Update: Winneshiek County Board of Adjustment approves Conditional Use Permit for quarry located on Canoe Valley Road

The Winneshiek County Board of Adjustment approved a three-year renewable Conditional Use Permit request by Jesse Quandahl and Bruening Rock Products, Inc. for sand and rock quarry operations during their nearly three-hour meeting Tuesday night. Since 2021, Jesse Quandahl, owner of the quarry, and contractor Bruening Rock Products have been operating without an active Conditional Use Permit for the quarry located at 1842 Canoe Valley Road. Jesse Quandahl, owner of the property in question, was present at the meeting and described the circumstances under which he became owner of the property and explained that he was not aware, due to lack of communication when he took over, that the prior conditional use permit had expired in 2021. During the public hearing, more than ten property owners living near the quarry spoke to the Board about their concerns related to quarry operations. The majority of those who spoke shared concerns about truck traffic, dust control, homes shaking from dynamite blasts and the overall safety of the children and adults who live near the quarry. Beth Lynch, who lives on Middle Hesper Road, spoke during the public hearing and addressed the noise created by operations at the quarry. "I want you to understand the magnitude of the noise problem. Noise comes from trucks, noise comes from machinery clearing land and scraping the soil off the rock. But what I'm talking about is the noise from crushing rocks into gravel. The machinery used to crush limestone in gravel is extremely loud. It runs all day and it runs for weeks on end. When the machines are running, I cannot work outside in my garden," Lynch said. "I cannot enjoy a walk with my dog. I cannot work at home with the windows open. I cannot enjoy a glass of iced tea in my yard. The families that live near this quarry have had to sacrifice a lot. We've lost the freedom to enjoy a peaceful existence [...] It's time to ask the company to share the cost of operations in our neighborhood. I ask that you retain or better yet strengthen the conditions of the permit and require that the company be accountable to the conditions." After the public hearing was closed, Board of Adjustment members discussed the concerns raised as well as the language and conditions in the original conditional use permit granted to the Quandahl Family Trust Farm, owner of the then 15-acre quarry, and contractor Wiltgen Construction, Co., in 2014. One of the major points raised by board members was that some of the original conditional use permit stipulations appear to have not been followed up to this point, so there needed to be more specific language and enforcement protocols set if a new permit was to be approved. After discussion, the Board unanimously approved the permit with the following conditions as read aloud by Winneshiek County Zoning Administrator Tony Phillips: The conditional use permit is valid for three years. The proposed site is an area not to exceed 26.4 acres inclusive of the existing mine pit. Hours of operation for any and all quarry activities will be from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday. The quarry will not operate on legal holidays established by the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors for Winneshiek County employees. No more than 600 trucks will leave the quarry during any given calendar month with no daily limit. The owner of the property and the operator of the quarry will allow the Winneshiek County Zoning Administrator to inspect the records to verify the number of trucks that entered and or left the quarry on any given workday. The zoning administrator shall have the authority to review these documents on a random basis and in response to any citizen complaint. Off-Site dust control, road maintenance and related road safety will be addressed as follows: a. On all days of operation where trucks are entering or leaving the quarry, all of Canoe Valley Road and Middle Hesper Road and from Canoe Valley Road to Colonel Taylor Road will be treated or watered to control fugitive dust. These roads will be treated or watered daily to maintain fugitive dust control. b. All improved properties on Middle Hesper Road to Meadowlark Road and Meadowlark Road between Locust Road and Highway 52 will receive a minimum of 600 feet of treatment or water daily as described in the preceding sub-paragraph a. c. To help minimize dust and sand on public roadways, all trucks exiting the quarry will drive over a section of three-inch clean gravel to clean the tires prior to exiting the quarry.d. Dust control will be maintained at a level at least equal to the Iowa DNR threshold for fugitive dust control. A parking pad for vehicles in the staging area will be established outside the pit area on a minimum base of three inches of packed gravel. This measure will also include a provision for containing any fluid leaks under the engine that runs on the onsite screener, if any fluid leaks from the engine. There will be no on-site storage of fuel except in an Iowa DNR-approved vault. Blasting within the quarry will only be done after giving prior notification to the owners and occupants of dwelling structures located within 2000 feet of the conditional-use boundary. Notice will be given by phone or email a minimum of 24 hours before the blasting. Seismographs will be located and monitored at all dwelling structures within 1500 feet of the conditional-use boundary. The property owner and the quarry contractor will be responsible for any damage done to the existing well located at 1846 Canoe Valley Road, Decorah, Iowa if such damage is done by mining operations. The only processing that will be done on-site will be the extraction of sand, stockpiling, screening and loading of mined materials. Rock crushing will be allowed for 15 working days per year. Excess rock not used for the base may be marketed. There will be no washing or any other processing done onsite. Some property owners in attendance, including Lynch, were pleased that the Board listened to their concerns and that they voted unanimously to include conditions to protect residents in the area from harm and agreed that the conditions of the permit needed to be specific and enforceable. "[The Board of Adjustment] had good ideas about how to address the concerns and stated that the Bruening Rock Products company has an obligation to 'be a good neighbor' if they are going to continue to operate the quarry," Lynch said. "My neighbors and I were disappointed that the permit did not include language proposed during Board discussion that would have required the company to report the number of days of gravel crushing and the number of trucks leaving the quarry." "Despite these details," Lynch continued, "my hope is that Bruening Rock Products and the County Zoning Administrator have heard the citizens speak and will follow the intentions of the Board of Adjustment when the permit goes into effect." Editor's Note: This story was updated at 9:24 a.m. CST on 8/10/2023 to correct the location of the quarry to 1842 Canoe Valley Road. The previous version of this story identified the location as 1842 Canoe Ridge Road.