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~ r DRAFT JWR/amr 2/10/76 Jefferson County Board of Adjustment SUBJECT: BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT CASE I1M75 COOLEY GRAVEL COMPANY Gtintlemen: Hopefully, the following answers your questions concerning the terrace edges and the.size of the reclamation bond. First, it would not be imposeiible to round the edges or to blast off the sharp corners on the edge of the benches or ter- races. However, the Board feels thaC it would be inadvisable. The benches serve an important safety measure for two reasons. The benches provide greater overall stability to the entire cut slope. They also provide a trapping mechanism for rocks which, from natural or manmade causes, may be dislodged from the cut face-or overlying slopes and would tend to fall, bound'or roll down the slopes. Rounding the edges would decrease the width of these benches. The drilling and blasting required to remove the sharp edges would be expensive as well as somewhat danger- ous in itsel~, add would decrease the stability of the slope. In our opinion, the added safety risks and the additional costs are not merited by the possible aesthetic improvement of the appearance of the cut slopes. Secondly, the $55,000 bond was based on $1,000 per acre. It was believed at the time that the bond was set that this would represent the actual costs of reclamation if the state or a third party would have to take over the operation and perform the necessary reclamation. It was believed at the time I:hat grading and large scale shaping of the surfaces would be essentially completed during eacfi stage of the operation so that the majority of reclamation costs would be related to revegetation, and that adequate reclamation could be performed on the site for $55,000. Even now, it would seem that the county's estimate of $250,000 is unreasonably high, and it would not be needed to perform adequate reclamation of the site if a third party would be required during any stage of the quarry operation to stay in and carry out reclamation.