MMRB Minutes

MEETING
CITY OF WALKER
MINERAL MINING REVIEW BOARD
Thursday, January 31, 2008
3:00 p.m.

The Mineral Mining Review Board 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; Scott Conners; Frank Wash; Mark Koning; and Bonnie Broadwater. Also present: Jeff Nelson, Building Official; and Bonnie Antcliff, Recording Secretary.

Scott Conners moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to elect Steve Versluis Chairman of the Mineral Mining Board for 2008.

Motion carried unanimously.

Stanley Orchards has requested approval for a mineral mining license.

Property located at 2605 Bristol, NW, 41-13-10-201-003.

Applicant & Cordes Trenching Owner: Stanley Orchards, LLC

Mining Cont: 7305 Baumhoff, NW 2605 Bristol, NW

Grand Rapids, Mi. 49544 Grand Rapids, Mi. 49544

Brad Meyers, Meyers, Bueche & Nies stated that this project started in 2006 and not much has happened in the last year. We have worked on the roadway into the site. It is fenced in for erosion and all runoff has been contained within the site. The sign has been placed at the entrance and erosion control measures have been kept up to date. He then explained the site plan. This year we will be working on Phase 1. The rest of the road will also be paved. There has not been a lot of activity here. He went on to say that the bond is continuous and will be mailed to the City.

Jeff Nelson stated that the conditions from last years were:

Bonnie Broadwater stated that the City received some pretty serious complaints last summer about wind erosion. She went on to say that she was present at the site several times during the summer when the most intensive hauling was going on. The wind erosion was blowing north across 3 Mile from the pit and was severe enough that the Department of Environmental Quality was notified by the residents and they were out to do some testing. She would like to see the contractor provide a more intensive wind erosion plan so that there is not a repeat of last year.

Mr. Meyers stated that there was been grass seeded here and there should not be that blowing there this year. Right now there is not a lot of material that is above grade and that method is going to continue there. There will not be a lot of stockpiling here.

Ms. Broadwater replied that she would like to see some kind of mechanical or chemical back-up method in place here.

Frank Wash stated that he was not sure how the seeding was done but has not seen any physical barrier on there.

Mr. Meyers stated that we may have to use some blankets in the spring to calm things down.

Steve Versluis stated that this is a unique situation as that site is in a populated area.

Ms. Broadwater stated that there has also been a tracking problem especially after a storm and we do not want that. It needs to be cleaned up right away

Mr. Meyers replied that the tracking will be better when the drive is fully paved.

Mark Koning moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to open the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

No citizen appeared with respect to this application

Scott Conners moved and Bonnie Broadwater supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Mark Koning stated that there is 250 ft. more of driveway to be finished. Is it graded out and ready?

Mr. Meyers replied yes the base was put in last year and it is set to go. The intent is to have the driveway finished before sand is hauled out of there this year. We ran out of time last year.

Mr. Koning stated that the drive was to be finished by July 1, 2007. He felt it should be finished by May 1 of this year.

Scott Conners stated that we need a narrative description on the wind erosion on this site.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that the narrative should include both mechanical and chemical methods.

Scott Conners commented that we do not want to see this excavated more than 5 ft. below grade because there will probably be a road here. He went on to say that he is not concerned with the plan as proposed but is concerned with the tendency to over excavate.

Frank Wash stated that if they stick to the plans they will be in fine shape. This is the best set of plans that we could get. We are operating under a revised mineral mining ordinance. Over the past year we have written a whole new code to include undercutting

MMRB 1-31-08

regulations and the ordinance has been much improved. These plans look like they meet the new code. He asked if there were any plans to bring fill into this site?

Steve Cordes replied that as of now, it is being treated as a cut. We are grading down so that when we are done, it is done.

