Permitting Tips: Neighbors
PERMITTING GUIDE PERMITTING TIPS 8 Take a Proactive Approach with Neighbors How one Minnesota producer used a rough permitting experience as a lesson to improve and expedite the process. B ack in 1997 when Aggregate Industries applied for a permit to expand into a neighboring community, the company had no idea what a stir it would cause. We would get a few calls about noise, but it was not a big deal, says Bob Bieraugel, assistant vice president for Aggregate Industries. The mine, located in Lakeland and West Lakeland Twps., Minn., just east of St. Paul, was operating under an old permit, in a hole, with few houses nearby. We soon realized if you get two or three calls, there are 10 times as many people that are bothered by the noise, but they are not calling, he says. Bieraugel says that when he showed up for the new permit meeting, the entire parking lot was filled and the church basement, where the meeting was being held, was packed. You needed a shoehorn to get in, he recalls. The neighbors were there in record numbers and not to sing our praises. The fire marshal would have had a heart attack. That's when we pulled in our horns and backed off a bit. Aggregate Industries and its consultant conducted door-to-door interviews with the neighbors, which resulted in an unflattering report. As a result of the interviews, Aggre-gate Industries set up a neighborhood advisory group to work through the issues before re-by Tina Grady Barbaccia, Senior Editor