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Follow up on Richfield Village Board meeting Nov. 19

11/20/2015

9 Comments

 
This is a follow-up to yesterdays post noting two items on the Village Board meeting Nov. 19th. Those items are the 2016 village budget and Scenic Pit appeal.

The village board voted to approve the 2016 budget which is a $0.01 reduction per $1,000 of a homeowners property value. More importantly they allocated more money for road improvements next year, up to $700,000. They also included a new bridge in the Nature park, and new plow truck. So sad that a Town of Polk resident Jeff Gonyo can speak negatively regarding the Village of Richfield's budget.
But the First Amendment on Free Speech must be respected even if it is from Jeff Gonyo.  It is time for him to focus on the Town of Polk 2016 budget. He said he was concerned about attorney fees, which is a joke, as he is the one person who causes the most demand on attorney fees/actions by requesting excessive open record requests, has sued the village and lost 3 times, and now is the instigator for Danah Zoulek and the Scenic Pit.

Nine people talked and only 2 spoke in favor of Scenic Pit.  Will Hessenauer commended the village board members for running a good village and said the 2016 budget is a prudent budget.

Marie Graziano spoke and noted the LLC has only one thing in mind and that is to do whatever they want with no regard for village residents. It is all money driven.

Marie questioned why Jeff is supporting the Scenic Pit when he is against projects that increase traffic. Which is just what this project will do. She restated that Jeff had concerns about groundwater contamination at two other sites but now it is not his concern. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Lois Hessenauer attended the meeting and afterward noted privately that Marie's comments were right on point.  Lois was impressed with the facts stated by Marie. She also said Marie got the greatest applause after speaking.


The Scenic Pit appeal has not been scheduled as of this date.
9 Comments
Matthew Stevens
11/20/2015 03:56:52 pm

I was at the meeting and several around me supported the scenic pit project even though they did not speak. But it's all in litigation so honestly there's no point in speaking about it publicly to the board right now since it has to move through the legal process. I've read the state statutes and based on what the law says, whether I agree with it or not, I think it's likely Scenic Pit is going to win their appeal. The wisconsin state statute 289.33 (3)(d) and 289.43 (8) clearly indicates that clean fill landfills are exempt from local zoning ordinances or regulations. It appears the judge in the circuit court ignored this statute and incorrectly applied a supreme court ruling involving a pheasant property which is NOT exempt under 289.43 (8).

Reply
Shelly
11/21/2015 05:18:11 pm

The state statutes that regulate landfills would then govern. However, the Scenic Pit LLC wants to circumvent the the rules and regulations governing landfills. For example, landfills have to meet certain standards, testing, design, impact studies, and before they get approved there has to be public hearings. They have not applied for a landfill permit at all. They have a soil and erosion control permit - not a landfill permit. Therefore, the exemptions from local control and ordinances may not actually apply.

Reply
Marie
11/22/2015 07:24:08 am

You live in Richfield? You want the trucks, noise and well going bad.?
The pits clean fill also includes asphalt .

Reply
Concern resident
11/22/2015 07:36:56 am

Sounds like Jeff Gonyo has been talking to you. You have not been at the last many many meetings. You happened to sit near danah and Jeff so yes , those around you are pro pit.

Reply
Matthew Stevens
12/5/2015 03:48:41 pm

Marie I live on hwy 164. I know all about trucks and noise. But I'm not going to tell a business it can't perform it's operations because I don't like the noise. That would be hypocritical of me. I like small government and the less we have government telling us what we can or can't do the better.

As for concern resident, there were a few others whom I also heard agreed with some of what Jeff and Danah said. But it's hard to hear them when there are people being rude and childish while others try to talk. Whether we agree with someone or not, we need to be respectful to those who are having their turn to speak. Even someone who spoke against the pit at one point yelled at others to be quiet and let Danah speak.

marie
11/20/2015 05:41:46 pm

yep. this circus will go on for months. the appeal can take months. so each month they will do their show and tell to deaf ears

Reply
Jane T
11/21/2015 07:53:44 pm

I saw no one in favor of the pit besides the same 2 players.

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Danah
12/3/2015 09:57:01 pm

Marie,

We don't need a "landfill" permit because clean fill is exempt from licensing. It's under 289.43(8)a which are exemptions from the siting board process and licensing. NR 500.08(2)(a) is regulated by Chapter 289 and lists the materials that are safe for the community and the environment. It is in the courts now so we do have to wait, but we are confident that we will win.

In DeRosso vs City of Oak Creek the WI Supreme Court said that :

"By exempting clean fill facility operators from a negotiation and arbitration procedure that would ordinarily have allowed municipalities to participate in the siting process, the DNR has determined that the comparatively insignificant health risks those facilities pose render unnecessary the negotiation and arbitration procedure, which can be time-consuming and costly."

"Moreover, the DNR order approving the plaintiffs' establishment of a clean fill facility itself contains numerous provisions regarding how that facility is to be constructed and operated. The order requires the construction of lip berms and a drainage system designed to restrict overflowing water. It specifies that materials only be placed in the landfill following inspection. It requires the plaintiffs to keep a log recording every deposit into the landfill and to make that log available to DNR personnel upon demand. It requires that a contact person be on call 24 hours a day so that the DNR might make unannounced inspections."

All of which we are subject to.

This is a clean fill facility to grade a property that is without vegetation.
There are actually a lot of supporters of the restoration of the Scenic Pit. The DeRosso pit was a borrow site and the Scenic Pit was a borrow site. Neither plaintiff nor defendant is disputing the facts of the case, it's a matter of interpreting the law and Judge Gonring simply kicked the case to the next court.

Also, residents of our community are certainly capable of conducting their own research and developing their own opinion. Not everyone gets caught up in the psychological phenomenon of what we call "group think". Group Think is a scary thing and can be very powerful.

Reply
shelly
12/7/2015 05:58:30 pm

Great point Danah - lets put the landfill on a referendum. We'll let the residents decide instead of the government & the courts. We would all save a lot of money, time, and every person could have their voice heard through their vote. Really, I'm serious.... lets get it on a binding referendum.

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