Frank Wash stated that on page 205 of the notes, the first couple of notes reference a special land use and in most communities, mines are required to get a special land use. The reason for this Board is so that we do not deal with a special land use permit. We deal with a site specific mineral mining permit. Just replace those special use text boxes in there with mineral mining permit and then you will be consistent with the ordinance.

Frank Wash moved and Scott Conners supported the motion to approve the mineral mining license for 2605 Bristol until February 28, 2009.

The Board imposed the following conditions:

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Velting Contractors has requested approval for a mineral mining license.

Property located at 2200 Walker, NW, 41-13-10-329-001, 003; 10-451-001

Applicant & Velting Contractors Owner: Kenneth Jackson

Mining Cont: 3060 Breton Rd., SE 3640 Oakhill Dr.

Kentwood, Mi. Titusville, Fl. 32780-3519

Brent DeRose, Nederveld stated that this pit was active this past year. There was a lot of material that was hauled away from this site. Last year there was some concern about the fill and amount of material hauled into the site. After the meeting last year Mr. Velting prepared a letter signed by Mr. Jackson acknowledging the fact that this site has been over excavated and we are gradually bringing it back up to proposed grades. The sewer is what drove raising the site. We have to get it back up above the 670 elevation. One of the other items on this was the cul-de-sac on the plan and it was not brought through to the Micron property. We are not showing anything on the Preston parcel. We are going to bring in compactible inert fill. There is still some material in the southwest corner that needs to be mined and a large area to the south. The whole floor has brand new contours. The edges have stayed the same. The southwest corner has been brought up significantly to close to 685. We are tweaking the contours as we go. The new haul road has been constructed through the floor of the pit. There is a pile of concrete there that needs to be crushed.

Jeff Nelson stated that the conditions from last year were:

He went on to say that we have received the bond and the fence certification.

Frank Wash stated that he did not see the compaction test results reported by a certified density technician on the application. That is something that is in the ordinance now.

Brent DeRose replied that there are no compaction reports available.

Frank Wash stated that there does not seem to be a problem with the material itself, it is just compacting it appropriately for future use.

Scott Velting stated that when the property is developed it will be to a certain standard. At this point does the ordinance state what the compaction test should be?

Frank Wash replied that there are proctor numbers in there. He thought it was 95% compaction for commercial and industrial and 90% for residential.

Scott Conners stated that we need the site engineer to give us something that is appropriate. We don’t want just one test, one time, in the middle of the site. You need to come up with something that you want to certify.

Mr. Velting asked Jeff Nelson that when we build a building, you will want a test on the foundation correct?

Jeff Nelson replied yes, especially on a site that he knows has been filled.

Mr. Velting stated that those tests will be required whenever a building goes up. He stated that he could give test results now that would be at 30% and when we go to build it, it will have to be at 95% before a building goes up. He felt it seemed redundant to ask for this now before any building is ever built. There would be no meaning to it. When the building is placed that is when you would need a certified letter. That would happen before a foundation is put in.

Scott Conners replied that roads and parking lots are also important.

Mr. Velting replied that again, before it is done, a test will have be taken at that point. If this is never done, and we decide to use this for a yard for the next 20 years, this is a lot of work for nothing.

Scott Conners stated that we are going to want you to do spot checks. We want you to do what is reasonable. We want to know how the methods of compaction are being done. Is it dumped or rolled in?

Frank Wash stated that the purpose of the code was to be an annual review of the fill being brought in on an annual basis. There is a lot of fill that has already been brought onto this site over the years so it is going to be tough to start drilling holes and

saying the compaction is appropriate here when we have been filling this for 20 years without knowing the standard that is in place. It is going to be from this point forward.

Scott Conners stated that this is based on the compromise of letting you over excavate.

Steve Versluis stated that the application talks about the heavy equipment doing the compaction. Is that typically adequate with fill being brought in and the equipment itself compacting the soil?

