MMRB Minutes

MEETING
CITY OF WALKER
MINERAL MINING REVIEW BOARD
Tuesday, February 22, 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; Mark Koning; and Gary Voogt. Also present: Jeff Nelson, Building Official; Dick Denney, Deputy Building Official; Mark Rambo, Engineering Dept.; and Bonnie Antcliff, Recording Secretary.

DECISION AND ORDER

Legal Description

Property located at 2228 Butterworth, 41-17-04-200-001, 002, 41-13-33-400-004, 006.

Applicant: Dykema Excavators, Inc. Mining Cont: Grand Rapids Gravel Co.

1730 3 Mile Rd., NE 2700 28th St., SW

Grand Rapids, Mi. 49505 Grand Rapids, Mi. 49509

Owner: Developers, Inc.

1730 3 Mile Rd., NE

Grand Rapids, Mi. 49505

Dykema Excavators has requested approval for a Mineral Mining license.

Finding of Facts

Jeff Nelson stated that they have submitted a $25,000 bond for this year. The only condition was that the City wanted a copy of the DEQ permit when it is issued and we don’t have that.

Mike Berg, Dykema Excavators replied that we do not have a DEQ permit. We have been involved in the extraction of gravel at Millennium Park along with Grand Rapids Gravel. That will be completed this year and the goal is then to move on to this site. There are wetlands here and it is in the 100 year flood plain so we do have to get a DEQ permit. We are working with Kent County Parks and have deeded much of the Georgia Pacific property to the Kent Co. Parks Dept. for the future expansion of Millennium Park. We have a purchase agreement with the Park for the balance of the Georgia Pacific property south of Butterworth, which includes this property. That is to occur by 2007-2008. We have not even started any mining activities at this site.

Mark Rambo stated that there is no mining taking place here. He felt that the DEQ permit condition should be carried into next year.

Mr. Berg stated that we intend to expand the existing lake. That property has been conveyed to the County and we are going to extend the lake on the west side of the Georgia Pacific site and expand the lake to the area that has been cleared. We will remove the overburden stock pile on site and use that to clean up some of the refuge and stock piles of gypsum that was not used. We will be working with the County to make this look more like a park instead of a dump site. All material will be removed and trucked to another site for processing. This site is too small for that.

Frank Wash asked what type of DEQ permits are you looking for?

Mr. Berg replied that we will need a wetland DEQ permit as well as a flood plain. There are about 3 acres of wetlands there that will be impacted and we are creating additional wetlands on the first phase of Millennium Park. We are in the flood plain.

Gary Voogt asked if they were anticipating any problems turning wetlands into water?

Mr. Berg replied that we do know if we will have to mitigate our ratio. We do have wetlands that will be created under an existing permit in the first phase of Millennium Park. We have had discussions about that crediting the lost wetlands on this site. That will be part of our permit application, that we will be turning wetlands into water.

Gary Voogt asked if they will get credit for creating all these lakes?

Mr. Berg replied that we could probably get some along the edges but based on previous experience, Mr. Day does not allow open waters to be credited as a habited wetland.

Gary Voogt asked if the material being taken out is gravel?

Mr. Berg replied yes it is. We have borings on site. There is an overburden that we will be using with Mr. Day’s approval to clean up some of the piles, thrown into the existing wetlands, in order to get it cleaned up and more park like. With regards to the gypsum piles, we do have an obligation with Georgia Pacific, as well as the DEQ, to cap those prior to transfer of title to the County.

Gary Voogt asked if there was any undermining this close to the river?

Mr. Berg replied that he did not recall if it came this close to the river. He went on to say that he knows it is extensive but was not sure if it came this close to the river although it is extensive north of Butterworth. The mine is completely flooded now. The bench shafts has also been sealed off as part of our purchase from Georgia Pacific.

Motion

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

Motion carried 5 to 0.

No one appeared with respect to this application.

Motion

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

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Gary Voogt asked if the intent is to haul the material to another site to use the existing drive which goes through Grand Rapids?

Mr. Berg replied that the access that goes to the west plant onto Butterworth is a paved road. We will have a gravel road back to the extraction area and it will be trucked to another plant. The truck route will be Butterworth to Maynard to Vets Memorial Dr. to the freeway

Mark Koning stated that there is no signage on the gate at this site. It is a requirement to have a sign posted with the hours of operation on it.

Mr. Berg replied that they will do that.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Gary Voogt supported the motion to approve the Mineral Mining license for 2228 Butterworth until February 28, 2006.

