2019-09-04_REVISION - M1979058 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ROUTT COUNTY ROAD AND BRIDGE PO Box 773598 Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 970-870-5552 August 28, 2019 Peter Hays Environmental Protection Specialist Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety 1313 Sherman Street#215 Denver,CO 80203 RE: M1979-058 Funk Hooker Pit Technical Revision Dear Peter, This letter is to serve as a narrative to accompany the submitted materials for a technical revision to the above mentioned gravel pit. In 2012, Routt County Road and Bridge entered into a lease agreement with CWH Properties, LLC after they purchased the property from David Funk to be able to continue mining sand and gravel out of the Funk and Hooker gravel pit. In 2014,Connell Resources proposed an expansion of their gravel pit adjacent to the Funk and Hooker Pit to Routt County. At that time, planning referrals went out to the Routt County Planning Department's referral agents that included the Colorado State Land Board (SLB). The SLB informed Connell Resources and Routt County Road and Bridge that they owned the mineral rights under the Connell Pit expansion area as well as the area under parts of the Funk and Hooker Pit. Connell Resources took the SLB to court to get a ruling on the owner of the sand and gravel. The courts ruled that the SLB does indeed own the sand and gravel in their mineral rights. The court then directed the SLB,Connell Resources,and Routt County to come to an agreement on the property. In 2015, Routt County entered into a lease agreement with the SLB(attached). The County also entered into the process to redoing our lease agreement with CWH Properties, LLC. In the time of negotiating the agreement with CWH Properties, LLC, it was discovered that an adjustment to the mining boundary of the Funk Hooker Pit needed to be made. This boundary adjustment is shown in the attached exhibits. The county is requesting that the boundary be adjusted from the existing 47.6 acres down to 36 acres. Routt County is also requesting to revise the mining plans for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of our permit,as well as our reclamation plan(attached). In the revised plans, new grading for the site is shown and will all be contained within the original 47.6 acre boundary and within the new 36 acre boundary. There will be enough topsoil and overburden available onsite to restore the site in the reclamation process. Routt County is not requesting to change any of the terms from the original DRMS permit. Phase 2 now proposes to mine further south to the southern mining boundary. The southeast corner of this phase will act as the storage area for overburden as well as the topsoil storage area. Phase 3 will now mine to the east instead of the berm to the north. This change was made at the request of the property owner and to satisfy the Routt County Planning Department requirement to maintain a berm to shield the mining operation from the traveling public on US Highway 40. This original phase 3 area was reclaimed in 2008 and has established vegetation.