MMRB Minutes

MEETING
CITY OF WALKER
MINERAL MINING BOARD OF REVIEW
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
3:00 p.m.

The meeting of the Mineral Mining Board of Review was called to order by Steve Versluis, Chairman at 3:00 p.m. at City Hall, 4243 Remembrance Rd., N.W., Walker, Michigan.

Members present: Steve Versluis, Chairman; Frank Wash; Scott Conners; Mark Koning; and Bonnie Broadwater. Also present: Jeff Nelson, Building Dept; Tim McGladdery, Building Dept; and Bonnie Antcliff, Recording Secretary.

Gillisse Aggregates has requested approval for a Mineral Mining license.

Property located at 1400 Maynard, SW also known on the tax rolls as 41-17-04-100-002, 003, 007, 008 & 009.

Applicant: Dave Maas Mining Gillisse Aggregates

675 Clyde Ct., SW Cont: PO Box 278

Byron Center, Mi. 49315 Grandville, Mi. 49418

Owners: David Maas Steven Maas

PO Box 66 Gillisse Aggregates

Grandville, Mi. 49418 PO Box 278

Grandville, Mi. 49418

Maas Gravel Group Hunderman & Sons Land

3510 Apache Ct., SW 7029 Homrich Ave.

Grandville, Mi. 49418 Byron Center, Mi. 49315

Tom Larabel of Pathfinder Engineering explained the site plan. He commented that this year has not been much different from last year. We are looking at revising the DEQ permit for the floodplain fill on this site. We should be getting a letter for that soon.

Last year you asked us to show the concrete crushing area operations. Those were illustrated on the plan. We are working on filling the over excavated area. One of the conditions from last year was to place some trees at the entrance and that has been completed. .

Dave Maas stated that our intention is to crush concrete much the way we have in the past. The fill that we will be bringing in will be the same type of fill we have had in the past. Most of the fill that we generate will come to this location.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that she has been talking with the DEQ and it looks like there are discrepancies on that plan that they have submitted to the City versus the plan that was submitted to the DEQ. She stated she wanted to make sure that any conditions or approval that we provide would be contingent upon the DEQ approval. The north arrows on the plan are facing the wrong direction. They are showing an area on the plan to be mined in 2007, and on the DEQ plan they showed part of that as proposed area to be filled, so we are unclear as to whether they are cutting or filling there.

Mr. Larabel replied that area will be a stockpile area.

Ms. Broadwater replied those areas should be separated so that it is clear on which is which and what is going on where.

Mr. Larabel replied that the DEQ has asked us to make this a fill area and to stock pile there. It is a foot or so below the flood plain and if we fill it up, it will not be in the flood plain.

Ms. Broadwater stated that it is our understanding that this is the last area you are working on coming to an agreement with the DEQ on where the limits of that fill will be placed. It should be consistent on the plan to Walker and the plan to the DEQ. She went on to say that we want to make sure you are not placing any fill in the lakes. The DEQ also wanted you to correct that.

Mr. Larabel stated that there is no fill going into the lakes and that was a recent adjustment to the plan.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that the time range here is pretty broad, 2007 to 2012 for the area to be filled. It would be nice if it was more specific.

Scott Conners commented that the elevation is pretty broad too. The plan says above 606.5 and that does not tell us what you are going to build there.

Ms. Broadwater replied that this has been pretty well signed off and you are waiting for the approval and the final contours to the north? Has that area been authorized by the DEQ to be filled?

Mr. Maas stated not yet, we will not fill it until we have the approval.

Scott Conners asked what was mined in 2006? Anything?

Mr. Maas replied no, nothing was mined last year. We filled and crushed last year.

Scott Conners stated that we had the same problem last year where no mining occurred. We have a repeating trend here. This is not really a mining site here at all.

Mr. Maas replied we have had this discussion for the past four years.

Scott Conners stated that the reclamation plans have changed. We used to have a lot better reclamation plan that actually showed the proposed contours although we did not necessarily agree with the fill areas, at least it was easier to see the extent of the area and the extent of the height. That is important here because you are showing an elevation of 606.5 and fill is never going to run out. We really need to see what you are proposing for these reclamation cells as far as height and slope. In the area that you are currently showing as the current stock pile and processing area, last year we asked for an area and cubic yards to determine the total volume because we want to make sure that the volume is not really changing and is staying about the same. The area that you are showing is probably 3 times the size of what is actually being used for the processing. The processing area is down in a hole. That is advantageous because it is hidden from the road and is not an eye sore. This is still an agricultural piece of property and that dotted line should be correctly drawn. It needs to be a circle shape around the actual stock pile area which looks like it is 8 to 10 acres. We want this on the plan so that we know you are not expanding. We want to make sure it is depicting what the actual current crushing area is. We want you to continue doing this in that location and at that height. When you are ready to fill that area up, that is when the crushing will cease and the site will be reclaimed and you will be out of there.

Mr. Larabel replied that the volume of material is noted on the plan. 160,000 yards of material will continue on this stock pile area, which is the concrete recycling area. The reason that it is so big is that as we fill the site, they are going to have to move all of the recycle material out of the way, refill that area and move it back.

Scott Conners commented that we may have inadvertently given you permission to do this five years or so ago in the first place. He stated that it is his opinion that if it is an existing non-conforming use, it stays in that location at that height and when it is time to remove or relocate it, you should come in with a variance request because the location is important to neighboring properties. The stock pile and processing area should stay where it is. At the last year meeting Mr. Maas stated that they planned to fill this area to a grade that is usable to us. This site is still agricultural but what is the end use going to be here?

