Elmer's withdrawal

On 9/5/2017 Eric Ritchie and Steve Crane rescind the current special use permit request for resource mining at 4281 Pickerel Lake Road.

Looks like Steve Crane and Eric Ritchie are back!

Steve Crane and Eric Ritchie were back at the property on 9/14/2017 and were accompanied by King & MacGregor Environmental, Inc., representative Matt Stone-Palmquist out of Canton, MI. Steve Crane had indicated recently he was too busy to deal with this property. That was just last week.

The website reveals the following: "Our extensive knowledge of the regulatory process and our effective communication style results in a high success rate of permit issuance."

Steve Crane, Eric Ritchie and Matt Stone-Palmquist were all contacted for comment but no response has been received at this time.

The website can be accessed here: http://www.king-macgregor.com/

Matt's contact info:
Email: mmacgregor@king-macgregor.com
Cell: (734) 645-0830

Gravel Truck claims the life of Scottville resident in Mason County

MASON COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) — The Mason County Sheriff's Office has identified a 60-year-old man who was killed in a Mason County crash.

Deputies have identified him as Russell Spore from Scottville.

The crash happened 9/1/2017 around 12:50 p.m. on US-10 at Stiles Road.

According to the Mason County Sheriff's Office, a pickup truck, driven by Spore, rear ended a semi-truck which was stopped for a red light. Preliminary findings indicate the pickup truck never braked prior to the impact, killing Spore.

In light of the recent crashes on US-10, the sheriff's office had two patrol units in the area. The first deputy was able to arrive on scene within three minutes.

The semi-truck driver was not injured.

The sounds of raindrops

Elmer's Crane and Dozer, out of Traverse City states the following in their presentation:

We measured the noise volumes of our portable gravel plant and construction equipment operating on August 1, 2017 at a customer's gravel pit at multiple distance intervals. The gravel pit is flat and has no screening.

• 100 feet: 77 to 78 decibels. This is comparable to an enclosed cab tractor.
• 500 feet (MSHA minimum distance from residences): 59-64 decibels. This is comparable to normal conversation.
• 1000 feet (expected actual distance from residences): 45 to 64 decibels. This is comparable to raindrops and normal conversation.

Question

The following audio was taken from over 2000 feet away from the Manthei gravel pit. The audio was not increased or changed in any way and taken with an iPhone on 8/28/2017 at 10:12 AM. Does this sound like rain drops? Keep in mind this is over 1000 feet greater than what Elmer's out of Traverse City is calling comparable to raindrops.

Emmet County Planning and Zoning Packet released

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

The Emmet County Planning and Zoning has released the packet to the planning commission.

9/7/2017 Packet

Response To Brian Gutowski letter

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

Brian Gutowski's memo said the following ref: Gutowski letter

1. The proposed driveway location(s) on Pickerel Lake Road do meet minimum site distance requirements for a commercial entrance.
2. The Board will not take formal action in support or opposition of the gravel pit. However, the Board does acknowledge there is a need for some sources of gravel as we are having a difficult time getting gravel bits on some projects.
3. If the gravel pit is approved and the entrance is on Pickerel Lake Road, the recommended route is Pickerel Lake Road east to Bellmer Road, then north to Graham Road, then west to US 31. If a project is south of the gravel pit, the recommended route is Fletcher Road to Mitchell Road. We do not support using Kolinske Road, Country Club Road or Alcan Road.
4. The Road Commission recommends Emmet County Zoning look at the driveway access to Fochtman Industrial Park as an alternative to Pickerel Lake Road. If a wetland is to be impacted; the Road Commission has banked wetland acreage at our gravel pit on Bellmer Road and is willing to offer some of the banked wetland as an offset.

Response

The Emmet County Road Commission's recommendation appears to align in part with the route map presented by Elmer's, however significant questions remain about whether non-class-A roads in Bear Creek Township should bear the burden of commercial truck traffic. See the Questions page for the analysis.