Scott Conners replied that it depends on the material and the method of how it is put in. Typically you want to see material brought in small layers. If you run the equipment over it, you can get the compaction that you need. It you dump it all in at 20 to 30 ft. at a time, it will be very difficult because the material at the bottom has to be packed very slowly over time because it cannot be mechanically blown in. It becomes a concern on how this is done. Their engineer has to look at the methods being used and make sure they get some representative areas to determine if the compaction is reasonable or not.

Jeff Nelson stated that we do not issue a building permit until we see the footprint, site plan for the building, and the testing all around the building and the parking lots.

Mr. Velting stated that we know what we are doing and are not going to ruin this property. We know the value of this land and our goal is to have a usable piece of property when we are done here. We treat this as if it were our property.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that she had no soil erosion concerns with this site. The tracking off of the site has been properly taken care of.

Mark Koning stated that he appreciates Mr. Velting’s response when there have been issues here. We have an on going problem there with a ditch there that gets filled with sand.

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

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Mike Preston, Micron Mfg. 1722 Kloet stated that last year we had a discussion on the site plan and the cul-de-sac. This year the road is up to our property and he wanted to know what the intent was with this road going up to the property? Does the City of Walker want this road to go through there?

Frank Wash replied that the City Commission has given us money to do a Kloet connection study. There will be a road connection study done because there is a truck route issue between Walker and Alpine Ave. and there has to be some looping of that truck route. Pannel Street to where? The businesses on Bristol are cut off from the main truck routing in the City. We would like trucks to be able to go from I-96 at Walker through this whole industrial district and over to Alpine. The logical way to do this is through an extension here. Everyone in the neighborhood will be involved in that study.

Mr. Preston replied that we as Micron owners do not want that road to go through our property.

Scott Conners replied that we have layed out five or six different alternatives at staff on how to connect Bristol with Walker Ave. At this point, all we know is that there is going to have to be a connection from the east side to the west side of this site. We don’t know exactly how that is going to be layed out. We want to leave some creative freedom for whoever develops this site. All we know is that it has to get to the east property line.

Mr. Preston went on to say that on August 8, 2007 the MDOT had a couple of technicians on Kloet and the City of Walker was trying to get the road redefined as a major road. The question is, why was the request made, and what is the status of that request?

Scott Conners replied that we have about 110 miles of roads. We get a certain amount of money for a street on whether it is classified as local or major. We try to get all of our industrial streets classified as major. They need to be a little wider and more heavy duty to handle truck traffic and we want to get more money from the State to do that. It is a substantial amount. This year we went through the whole City to see what roads we have that meet the criteria for major roads.

Marv DeVries 2107 Blue Bell Way stated that he lives southwest of this property. He has concern about the noise that comes from here. We were told that the working hours here were from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Frank Wash stated that there is a provision in the ordinance for special use of the mining outside of those times. They have to go through the Building Dept. if for instance there is an urgent need for sand or something like that.

Mr. DeVries stated that there seems to be a lot of noise coming out of this pit especially early in the morning.

Steve Versluis stated that this is a more sensitive area because it is close a residential area. Are you talking about back-up beepers?

Mr. DeVries stated that they are not as loud as the equipment moving around.

Mr. Velting stated that concrete was hauled into the site 24 hours a day and that is now over. That was when the hi-way jobs were being done that this happened.

Mr. DeVries asked when the mining will be over?

Mr. Velting stated that there is not a lot of sand left but because of the economy, we will not be finished on target.

Steve Versluis stated that the residents can call the City or himself if problems arise here.

Carl Betz, 2121 Bristol stated that he owns quite a bit of the property on Kloet and he is concerned about tying in Bristol and Walker and how that is going to happen. He went on to say that he has plans for the future but doesn’t know how they are going to use the property and a lot depends on what is proposed with that road. He would like to be notified when these discussions take place.

Frank Wash stated that the City trys to keep you involved with everything that goes on out there.

Scott Conners stated that we do not want them to over excavate there so that trucks cannot get through. The key here is that we do not know exactly where that road is going to be. We want input from everyone out there. We want a consultant to come in and work between the City, the mining board, and all the property owners, to come up with a good solution for where that road will be to get good access to the highway.

