Bergman offering proposal 'sincere, professional'

To the Editor:

I would like to publicly thank Tom Bergman, Iron County zoning administrator, for his continued efforts on behalf of the citizens of Iron County. In a sincere and professional effort to get appropriate zoning language for metallic mining conditional use permits in place, Bergman presented a proposal draft to the zoning committee on Tuesday.

The proposal is the result of his thorough study of Iron County’s nonmetallic mining ordinance and the metallic mining ordinances of Oneida, Rusk, Taylor and Ashland counties, and of consultation with Iron County’s corporation counsel Mike Pope and attorney Paul Kent from Madison, Wis., with final review by Will Andresen, University of Wisconsin-Extension and Jason Laumann of Northwest Regional Planning Commission.

To have zoning regulations on the books before a mining project officially begins is important for protecting Iron County taxpayers from having to pay expenses incurred because of a mining operation and to ensure adequate protection of our resources and neighbors of the mine.

Thank you, Bergman, for your thorough understanding of our needs and for taking the time to do this right. Thank you also to the zoning committee for following Bergman’s lead and for scheduling the public hearing set for July 1.

Wendy Thiede

Oma, Wis.