Letter to the Editor

By Greg Ambrosius

The Waupaca County Board of Adjustment (BOA) meeting on the Iola Car Show sand mine permit ended on Monday, Oct. 21, after 10-1/2 hours of testimony. No decision was made by the five board members as that will be made on Friday, Oct. 25, at 9 a.m.

Friday’s meeting will again be held at the Waupaca County Courthouse in Room LL42. The five board members will announce their decisions and give reasoning for their decisions.

At Monday’s hearing, Faulks Bros. and their witnesses spoke from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. After a lunch break, the Waupaca County staffers’ report was read for the next hour.

Interestingly, Waupaca County Attorney Diane Meulemans and Zoning Director Ryan Brown were on their witness list, but neither testified.

The plaintiff’s side then gave testimony from 2-5:20 p.m., including personal testimonies from all six appellates. Also giving testimony was an expert property assessor, who determined that property values could go down around 25 percent for homes abutting the mine and anywhere from 3-23 percent from one mile away to within 500 feet of the mine. The appellates three homes were estimated to lose $224,000 in value if the mine were approved.

Then, letters from the public were read for the next 90-plus minutes. There were 37 letters against the mine and seven for the mine. Letters sent by Oct. 7 were already in the BOA’s packet, and they included 40 against the mine and 12 for the mine, for a total of 77 letters against the mine and 19 for the mine.

Faulks Bros.’ lawyer along with Jon Faulks gave the final rebuttals and the meeting ended around 7:40 p.m.

Now the decision is in the hands of the five BOA members and they will announce that decision on Friday at 9 a.m.