Mr. Maas replied that it is our feeling that if it is above the 606.5 hundred year flood plain, it is usable for a variety of things. You could use it for agricultural purposes below the hundred year flood plain but it would not be good for anything else.

Scott Conners replied that we do not want to see you sell this for a residential use and have issues with 6 to 8 feet of bad fill and uncompacted with foundations going on top of that. If you sell it for industrial and it were rezoned it would be the same issue. We really care about the end use and how much fill goes in. We scrutinize undercutting and fill being put back if it is intended to be used for anything other than open space.

Mr. Maas stated that we put spruce trees on each side of the drive there. There are also existing trees there that we just left. We maintain that drive all summer and it is an ongoing maintenance problem.

Mark Koning stated that he thought there was going to be an overlay of that driveway and not just patching. He felt it needs more repair than that and he would like to see a condition made this year that it be repaved to the right-of-way line.

Mr. Maas stated that they could do that.

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

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Darwin Bass, Kent County stated that the County recognizes that with the park there, this has been a transitionary process and there are still other uses out there. It appears that the concrete crushing operation, as it appears on this plan, is more extensive that what our understanding has been. It was our understanding that this was plus or minus ten acres. From the site plan it appears to be 26 or 27 acres which is significantly larger than what we believed it to be. If that is an expansion, it would be a concern for the neighbors nearby.

Scott Conners asked Jeff Nelson how do you look at this from a permit perspective since they have not mined anything here for several years?

Jeff Nelson replied that this has not been reclaimed totally yet so we have to keep it open. There is nothing in the ordinance that says there has to be certain amount of material taken out of the site to make this a mining operation. He stated that he felt this has become a crushing operation and not a mining operation.

Scott Conners stated that now the holes there are environmentally protected areas and we need a bond here to make sure that they do not get damaged. The DEQ has talked about fill violations here and we do not want to get caught in the middle of something.

Frank Wash stated that we are making some changes in the Mineral Mining ordinance to try and get the reclamation done in a reasonable amount of time after the mining is done. If it has to be covered under a fill permit that is a different process.

Scott Conners stated that when we are talking about reviewing this ordinance, can we talk about inactivity on the site in terms of mining over a period of time with volume included? He stated he does not want to see this sit inactive. When they are nearly out of material and transitioning the site into something else, and using this permit as a crutch, then we need to say enough is enough. He stated he would like to see the stock piling area reduced to the actual size, which looks like 8 to 10 areas with a height on there as well. It should stay in that location and at that height because that is pre-existing and non-conforming. It is down in a hole now and it works great. The noise is contained and it should stay that way otherwise it should go to the Zoning Board.

Scott Conners moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to grant the Mineral Mining license for 1400 Maynard until February 28, 2008.

The Board imposed the following conditions:

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Property located at 3101 Butterworth also known on the tax rolls as 41-13-33-301-004, 005.

Applicant & Diversco Construction Co. Owner: Dave Maas

Mining Cont: 675 Clyde Ct., SW 675 Clyde Ct., SW

Byron Center, Mi. 49315 Byron Center, Mi.

Tom Larabel of Pathfinders stated that this is the Sandco site at Maynard and Butterworth. He went on to say that the oil well here has been filled and capped and we have a soil erosion permit. He stated we felt the best thing to do here was to grade off and slope and seed with erosion blankets. We have done quite a few things to protect this site from discharging erosion soils. It does not make sense to strip down these slopes after all the work we have put into them. The slopes in the front by the well do not meet the one on five requirement. On the north side it is greater than one on five. He stated that we want to close this site for mining. The end use will be residential and could be used as a subdivision.

Mr. Maas stated that last year we had a project in the City and we hauled fill over there, which is because we wanted to get those slopes built back up. We had some wet weather and things did not go our way. We had some tracking on the road and some of the neighbors complained. We quit hauling there and tried to keep it from washing out. That is why some of it is not one on five. We would like the approval for one on four and a half for part of it. We would like to leave it alone and not disturb it anymore.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that the last time she checked this site, before all the snow came, the discharges were being re-routed away from the pond where they came from. There is no discharge from their storm water at all and that is good. It is going to be hard to tell how the seed is going to take until spring. Any bare areas will have to be reseeded and possibly have some additional blanket installed. The soil erosion issues are in good shape.

Scott Conners stated he was OK with the slope as long it is a one on four or a one on five. It just has to be stabilized.

No citizen appeared with respect to this application.

Scott Conners stated that we could say that we are closing the Mineral Mining application pending satisfying the soil erosion ordinance, which would be the escrow fees and bond and we could be done here.

Mark Koning felt that it was time to take the sign off the gate and it will no longer be a sand pit.

Frank Wash asked if there should be a DPW, Engineering and applicant wrap up on site meeting?

Scott Conners felt that this could be taken care of under the soil erosion guidelines because we may still have some soil erosion issues here.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that we would need you to come in and provide a bond for a lesser amount of money to replace the mineral mining bond. Then you would be required to pay inspection fees to make sure no soil is leaving the site.

Scott Conners stated that we would limit that to the last phase that you worked on because the other phases are established.

Steve Versluis stated that the sign could go but he would like to see the gate to the site stay intact. It would be too much of an invitation for cycles and ATV’s.

Scott Conners moved and Bonnie Broadwater supported the motion to close the mineral mining site at 3101 Butterworth.

The Board imposed the following condition:

1. A soil erosion permit bond be obtained.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Frank Wash moved and Bonnie Broadwater supported the motion to approve the Mineral Mining minutes of February 13, 2007.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Frank Wash moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to adjourn the Mineral Mining meeting at 4:10 p.m.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

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Walker, MI  49534
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