[Vision2020] County Board Made Right Call

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (September 30, 2006) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with a special
thanks to Steve McClure -

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OUR VIEW: County board made the right call 

By Steve McCLure, for the editorial board 
Saturday, September, 30th, 2006

Latah County commissioners made the only logical decision in relation to
Naylor Farms' application to mine clay just north of Moscow. 

After two days of hearing and months of back and forth, there were just too
many questions about what the overall plan was and what effect the Naylor
operation would have on the area. What was included in the application
didn't match up with what representatives of Naylor said they planned to do.
For instance, the application indicated the mining operation was going to
cover the 382 acres, but the company told commissioners it was only going to
be 28 to 125 acres. 

When you're only 1.5 miles outside the city of Moscow, with neighbors in an
uproar over the entire project, those specifics go beyond the scope of a
minor detail. 

As does the fact the proposed mine would sit over the area's aquifers and
pull an estimated 20 million gallons of water a year from the area's
drinking supply. 

Naylor Farms owns more than 600 acres north of Moscow and planned to take
382 out of production. The company said it would mine sand, gravel and clay
in 40-acre sections. Afterward, it planned to turn the land back into
farmland and wildlife habitat. 

But opponents of the plan brought up health concerns about the dust, as well
as potential problems with noise and traffic for those who live near the
site. 

You would hope after two days of hearings, plus previous appearances before
the county's zoning commission, any dangling questions would have been
resolved. Naylor Farms' plans to mine clay are not new, and there's been
plenty of time to iron out the details of their proposal. 

Commissioner Paul Kimmell, in voting against the Naylor Farms' conditional
use permit, said "I'm just confused with their ultimate vision. They were
not forthcoming and not firm in what they wanted." 

The concerns of commissioners and neighbors that were raised during this
process, plus the lack of detail in Naylor's proposal, made the
commissioners' decision obvious. 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Vandalville, Idaho

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"If the law is to be respected it must first be respectable.  There will
never be respect for our laws without enforcement, equal enforcement."

- dick Sherwin (May 3, 2006)

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