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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ah yes, Naylor Farms...in all their public hearing
testimonies and media utterances, the representatives of Naylor Farms assured us
that they were just a local farm family with the best interests of Latah County
in mind, that they wanted to be good neighbors, they certainly were not
money-grubbing corporate greed-mongers -- and now they want us to pay them
$3 million.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BL</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=msolomon@moscow.com href="mailto:msolomon@moscow.com">Mark
Solomon</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, March 28, 2007 6:12
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] mining the
taxpayer</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><TT><FONT color=#000000>Mar 27, 9:46 PM EDT<BR><BR>ID businessman sues
county over permit handling<BR><BR>By REBECCA BOONE</FONT></TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT><FONT color=#000000>Associated Press Writer</FONT></TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT><FONT color=#000000><BR>BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A businessman is suing
Latah County in federal court, claiming that county commissioners violated his
constitutional rights by their handling of his request for a permit to mine
sand and gravel.<BR><BR>Ralph Naylor, the owner of Ralph Naylor Farms, filed
the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court, claiming that Latah County
officials violated his Fifth and 14th Amendment rights by vindictively passing
an ordinance that prevented Naylor Farms from creating the mining
operation.<BR><BR>Latah County officials did not immediately return phone
calls Tuesday from The Associated Press.<BR><BR>The case began in 2002 when
Naylor Farms applied for a groundwater permit with the Idaho Department of
Water Resources, hoping to irrigate the 634-acre property for part of the year
and to use some water for industrial purposes. Opponents of the plan feared
Naylor Farms would damage the aquifer relied on by the region's
farmers.<BR><BR>The state initially approved the water request, but rescinded
it in 2005 after Latah County commissioners asked the state to reconsider,
according to the lawsuit. On March 2 of that year, Naylor Farms applied to the
Idaho Department of Lands to mine sand and gravel for commercial sale, along
with some clay for testing purposes. The same day, Latah County commissioners
enacted an emergency ordinance establishing a groundwater management zone that
included the Naylor Farms land. The ordinance prohibited natural resource
mineral extraction and processing, confined animal feedlot operations and golf
courses.<BR><BR>Even though the state Lands Department granted Naylor's mining
permit, the Latah County Planning and Zoning Department rejected Naylor's
request for a conditional use permit allowing natural mineral resource
development, citing the emergency ordinance.<BR><BR>Second District Judge Carl
Kerrick subsequently ruled that the emergency ordinance violated state law. In
2006, Naylor Farms was granted the conditional use permit - subject to several
conditions including some designed to mitigate dust and noise - but Naylor
appealed the conditions to the county commissioners, who upheld the planning
and zoning department's decision to impose restrictions.<BR><BR>Naylor claims
that county officials were angry over his appeals, and so decided to
vindictively deny him all economically viable use of his land. That, Naylor
claims, "was a spiteful effort to retaliate against Naylor Farms for reasons
wholly unrelated to any legitimate governmental objective."<BR><BR>Naylor is
asking the court to give him a jury trial and to order Latah County to pay
Naylor Farms $3.17 million - what Naylor says is the fair market value of the
land, plus taxes and assessments.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
color=#000000></FONT></TT></DIV>
<DIV><TT><FONT color=#000000>Besides Latah County, the lawsuit names
Commissioners John "Jack" Nelson, Paul Kimmell and Tom Stroschein, as well as
Clerk/Auditor Susan Peterson and Director of Planning and Building Michelle
Fuson.</FONT></TT></DIV>
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