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hlirw«~~?ranscrint-.4i ?41999 III IIIIIIIIIIIII III P 6h
<br />to October 25th of'99 (or the NOV da« 999 .discussion? All in favor say aye.
<br />THE BOARD: Aye.
<br />MR. BARNHART: Thank you very much for your consideration. Jim.
<br />MR. STEVENS: Yeah, we'll get you a paper document.
<br />MR. BARNHART: 1'll be back next month for release on a permit to set up the alpaca pasture. I'm
<br />serious.
<br />MR. PAULIN: We'll be here, Buck.
<br />Item 18, formal public hearing, Kaess Contracting, Inc., File M-78-193. All those wishing to testify,
<br />please stand and raise your right hand.
<br />MR. HUMPHRIES: This really isn't a full hearing. We just need apre-hearing conference officer.
<br />MR. PAULIN: My paper is wrong.
<br />MR. DILLIE: I discussed this with -- this involves a 110 converting to a 112 where we've received
<br />several timely objections, and we've went through the informal conference and now we've got to go on [o the
<br />pre-hearing conference and so on. I talked to Bill Cohan, asked him if he would be available, and he said he
<br />would on the 17th of August upon Board approval, and 1'll notify him if, in fact, the Board approves of him
<br />being the pre-conference -- orpre-hearing conference officer.
<br />MR. PAULIN: Anybody have any comments or -- do we need motions on these for the minutes to --
<br />MR. LONG: No. No, we just need to know [hat the Board has appointed someone and sanctioned
<br />them.
<br />MR. PAULIN: I have two nods yes over here. Fine with me.
<br />MR. STARNER: Yeah, let's go.
<br />MR. DILLIE: It will be held in Salida.
<br />MR. PAULIN: August 17th?
<br />MR. DILLIE: August 17th, correct, assuming everything else goes well.
<br />MR. PAULIN: Item l9. This is formal public hearing.
<br />MR. HUMPHRIES: Yes.
<br />~~' MR. PAULIN: Formal public hearing item 19, Melby Ranches Property -- Ranch Properties, File
<br />M-99-073. All those wishing to testify, please raise your right hand.
<br />(Witnesses sworn.)
<br />(Pause.)
<br />MR. DILLIE: My name is Jim Dillie. I'm with the Division, and this is in regard to formal public
<br />hearing, File Number M-99-073, involving Melby Ranch Properties, Mr. Evan Melby, for consideration by the
<br />Board of a possible notice of violation, cease and desist order, corrective actions, and civil penalties for mining
<br />without a permit.
<br />If you'll notice in the packet that's handed out, the Division received a complaint From a Mr. Cordova
<br />May 25th, 1999 involving a pit located on top of Wild Horse Mesa where Mr. Cordova apparently purchased
<br />some material from Mr. Melby, ordered to construct some driveways, et cetera.
<br />This is on a large piece of properly that Mr. Melby and Melby Ranch Properties owns, which is being
<br />subdivided into mostly 35-acre vacts, and this property is -- or lies within that division or subdivision. And it's
<br />my understanding that the pit's been [here for several years, the contention is 25 years, and Mr. Melby will talk
<br />about that when it's his opportunity, and that this material was used to, of course, maintain county roads and
<br />also to construct driveways into a lot of these subdivided areas.l4owever, Mr. Cordova contends that he, in
<br />fact, purchased some material from Mr. Melby at some point n time. I believe i[ was May the 17th.
<br />The Division inspected the site June 17th, 1999~and~basically}hat my inspection reports there what I
<br />found was a very small operation or a small pit. The dimensions there would indicate that the size of the pit's~~A,y~~(~
<br />about one acre. The pi[ depth, the maximum depth is somewhere around IS fee[. Calculating-bietttekrics on it,
<br />it would appear that approximately 30,000 cubic yards have been removed. ..-
<br />Also, while I was there inspecting this, I noticed some large boulders, etcetera, that were in the piton
<br />the south pit bank, and I was told from -- by Mr. Melby that that -- those boulders are brought in from the
<br />excavated areas in the subdivision, put in the pit, and then they're covered back over.
<br />And --anyway, the information there would indicate that it may be a mining operation, so the Division
<br />issued a cease and desist on lone 17th and then submitted areason-to-believe letter to Mr. Melby, and that's --
<br />the cease -- a copy of the cease and desist follows the inspection report and then a copy of the
<br />reason-to-believe leer follows that. That's the last part of the packet.
<br />It does appear that it is a mining operation. It does appear that the site should be permitted. However,
<br />that's going to be left up to the Board to make that decision. .
<br />The recommendations by the staff -- by the way, the nature and duration of the unpermitted site is from
<br />the inspection date of June 17th, 1999 to today, July 28th, which is a total of 41 days.
<br />History of violations, [he operator has had no violations in the past 12~months, nor have there been any
<br />
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