ft. to the property owner next door is a lot. We need a realistic grading plan.

Scott Conners stated that on #3 you have a proposed contour on either side at 646 and 648. If your shelf is at 680 or 690 you are going to have to lift up Phase 3 40-50 ft. to match that. We could live with 20 ft. but 50 ft. is a tremendous difference. The plan loses its credibility. You need to have a 1 on 5 slope and make sure all the drainage works and make sure that the water does not leave the site. The error is on the good side and can be fixed on paper. You will not have to bring in 50 ft. of fill for the reclamation.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to open the public hearing.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

No citizen appeared with respect to this application.

Motion

Gary Voogt moved and Scott Conners supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

Frank Wash stated that he has not seen any sand mines being reclaimed any better than the pictures we have seen here today.

Scott Conners stated that he felt this should be sent back for some engineering work. The contours should be updated so we know that what we are approving, is what we are getting. The application needs to be up to speed every year. It is not just adding and recalibrating existing contours, at times the proposed contours need recalibrating and that has not been done.

Motion

Gary Voogt moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to table 2325 Butterworth to give the applicant the opportunity to upgrade the plan.

Motion carried 4 to 0.

The City of Walker, Michigan
4243 Remembrance Rd. NW
Walker, MI 49534
(616)453-6311
City Hall hours: Mon-Thursday from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Closed Fridays
All information © 2012 City of Walker

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