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1.4 SCOPING <br />The goals of the public involvement process for this project were to inform the public, identify <br />public concerns and values and develop a consensus. The Rio Blanco County Planning and <br />Development department (P &D department) held a public meeting for Phase 1 of this project on <br />August 28, 2008 and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a meeting to solicit <br />comments on the proposed project on September 30, 2008. Notices were sent via certified mail <br />to all adjacent landowners on November 1, 2008 and project review input was solicited from the <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife early in the project concept development phase. Based on those <br />meetings and comments, the P &D department utilized these results to compile a list of potential <br />issues, which are directly addressed in this document. This document will be used for the next <br />round of public meetings specifically focused on Phase 2 of the project. The first will be held <br />April 30, 2009 for the P &D department, and the second on May 11, 2009 for the BOCC. <br />1.5 ISSUES PERTINENT TO DECISION <br />Issues identified as pertinent to the scope of this study are as follows: <br />a. State air quality standards <br />b. Water quality standards — Domestic and Waste Water <br />c. Visual resources <br />d. Biological Resources <br />1. Mammals <br />2. Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species (TESS) <br />3. Birds (other than TESS) <br />4. Aquatic species and habitat <br />5. Vegetation- Upland and Wetland <br />e. Hazardous wastes <br />f. Maintaining Agricultural and Economic base <br />g. Traffic estimates and impacts <br />h. Noise generation <br />i. Socioeconomic impacts, including housing requirements <br />j. Geology, soil data and geological hazards <br />2.0 ALTERNATIVES <br />Sites suitable for gravel production are extremely limited in the County, and gravel operations <br />often conflict with other land uses. Further, the location of gravel pits is often not proximal to <br />areas of demand for those resources, which causes traffic problems, increases haul costs and <br />increases road damage and maintenance requirements on State and County infrastructure. The <br />location of the proposed White River City pit is ideally suited to serve a high- demand area of the <br />County in reasonably close proximity to the end -use locations, which minimizes these problems. <br />Further, the site is in a remote, rural area and is shielded by distance and topography from Hwy <br />64 and surrounding neighbors, which minimizes viewshed and noise considerations. Finally, <br />Environmental Solutions, Inc. Page 4 of 30 March 09 <br />