Government : Area Residents oppose dumping of woodchips on land near Hannen Lake

Members of Benton County Conservation board faced outraged residents this time from southern Benton County. Residents came to oppose the dumping of wood chips on the Fry property near Hannen Lake. In areas near Vinton, residents opposed the same project at the beginning of February. The board had contracted to accept wood chips from damaged trees in Linn County following the Derecho. Boomerang Corporation out of Anamosa is the contractor performing the work for the county.

Deb Drahos addressed the Benton County Supervisors concerning first the damage done to the roads to and from the property by the weight of the trucks hauling in the wood chips. She said that area residents were not notified of the project and knew nothing of the plans for the property.

She was made aware of the project on March 1 when she said that her husband saw trucks driving by, explaining that she had heard a bulldozer as well so they went to investigate. She explained that the notifications about the project were placed in the Vinton Newspapers, and as she explained, no one in southern Benton County receives the Vinton Newspaper so they were unaware of the project. (Benton County is required to choose official newspapers in the county to post information, however, the choices are limited.)

Drahos made the case that the County Conservation will bring in $120,000 while causing more than that in damage to the roads. There was no simple way to figure the cost of road repairs to the county but she estimated the number to far exceed the profit made by the conservation board.

Another Blairstown, Pau; Stults addressed the board and also had a problem with road conditions as well as trash and debris on the property. He agreed with the assessment that the damage done to the roads will far exceed the benefit to the county.

Overall the major complaint brought by residents was road damage.

Rick Primmer explained that the Supervisors are not in charge of the project but that the Board of Conservation is its own branch of the county government and makes its own decisions.

When the project in northern Benton County began the board didn't contact property owners at the time but assured the supervisors that they would contact the residents near Hannen Lake before this project began. It appears that they did except one resident closest to the property was not notified.

The project has already begun and cannot be stopped at this point. Unlike the project in the northern part of the county, where concerns were heard before the project had been locked in.

Shelby Williams, Benton County Conservation, addressed the concerns. It is estimated that there are approximately 450 loads of wood chips left to haul and about 147 have been delivered.