There's been no real hint if the Mower County Board of Commissioners has formed an opinion on the Veit demolition landfill request.

All that Garry Ellingson, 5th District Mower County Commissioner and chairman of the board, will say is "We met with our attorneys to go over the issue."

That was last week and Ellingson also said all five county commissioners were "studying the material both sides submitted."

The commissioners face a final exam Tuesday morning when they are expected to rule on a controversial conditional use permit request.

Veit Demolition Landfill, Austin Facility LLC wants to renew its CUP and expand it by 51 acres.

The Mower County Planning Commission examined the request and recommended approval by a 4-2 margin. When the request got to the county board for action, the commissioners said they needed more time to study materials submitted by both sides. Their decision was postponed until Tuesday.

Veit has a CUP for a 25-acre demolition landfill in Lansing Township. Nearby is another demolition landfill and also adjoining the Veit site is the Bill and Bonnie Ryther farm. The Rythers have a CUP of their own to operate a demolition landfill on their land.

The Rythers oppose the Veit request to renew and expand. The Lansing Township Board neither supports nor endorses the request, However, the township board is on the record courtesy of township supervisor Roger Levy as saying it has its own interim zoning ordinance and is working to adopt a comprehensive plan to process such requests. The township board wants action on the request delayed until its comprehensive plan is adopted.

Veit wants to move forward now. Its representatives told the county board it has purchase agreements to acquire land from a former opponent of the demolition landfills and wants to execute those agreements.

Its environmental manager, Scott Vandenheuvel, told the county commissioners Veit is complying with state law and the rules and regulations for operating a demolition landfill.

The firm hired attorney Jack Perry to defend its request before the planning commission and the county commissioners.

Even Mower County Attorney Patrick W. Flanagan has reminded the county commissioners they cannot deny request the request simply because it is unpopular. Flanagan noted there must be findings of fact to satisfy the law or the county faces litigation, the county attorney warned the commissioners.

If both sides are mum on the issue, one voice insists on being heard and that's the county commissioner who attempted to derail Veit in 1998.

Former commissioner speaks out

It's too early to accuse Len Miller of grandstanding or making a political comeback.

"I believed this way then and I still believe this way today. I'm not an elected official, so I can speak out on the issue," Miller said.

What is Miller's opinion?

"I'm against it," he said. "The renewal is alright, but not the expansion. That's a separate issue. They were wrong in 1998 and they're wrong today."

Veit got its original CUP in October 1996. Two years later, it received an amended CUP to change the access road to its site from a Lansing Township road to a U.S. Highway 218 North frontage road.

Three months later, the Mower County Board protested Veit's unilateral effort to obtain the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's permission to handle "industrial waste." A letter to the MPCA under Miller's county board chair signature stated at the time "had the conditional use application addressed industrial waste, the permit may not have been granted."

Miller alleges Veit is making the same end-run around local restrictions today.

Miller said the only way to figuratively clear the air is to have an environmental assessment worksheet prepared by Veit. His reason: "The potential for significant environmental impact," he said.

Miller has some of the same materials the county commissioners collected from supporters and opponents of the CUP request. He said they all suggest a case can be made to reject the request at this time.

"First of all, the renewal and the expansion are two separate issues no matter how you look at them," he said. "Secondly, we need an EAW. That land is vulnerable and most assuredly so with to demolition landfills located next to each other. And, this survey shows the impact landfills have on the appraised value of land next to them. It shows a 12 percent drop at the very least.

"What's at stake here is the environment and why not take our time when the environment is at risk? Government exists to protect and safeguard citizens from potential and real dangers. The city's concerns for their business development park are another thing and so is the potential for residential housing to be building along Highway 218, but the environment and what we do to it is the most important issue here."

The commissioners will reconvene the hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at

lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com