After a two-hour discussion Tuesday, the Sherburne County Board approved the scoping decision document for a proposed gravel mining project in Haven Twp.
The proposed project has met with opposition from area residents as well as members of the Haven Twp. Board.
The applicant, Holcim-MWR, Inc., is proposing to open a sand an gravel mining operation on 683 acres. The mining operations will include removal of topsoil and overburden, extraction, processing (crushing, washing, screening) recycling asphalt and concrete, stockpiling, loading, hauling, and site reclamation
Members of the public brought their concerns to a hearing before the county’s planning commission. The concerns included potential groundwater contamination, air pollution, traffic, noise impacts, the effect on adjacent property values, as well as a questionable track record of the applicant.
Tuesday’s vote was not a decision to either approve or deny the project. It wa a confirmation of all the issues that needed to be addressed in the required Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) even before the actual project came before the board.
During its meeting, the planning commission went through a list of 14 different topics to evaluate how each issue would be treated. They used a four-level rating system (from A to D) to determine whether an issue had already been adequately addressed (A), or whether information beyond what was in the scoping environmental worksheet was necessary (D).
Seven topics rated a D, including Water Resources; Fish, Wildlife, Plant Communities and Ecology; Historic Properties; Visual; Air Quality; Noise and Transportation.
The commissioners discussed each topic thoroughly Tuesday and added to that list because they felt the need for more research. They also asked for an executive summary on health impacts at the end of the document.
Sherburne County Planning and Zoning Administrator Lynn Waytashek said the purpose of the scoping process is to determine what will actually be studied in the draft EIS. She said they were still at an early stage in the process.
“We haven’t received an application for an IUP (Interim Use Permit) or any other permits,” she said. “We are only in the environmental review process.”
She said the EIS document will likely not be ready until August. Then it will be reviewed at stakeholder meetings, then published in November for further public comment. At that point it can be modified to include other recommendations before it goes back before the commissioners.
Housing Trust Fund
After a public hearing without public comment, the board approved an ordinance establishing a Housing Trust Fund in Sherburne County.
The Fund will be a permanent source of funding and a continually renewable source of revenue to meet the housing needs of moderate, low, and very low-income households of the county.
The Fund will provide loans and grants to property owners, homeowners, local units of government, for-profit housing developers, and non-profit housing developers for the acquisition, capital, and soft costs necessary for the creation of for the development, rehabilitation, or financing of housing. Projects funded by the Trust Fund will be dispersed throughout the county.
The County Board will also develop criteria for the approval of loans and grants, as well as an appeals process.
The county has received allocations of Statewide Affordable Housing Aid in the following amounts: 2023 - $157,429; 2024 - $157,429 and $68,203 scheduled for 2025. An additional $150,000 was set aside by the county board in 2024 to provide seed money for the anticipated creation of the ordinance.
