Laserfiche WebLink
r~ <br />L <br />Jefferson County Board of Adjustment <br /> <br />DRAFT-- <br />JWRjjP <br />February 11, 1976 <br />SUBJECT: BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT CASE IIM75 COOLEY GRAVEL COMPANY <br />Gentlemen: <br />The State Geologist and Deputy Commissioner of Mines, both of whom are Board <br />~ members, have evaluated your letter and re-examined our files on the operation. <br />It was discussed at some length in our meeting yesterday. <br />Hopefully, the following answers your questions concerning the terrace edges <br />and the size of the reclamation bond. First, it would stts~ be~jpossible to round <br />the edges or to blast off the sharp corners on the edge of the benches or terraces. <br />However, the Board feels that it would be inadvisable. The benches serve an <br />important safety measure in two ways. The benches provide greater overall <br />stability to the entire cut slope. They also provide a trapping mechanism for <br />rocks which, from natural or man-made causes, may be dislodged from the cut face or <br />overlying slopes and would tend to fall, bound or roll down the slopes. Rounding <br />the edges would decrease the width of these benches. The drilling and blasting <br />required to remove the sharp edges would be expensive as well as somewhat dangerous <br />in itself, and would decrease the stability of the slope. The Colorado Division <br />of Mines feels very strongly that the additional blasting necessary to round <br />the corners would loosen additional rock and would provide a serious continuing <br />hazard to the workers below. In our opinion, the added safety risks and the <br />additional costs are not merited by the possible aesthetic improvement of the <br />appearance of the cut slopes. <br />Secondly, the $55,000 bond was based on $1,000 per acre. It was believed <br />at the time that the bond was set that the bond would represent the actual costs <br />of reclamation if the state or a third party would have to take over tlae operation <br />and perform the necessary reclamation. It was believed that grading and large <br />scale shaping of the surfaces would be essentially completed during each stage <br />of the operation. The majority of the reclamation costs would therefore be <br />related to revegetation, and adequate reclamation could be performed on the site <br />for $55,000. Even now, it would seem that the county's estimate of $2`i0,000 <br />is unreasonably high, and it would not be needed to perform adequate reclamation <br />of the site if a third party would be required during any stage of the quarry <br />operation to step in and complete the reclamation. <br />