Wisconsin's mining laws change on July 1st.
The state gave the counties until that time to adjust their local mining ordinances to reflect the state changes. With a large deposit of desired minerals in county-owned forest land in the town of Lynne, the county is anticipating some mining interest might happen after the law goes into effect.
Board Chair David Hintz asked the board to consider hiring an attorney who is also a geologist to make sure their current mining ordinance will meet new standards. The Administration Committee asked for $10,000 to hire attorney William Scott to look at the county's current regulations and to recommend necessary changes in the 20 year old rules.
Hintz says another told him the county needed to have the rules looked at...
"...he was very straight, he said 'I'm familiar with your statute, I've read it, and I helped draft the new rules. I would hire an attorney to evaluate your current statute because, in my opinion, portions of it are unenforceable'..."
Scott proposed a two-phase approach to fixing the rules.
Supervisor Robb Jensen argued against spending the money now, saying the Wisconsin Counties Association is working toward it's own document for counties to use.
Supervisor Ted Cushing was board chair during the last attempt to open a mine in Lynne, and said it would be better to have the county's ducks in a row...
"...we have watched in the last 7-8 years Madison continue to take away our perogatives. They did it on cell towers, the did it on zoning. I tell you if we don't get our act together on this, this is what is going to happen here...."
The board approved hiring attorney Scott to review the rules and make recommendations to be done by July 1.
