FAIRMONT– All chairs inside the county commissioner room at the Martin County Courthouse were full on Tuesday with residents present for a public hearing regarding a conditional use permit (CUP) request from W. Lorentz & Sons Construction, Inc. (Beverly Schleininger, property owner) within section 25 of Fairmont Township. The hearing lasted well over two hours with lawyers on both sides presenting findings as well as a number of residents speaking out against the project.

W. Lorentz & Sons was proposing to mine gravel and sand in an SL-1 Shoreland Special Protection District and in an A Agriculture District.

On Tuesday Planning and Zoning Director, Pam Flitter, said that Lorentz & Sons had applied for a CUP on Nov. 29, 2021 and on Dec. 28, 2021, the Martin County Planning Commission held a public hearing on the matter. The Planning Commission gave a number of conditions, recommended to be imposed by the commissioners.

At the Feb. 1, 2022 County Commissioner meeting, the commissioners first considered a CUP request from Lorentz & Sons. At that meeting, Flitter said conditions set by the Planning Committee were approved by the applicant and that the Planning Committee had recommended approval of the CUP.

At that meeting many residents were also in attendance and presented a petition for the county to do an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW). Following that hearing, the board voted 3-2 to proceed with an EAW and at the Aug. 15, 2022 meeting the findings of the EAW were presented by Julie Blackburn, Environmental Practice Group Leader with ISG and Scott Anderson, an attorney with Rupp, Anderson, Squires, Waldspurger & Mace PA, who had been hired by the county to give advice and counsel.

The EAW found that the project was not anticipated to cause any adverse environmental impacts not addressed by the EAW.

On Oct. 4, 2022 the board postponed making a decision on whether an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was needed but several months later, at the Dec. 8 meeting, after hearing more from Blackburn and Anderson, the board voted not to proceed with an (EIS) but said it would like to hold a second public hearing to allow residents to speak up again.

Following Flitter’s presentation on Tuesday, Anderson presented his findings. Anderson said he had met with the county’s zoning staff and went though all written comments from the public and state and local agencies related to the EAW.

“I went through all of those and then we had the conditions proposed by the Planning Commission at the meeting of Dec. 28, 2021… the Planning Commission had 11 (conditions) stated in a certain way and I tried to make them more detailed,” Anderson said.

He said if they’re not specific and there’s room for debate, there’s a problem. On Tuesday he read through the newly worded conditions for Lorentz & Sons that he drafted.

There was discussion about which route trucks can or cannot take when hauling gravel and other materials. Commissioner Elliot Belgard pointed out that Rose Lake Golf Course is near there so one of the conditions needed to specify that trucks cannot go on that road.

There was also talk on which roads were county roads and which were township roads. County Engineer Kevin Peyman recommended to include language that says hauling material in or out needs approval of the proper road authority.

Following Anderson’s presentation, Matthew Berger, an attorney representing Lorentz & Sons, briefly spoke. He cited the multiple public hearings that have been held, as well as the detailed EAW which was completed and found that the project did not have a potential for significant environmental effects.

“Many of the issues raised have been addressed and found not to be a concern and a lot of that is confirmed by the existing pit that is right next door,” Berger said.

He said that Lorentz & Sons doesn’t believe all of the conditions proposed are necessary, but that it agreed to operate under them.

Commissioner Kathy Smith said she didn’t think it was fair to compare the two gravel pits as the other one in the area is the county’s gravel pit and Peyman said they probably haul in and out of it two weeks out of the year, while the CUP for Lorentz & Sons authorizes use of the gravel pit for 52 weeks a year.

Berger pointed out that while the CUP allows use for 52 weeks, Lorentz & Sons would not intend to operate 52 weeks a year.

The frequency of crushing was also talked about. Peyman said the county has crushed twice in about 20 years, or once every six or seven years. Nick Lorentz with Lorentz & Sons was asked how often they would crush

“If it was determined it was needed… crushing would probably occur at a minimum, once a year or it may not occur at all,” Lorentz said.

After an hour of discussion, the public comment portion of the meeting opened and residents present were given the opportunity to speak for up to thee minutes each.

One resident who said they lived across the street from the proposed site, said that the project would impact 90 residents and 30 homes. They said they did not believe that the EAW done by ISG addressed everything that it should have.

Several other residents spoke about the impact that the project would have on their way of life. One resident cited excess dust which would make it hard to be outside, another spoke about the loud noise that the trucks would make when passing by and others cited airborne health hazards.

Another issue addressed was property values. Several residents shared that the values of their homes were at or over half a million dollars and some residents spoke about how having the gravel pit in the neighborhood would decrease their property values.

After a dozen people had spoken, the board closed the public comment portion of the meeting and considered how it wanted to proceed.

Commissioner Elliot Belgard, who sat on the Truman City Council for 18 years and on the Board of Commissioners for the past 11 years, said he believed this would be the hardest decision he would need to make.

“I appreciate the emotion of everyone in this room,” Belgard said.

Smith shared that she grew up on a farm and said she understands what some residents were saying about valuing the peace and quiet that living in the county provides. She thanked the residents present for showing up and speaking out about the matter.

Commissioner Jaime Bleess asked how many people present routinely walk on the road that the trucks would need to haul material in and out of and nearly every hand in the room went up.

Bleess said as a new commissioner, he wants to follow the ordinances to the best that he can based on how they’re worded. He said that sometimes ordinances use broader words than state statutes.

“If our job is to vote on and decide something that’s subjective for people… I think it’s my job as a commissioner, when there’s a subjective word that doesn’t affect me directly… I feel inclined to listen to the people here because they’re the one’s the subjectivity is affecting,” Bleess said.

Commissioner Richard Koons agreed with Belgard and said he too has spent a number of years in public service and said this was the “ugliest” situation he’s been in and that he could see both sides of the matter.

The board toyed with the idea of tabling a decision, but it would need to deny or approve the request within so many days and was already close to the limit.

Commissioner Steve Florhs asked Anderson if he could defend them either way. Anderson said he would defend any decision the board made, but didn’t want to sway the board either way.

Two and a half hours after discussions began, Smith made a motion to deny the CUP and to direct staff and counsel to prepare findings consistent with the denial. Bleess seconded the motion. In a roll call vote, the motion unanimously passed.

In other action on Tuesday, the board approved and authorized the signing of a request letter for 2023 congressionally directed spending for the proposed Martin County Regional Public Safety and Justice Center. The county is requesting $2 million.

In other news, the board:

— Made the following appointments to the Martin County water plan advisory committee: Kevin Anderson, Justin Sommer, Nick Pease and Bryan Gregor.

— Approved recruitment to fill a part-time account technician- vital records in the Martin County Recorder’s Office.

— Approved recruitment of a part-time temporary summer intern at the Martin County library.

— Approved a tax abatement request for Jonah Mayo for new construction in Jay Township.

— Approved a tax abatement request for Larry and Deb Phillip for new construction in Fox Lake Township.

— Approved and authorized the signing of the letter of support for the MN DEED Border to Border grant- Northrop project. If funded, the project would bring fiber internet service to approximately 100 homes and businesses in the city.