For months citizens were fed the lie that the Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Committee would not go against the town of Union’s wishes in regards to the sand mine.
When we petitioned our town board for a non-metallic mining licensing ordinance, our board said that they wanted to wait to see how the county handled the permit application before going forward with an ordinance.
The County Planning and Zoning Committee went against Union’s wishes and voted the sand mine in.
If that wasn’t bad enough, they then took the conditions that Union wrote and made some of them more favorable for the mining company.
Union spent taxpayers’ money to hold multiple special meetings to establish those conditions.
Hours were spent debating the merits of each one and it was all for nothing.
Union wanted no nighttime hauling but the county changed the condition to allow around-the-clock trucking.
Union wanted the target noise level from the mine site to be 65 decibels but the County changed it to 75 decibels.
Our elected officials are supposed to protect their citizens.
How are these weakened conditions benefiting us? They aren’t. This process is another fine example of how those with the most money win.
The door has been opened for sand mining in Waupaca County.
Your town’s only hope in regulating sand mines is to establish a non-metallic mining ordinance.
Comprehensive Plans mean nothing.
Use Union as an example. What you want and what the county wants may be two different things.