ECRC Meeting Update

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

Reminder: The Emmet County Road Commission will meet this Thursday 8/24/2017 at 8:00 AM. The meeting is at 2265 E. Hathaway Rd in Harbor Springs.

The Emmet County Road Commission draft minutes are now posted.

DRAFT ECRC Minutes for 10 August 2017

In addition, the motion to clarify the misunderstanding has been released as well.

Gutowski Letter to Emmet County Planning and Zoning

We are currently reviewing the documents and the information coming in from local residents to provide a better analysis.

When we review point 2 of the motion we heard the following at the meeting:

• Clarify there is a misunderstanding of the email, that the Emmet County road commission in no way endorses the proposal of Elmer's other than stating that there is a lack of proper grade of gravel in our area. And so, there is no official endorsement to that.

Does this letter mention there is a "misunderstanding" of the email? Does the motion say that the board will not take formal action in support or opposition of the gravel pit?

ECRC Unofficial Motions

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

Motion moved by Zulski that Brian Gutowski sends a letter to Tammy Doernenburg at Emmet County Planning and Zoning, Bear Creek Township and Elmer's Crane and Dozer, Inc. clarifying the following:

• Site distance requirements of the ECRC for a commercial driveway permit would be met if Elmer's applies for one.
• There has been a misunderstanding regarding the email sent to Steve Crane of Elmer's. ECRC has not officially endorsed approval for Elmer's Pit but does acknowledge there is a need for gravel.
• If permit is given, the exit from Elmer's Pit on Pickerel Lake Road is to use Bellmer Road to Graham Road.
• ECRC would work with others in regards to wetland mitigation in an attempt to find an alternative route through Fochtman Industrial Park drive.

A FOIA request has been submitted for the complete audio.

Response to Brian Gutowski

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

At the Emmet County Road Commission Board Meeting neighbor Karla Buckmaster responded to the email that Brian Gutowski sent to Steve Crane of Team Elmer's.

• Email correspondence from Brian Gutowski at Emmet County Road Commission
• ECRC/public comment response to the Brian Gutowski email by Karla Buckmaster

Can townships adopt a truck route ordinance

Update from Petoskey Gravel Pit and Team Elmer's and or Elmer's Crane and Dozer proposed gravel pit.

The author is not an attorney, and this is not a legal opinion.

Michigan Section 257.726.

It is important when considering section 257.726 that we look at the State of Michigan Court of Appeals Oshtemo Charter Township vs Kalamazoo County Road Commission. ref: Oshtemo vs Kalamazoo.

Key items:

• State of Michigan court of appeals said a township can adopt a truck route ordinance
• An adjoining township or city can object
• The County Road Commission can resolve objections
• The county road commission can't void a "reasonable" truck route ordinance

In this case, the county road commission never made a determination that the Oshtemo truck route ordinance was unreasonable; and in the absence of that determination, the county road commission did not have the authority to void the Oshtemo truck route ordinance.

In this appeal it was determined that the county road commission did not have the authority to void the Oshtemo truck route ordinance.

Emmet County Road Commission

The Emmet County Road Commission met and some of us were in attendance. We are awaiting the minutes of this meeting and will post them as soon as they become available.

Planners seek more details on proposed gravel pit

Planners seek more details on proposed gravel pit.

Click below to read more:

Petoskey News Review Coverage

Emmet County Meeting

The Emmet County Planning Commission Meeting was this last Thursday and the Emmet County building was packed with the public. The majority of the public spoke up against this special use permit all citing serious consequences from the proposed Elmer's project. The board agreed to postpone the vote pending legal counsel advice. We are still waiting for the minutes to be posted to the board website:

Emmet County Planning Commission

Bear Creek Township Meeting

The Bear Creek Township Planning Commission voted 6-0 to deny a special use permit for extracting sand and gravel off a property on Pickerel Lake Road.