The Board imposed the following condition:

1. Sign posted at gate with hours of operation on it and address.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

DECISION AND ORDER

Legal Description

Property located at 1400 Maynard, 41-17-04-100-002, 003, 007, 008, & 009.

Applicant: Dave Maas Mining Cont: Gillisse Aggregates Co.

675 Clyde Ct., SW PO Box 278

Byron Center, Mi. 49315 Grandville, Mi. 49418

Owners: Sandco, Inc. Gillisse Const. Co.

PO Box 66 PO Box 278

Grandville, Mi. 49418 Grandville, Mi. 49418

Maas Gravel Group LLC Hunderman & Sons Land

3510 Apache Ct., SW 7029 Homrich Ave.

Grandville, Mi. 49418 Byron Center, Mi. 49315

Gillisse Aggregates has requested approval for a Mineral Mining license.

Finding of Facts

Jeff Nelson stated that the only condition we had from last year was that they submit a new plan showing the area to be reclaimed and where they were going to mine. The hearing was on February 11, 2004 and a new plan was submitted on February 12, 2004.

Mark Rambo stated that the only continuing issue is the tracking out of the entrance drive. In that area it is probably less of a sedimentation issue and more of a road hazard for the Park entrance.

Brent DeRose, of Nederveld Assoc. stated that we have worked along Maynard in 2005. We plan on taking more out of the area to the north in 2005. The processing operation is still going on here but has not been expanded. That will continue in the coming year. The area along Maynard will be continued this year. Once this is filled we will move to the north side of the driveway and continuing filling that area.

Dave Maas stated that our plan is to continue to crush concrete as we have in the past. There will be no expansion. We continue to fill along Maynard Ave. to the south and there is an area on the Hunderman property to be mined. We had planned on doing that last year. There is a pile of recycled concrete on it and that was going to be crushed when we can get at the material that is there. That is still a future goal.

Scott Conners asked if this mining permit were to expire, would the crushing operation be allowed to continue?

Jeff Nelson replied that it could continue as a non-conforming use.

Scott Conners stated that it sounds like they are trying to keep the permit open so that the site can be used for crushing concrete and filling. He felt that this is not really mining, it is a filling permit.

Frank Wash asked if the filling was being done as part of a reclamation plan?

Mr. Mass replied that we continue to fill up to grades that are usable and we have been doing that for quite a while. It was l945 when we started digging and we mined until the last couple of years and now we are filling in the areas that have mined out. We had an agreement with Walker Township at the time to fill the area that has been mined out and leave it a usable form and that is what we are trying to do. We have had this discussion every year for last few years and we always come back to the same thing. The activity here is similar to mining. We are not taking anything out of the ground there but we are processing materials there that are usable as if we were mining them. We have a couple of stock piles here, one of 21 AA and one of 22 A that we have a need for at a couple of projects downtown.

Scott Conners stated that this is a use that should be on an industrial piece of property and in the past we have agreed that this is a good area to do this but it is not technically allowed here. The mining is allowed on an agricultural piece of property because there is an end to it This operation has no end.

Mr. Maas replied that eventually there will be an end. We have mined here for 40 to 50 years. We cannot fill it all in a couple of years. We were there mining and doing our thing long before this Board was set up. Then we started to come in and get permits for what we had been doing 30 to 40 years before that. We continue to come in and get a permit every year and now it sounds like you want to get rid of us.

Scott Conners replied that this was the one permit that was allowed to continue without a bond because it was all excavation and there was no filling. Now we are saying that this needs to come back to a certain elevation.

Mr. Maas replied that pre 1990 there were no bonds required for anything.

Brent DeRose stated that the flood plain is 607.5 and we are basically a half a foot above it.

Gary Voogt replied that the state building code now requires one foot above the 100 year flood level.

Brent DeRose stated that we want to get it above the flood level and it should go up to 608.

Gary Voogt stated that you should get the dirt up to a foot above the 100 year flood mark and get it high enough so that the land is truly reclaimed.

Brent DeRose stated that the DEQ permit is good until 2007.

Scott Conners asked if there is an end use here?

Mr. Maas replied that we want to get it above the 100 year flood mark otherwise it is not any good. He stated we have been filling here for 10 years.

Frank Wash asked if this permit is strictly a mining permit or is it a mining and reclamation permit?

Jeff Nelson stated that the permit includes the reclamation.

Frank Wash stated that it is valid to come back to see how the progress is going toward reclamation.

Scott Conners stated that the reason we issue these permits is because we know there is going to be an end. We really do not have that here because it goes on and on. If the neighbors are in favor of this going on, we do not need to stand in the way. He went on to say that he would like to see a proposal for cleaning up the entrance with the understanding that this is going to continue. This could go on for a very long time.

