This week's headlines

By a 2-1 vote, the Board of County Commissioners on Monday denied a specific development application for a gravel pit near Crawford.

Commission Chair Olen Lund cast the dissenting vote. "I disagree with the motion (to deny)," he said.

"There were several items identified that it would be possible to mitigate with a minimum of impact," Lund stated.

Following commissioners Bruce Hovde and Doug Atchley voting to deny, Lund said, "I am opposed."

Hovde made the motion to deny the permit application citing a number of negative factors associated with the development that had been noted by the planning department. They included noise, dust and traffic. Neighbors who were opposed presented strong opposition to the gravel pit plan. Their objections included ones cited by the planning department along with others, and especially fears that a gravel pit in their rural residential neighborhood would hurt property values and cause decline in the local economy.

There was not mention of the neighborhood opposition in Hovde's motion. However, he did cite a BoCC precedent: in 2011 the commissioners denied a gravel pit application on California Mesa in large part because it would be located close to the City of Delta and even within sight of Confluence Park.

In other business at their Dec. 17 regular meeting the Board of County Commissioners dealt with the following matters:

• The board agreed to lease a tire shredder to dispose of a growing mountain of used tires at the Adobe Buttes Land fill.

The machine is in Fort Lupton and will cost $28,000 per month for the first month. Subsequent months cost $25,000 or $8,333 per week. It is estimated that four to six weeks will be needed. The shredded tires are used as daily cover for the landfill operations. Shredding operations are scheduled to begin in January.

• Commissioners heard a report on oil and gas activity in the area. The Gunnison Energy Corporation horizontal well has reached 11,822 feet total depth and is expected to reach 13,000 feet.

• Fram, Norwegian operator of the sprawling Whitewater Unit, is proposing to install five or six pad sites in Delta County from which 20 or more directional wells could be drilled. The operation is proposed on private land formerly part of the White Ranch north of Delta. The company will be working in the Dakota formation, which lies below the Mancos sale.

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