Frank Wash commented that there is no way that we are going to let redevelopment of that site hurt existing businesses. That will not happen. He asked Mr. Betz if it would be advantageous for your operation to have a connection between Bristol and Walker that is a truck route that can get you to the truck route on Walker and then up to the I-96 interchange?

Mr. Betz replied he thought there would be. It is very difficult to get out onto Alpine.

Frank Wash stated that is the heart of the issue that we are going to study, how can we take the south Bristol area and south Walker Ave. area, that is currently cut off from a truck route, and get you linked into a truck route. That is coming and you will all be involved in that process.

Bonnie Broadwater moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Frank Wash stated that the Veltings could continue to operate the crushing operation. That is a non-conforming use provided it is not abandoned for more than one year. If it is abandoned for more than one year the non-conformity goes away. Then they would have to go to the Planning Commission in order to continue that use. Right now this is a grand-fathered issue.

Mr. Velting stated he would consent to hours of operation from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday.

Scott Conners stated that there has not been a lot of reclamation on this site. He is concerned because the site is so big and is a massive open area. He would like to see more reclamation.

Mr. Velting replied that they have used areas for stock piling. All slopes have been restored except for the active areas. We will seed any area that we can.

Frank Wash moved and Mark Koning supported the motion to approve the mineral mining license for 2200 Walker Ave. until February 28, 2009.

The Board imposed the following conditions:

Motion carried 5 to 0.

James J. Cordes has requested approval for a mineral mining license.

Property located at 731 Maynard, 41-13-33-101-016, 017, 023 & 025.

Applicant: James J. Cordes Owners: William J. Briggs

Mining Cont: 10100 Sedroc 695 Maynard Ave., SW

Byron Center, Mi. 49315 Grand Rapids, Mi. 49534

Owners: Jack A. Huizinga James J. Cordes

703 Maynard Ave., SW 10100 Sedroc

Grand Rapids, Mi. 49534 Byron Center, Mi. 49315

Brent DeRose of Nederveld Associates explained the site plan. He stated we continue to work to the west. Last year there were about 40,000 yards that came out of this pit. It has been very active. We will probably be into the Briggs property by next year. There was a question last year about the grading in the southwest corner. He went on to say that he had pictures from the last 3 or 4 years if the Board would like to look at them. He then showed these pictures. He stated there will be some reseeding and reclamation worked on this year.

Steve Versluis asked if the area from Millennium Park or Butterworth looking north from Millennium Park will be reclaimed this year?

Mr. DeRose replied that they still need more material to get that reclaimed.

Jeff Nelson stated that the condition from last year was that the developer confirm the disturbance at the southwest corner of the property at the Weykamp corner. If there is a disturbance, the property owner must sign off on the loss of the vegetative buffer and the slope. He stated we have received the bond and the fence certification.

Bonnie Broadwater stated that there are no soil erosion concerns at this site.

Scott Conners moved and Bonnie Broadwater supported the motion to open the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Michael Sherrington, 671 Maynard stated that he is concerned with the mining this close to his property.

Brent DeRose stated that they are not near his property. He went on to say that the pit to the west will be worked on first.

Steve Cordes stated that there is a berm here as a buffer for the neighbors. The excavation will not be closer than 30 ft. from Mr. Sherrington’s lot line. There will be no undercutting here. He stated we plan on moving a lot of sand this year and we will work on reclaiming.

Frank Wash moved and Bonnie Broadwater supported the motion to close the public hearing.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Scott Conners moved and Frank Wash supported the motion to approve the mineral mining license for 731 Maynard until Februrary 28, 2009.

Motion carried 5 to 0.

Mark Koning moved and Scott Conners supported the motion to adjourn the mineral mining meeting at 5:00 p.m.

Motion carried 5 to 0

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