Bill and Bonnie Ryther are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Make that, a demolition landfill full of rocks and other construction debris and a hard place to find help for their cause.

Bill Ryther was asked after Tuesday's Mower County Board of Commissioners' meeting, "Will your farm ever be sold to become a demolition landfill?" His response: "Not in my lifetime."

The Ryther farm along U.S. Highway 218 North has been in his family since 1858. His father operated a wild game farm until his death. Now, Bill and Bonnie Ryther grow hay for sale.

Soon, their neighbor to the south will begin work on expanding a 25-acre demolition landfill to 76 acres and the landfill, which motorists can now only view in the distance, will creep closer to the highway leading into Austin.

The Mower County Board of Commissioners voted by a narrow 3-2 margin last Tuesday to grant Veit Demolition Landfill Austin Facility LLC a renewal of their CUP to operate a demolition landfill and to expand it by 51 acres.

The action ended a controversy that began -- in its latest form -- March 18, when Veit made application for the renewal and expansion of its original CUP issued in 1996 and amended in 1998.

The request went to the Mower County Planning Commission April 29. The commission voted 4-2 with one member abstaining to recommend approval of the request.

County officials had 60 days from the date of application to act on the request. That made the deadline May 17.

However, the Mower County Board of Commissioners were forced to delay a decision after holding a public hearing May 6. Among the reasons given for the delay was the fact that both sides, opponents Bill and Bonnie Ryther and the petitioner Veit, plus third parties such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, had submitted so much reference material, the county board members had not enough time to examine all of it.

Veit agreed to waive the 60-day requirement for county board action and the hearing was continued until June 10.

Everything tested

Daryl W. Franklin, county planner and zoning administrator, compiled a list of 16 reference materials submitted by all sides prior to the June 10 hearing. One of them, an environmental review submitted by Veit, contained no less than 12 separate items for the commissioners to study. On June 10, three more reference materials were submitted and had to be added to the list.

The city of Austin weighed in with its objection to the request, marking the first time it attempted to use its influence in such a debate.

The city's effort failed, but conditions recommended by the city will become a part of the permit.

The city argued the demolition landfill at the gateway to Austin was too close to the Austin Business Development Park (the former Cook farm site) along Mower County No. 45 (Old Highway 218) and that an economic development site and demolition debris were not compatible neighbors.

The Austin Business Development Park is one-half to three-fourths of a mile south of a former poultry farm across U.S. Highway 218 North and the Veit site. It's not a "next door" neighbor.

On the west side of the Austin Business Development Park is the headquarters of Wallace Bustad Crane Service. Bustad has a permit of his own to store and crush concrete and bituminous materials, operate a demolition debris grinding facility and operate a transfer station up to 200 yards capacity.

Demolition debris handled at the Bustad facility can be transported down the highway to the Veit landfill for disposal.

North of the Bustad operations is an impound yard where towed vehicles are stored.

Craig Oscarson, county coordinator, said the issue taught everybody something and that the opponents may have been the lead teachers.

"I think Billy and Bonnie Ryther taught us something. Some of the material they submitted may have been old and out-of-date, but they made all of us, county staff and the commissioners, work harder to come up with a decision on this matter," he said.

What's ahead?

"Our only option left, it appears, is the courts or the Lansing Township Board," Bill Ryther said. "They have an interim zoning ordinance of their own and they are working on a comprehensive land use plan, too.

"Now, it's up to the township to enforce their ordinance."

The township has never registered its official objections to the permit renewal and expansion. Personal objections have been raised about the possible threat to water quality.

Roger Levy, a Lansing Township supervisor, said the township is working on the first-ever sanitary sewer system for the village of Lansing.

Levy was unsuccessful in convincing the county commissioners to delay action further, but he still believes the potential for an environmental disaster exists because of the close proximity of the demolition landfill to the Cedar River.

"Even the federal government's rules require us to put in synthetic liners in our sewer collection ponds to protect the ground water," Levy said.

That caught the attention of Ray Tucker, 2nd District commissioner.

"That also gives the owner of a landfill the opportunity of putting something else in that landfill and that we don't want," he said.

Testimony by Scott Vandenheuvel, environmental manager for Veit, and Jack Perry, an attorney retained by industry giants Veit and Waste Management to litigate land use issues, drew audible reaction from both opponents, but particularly Bonnie Ryther.

Immediately after the commissioners approved the Veit request, Vandenheuvel and Perry expressed their appreciation to the county board members. Perry also shook the hand of Dick Lang, 4th District, who opposed the renewal and expansion along with Richard P. Cummings, 1st District. The attorney turned to the audience and smiled at the Rythers.

"You don't need to smile at me," Bonnie Ryther said. "We ain't dead yet."

Looking ahead

Bill Ryther is among the citizens looking for a copy of the permit's conditions. However, he must wait.

The county coordinator reviewed them Friday and noted changes to be made before they are attached to the Veit CUP. At last count Friday, the number of conditions to be enforced totaled 18.

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com