Mark Koning asked if the applicant plans on doing any maintenance on the driveway this year?

Mr. Maas replied that they need to fix some pot holes. He stated they could repave the entry way.

Motion

Gary Voogt moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to open the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Darwin Baas from the Kent County Administrator’s office stated that Millenium Park is located across the street from this site. He stated that Millenium Park has a history of oil well production, gravel mining, sand mining, gypsum mining, manufacturing, etc. We recognize that there is going to be a transition period. Kent

County has designated a footprint of the area. The property being discussed today is in the long term plans. We continue to have discussions with the property owners and try to find a suitable point of acquisition agreeable to both parties. In the meantime, we have had an opportunity to review the plans that you are looking at today. They are very similar to the plans from last year. The County does not object to what is being proposed. There is an exit strategy on the plans. The filling should cease about 2010. The County is agreeable to that. Anything that this Board could do, or any kind of cooperation between the County and the property owner for some screening, we would be happy to assist in. Domtar and Georgia Pacific at one time had manufacturing plants there and that is no longer economically viable. The County had an opportunity to purchase those properties and is beginning to move that into Park land. We feel that in the future these areas will have that same opportunity. We do recognize that there will be a transition period and we want to work with the property owner’s in that regard.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Scott Conners stated that he would like to see an exit strategy for this site. He would feel better about moving forward with this as a reclamation plan.

Frank Wash stated that he felt there are two issues; a non-conforming use, and a reclamation plan. We may just want to focus on the reclamation plan.

Dave Maas stated that we do not want to seed this and leave. This is our property and as long as we are coming back here every year and explaining to the Board what we are doing and why we are doing it, he does not understand the problem. If we continue to raise the elevations of the property up, and we are not leaving it a mess or leaving town, we are going to do what we say we are going to do. He does not understand the problem. Eventually we will have our property up to the grades we want and we will quit. Until then, it seems we should have the right to be here and continue to do that.

Scott Conners replied that he looks at this as transitioning from Mineral Mining Board to Planning Dept. and Planning Commission. If there is filling taking place it is actually part of a development of the site. He went on to say that he would like to find some finality for this Board and our review.

Steve Versluis felt it would be good if there were some plans for an end use of this property.

Mr. Maas replied it is hard to say that we will be finished in 2010 because we do not know what type of material we will get from year to year.

Brent DeRose stated that this site is water and areas that are below the flood plain. We cannot say what this will be until it is above the flood plain. The area along Maynard may be brought up higher as long as the slopes are safe. The biggest thing at this point is to get the site above the flood plain and then it will be a usable piece of property.

Frank Wash stated that obviously the County wants a shot at this property. If it is something where something will be built upon, the risk of not properly compacting and stacking that fill falls to the contractor. If they grade it to 608 and out of the flood plain and when it comes time to build here and the borings come in and it is not compacted that is a problem. There is a danger in looking too far ahead also.

Brent DeRose stated that the application has the flood plain data on it. The material that is mined out of north will have some processing with it. We will have to revisit our time table. We will have to re-evaluate that so 2010 is not a correct statement. He thought maybe a berm on the east side of Maynard would be a shield from the Park.

Gary Voogt thought that would be a good thing and would give a chance for something to grow here and then the activity behind would be shielded. That would be a phase that would make sense.

Mr. Maas stated that he will put together a plan to dress up the entrance here and screen the area. There is a berm along Maynard now with some fairly large trees and he felt they could blend into that and put something in behind to screen the area. He stated we want something usable when we are done and to do that we have to continue to fill.

Darwin Baas stated that the County was relying on the information on the application to be accurate. We believed that the operation would wrap up somewhere around 2010. We are trying to grasp where we are with this. Grand Rapids Gravel has told us they will be wrapping up in 2005 in the Phase 1 of Millenium Park. We do not own the property we are talking about today but it is in the footprint of Millenium Park and in the future the County would like to include that in the Park. We are relying on the information in the application not only saying when the reclamation will be complete, but what it will look like. Then we would like to see the exit plan. Setting that operation behind a berm will be good for safety.

Motion

Frank Wash moved and Scott Conners supported the motion to approve the Mineral Mining license for 1400 Maynard until February 28, 2006.

The Board imposed the following conditions:

Motion

Frank Wash moved and Gary Voogt supported the motion to approve the Mineral Mining minutes of January 25, 2005.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Motion

Scott Conners moved and Gary Voogt supported the motion to adjourn the Mineral Mining meeting at 4:00pm.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

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