Public hearing held on mining ordinance

OMA - Even though Gogebic Taconite's development of the mine site near Upson Wis., has been put on hold, the Iron County Comprehensive Planning and Zoning Commission continued to move forward with its mining ordinance by holding a public hearing on Wednesday.

Held in the Oma Town Hall to accommodate the large crowd that was expected to show up, the hearing is likely the final major step prior to passage of the ordinance.

Once passed, the ordinance would establish the requirements that a company would have to meet developing an industry in the county that falls under the ordinance's jurisdiction, such as mining.

"Basically if a company wants to come in and mine, they go through this application process and have a bunch of criteria (they have to meet), now those criteria are not necessarily set in stone. They are more there for the legislative body, which is the county board, to make sure those things are being looked at in the development process," said Zoning Administrator Thomas Bergman.

As the ordinance is a legislative act, it offers more protection for the county than an administrative act since a public body created the ordinance, Bergman explained.

Several members of the audience addressed the commission, expressing a range of views on the ordinance - ranging from it was driving businesses away to the citizens of the county needed protection, to asking why it was necessary following G-Tac's announcement.

Tom Sendra, of Mercer, began the public hearing by questioning why the ordinance was needed in light of a state bill known as S.B. 1 that regulates mining. Sendra also questioned what the expertise of those writing the ordinance were.

"I don't think this ordinance offers any more protection than S.B. 1," said Sendra. "... I've heard often enough that S.B. 1 does not protect the community, or Iron County, which is absolutely false."

Aileen Potter, of Mercer, followed Sendra's comments by encouraging the commission to consider several things in the ordinance including requiring that the head of the county's mining impact committee to be a public official and not waiving fees for companies interested in mining in Iron County.

"Any company or corporation that is coming here for any kind of economic pursuits surely has money or the access to money," Potter said.

The commission also heard from Michael Faurerbach, an attorney representing the town of Anderson. Fauerbach said the Anderson had expressed a number of concerns regarding earlier versions of the ordinance and that it looked like most of those concerns had been addressed.

The concerns that weren't incorporated into the most-current draft were some of the least consequential, Faurerbach said.

Faurerbach was especially concerned about protecting the town from any liability in cases where runoff from the mine ruined wells in the area.

"The town of Anderson could get stuck with paying to ... give water to somebody because their well has gone bad when the town of Anderson doesn't have a water supply, they've never provided water to anybody. That's scares people in the town of Anderson," said Faurerbach.

Additional comments are still being accepted on the ordinance, Bergman said, as changes were still being suggested by supervisors.

Unless the changes are drastic, there likely won't be a second public hearing, Bergman told the Daily Globe.

Supervisor Vic Ouimette urged residents to be specific if they submitted comments, giving the commission something concrete to fix, rather than just a general opinion of the ordinance.

"If we are going to constructively make changes ... we need to have your specific recommendations," Ouimette said.

He also expressed that he would like to see action finally taken on the ordinance sooner rather than later, saying that no ordinance was perfect and action was due.

Following the hearing, the commission held its monthly meeting. Among the actions during the meeting:

- Bergman discussed the possibility of requiring inspections for the construction of detached garages in the county. The change would be considered as the Uniformed Dwelling Code requires a firewall on any garage within 5 feet of a dwelling. Since the county doesn't inspect the garages at this point - unless there is a bathroom in the garage - they cant ensure the requirement is being followed. Bergman only brought the issue up for discussion and no action was taken.

- The commission also authorized Bergman to purchase plat books for next year from Rockford Maps, the company that supplied last year's books. While Bergman wasn't sure of the exact price at the meeting, he told the commission it would be approximately the same amount as last year.

- The commission set the next meeting for May 19 at the Iron County Courthouse.