Residents Think Gravel Mine Is The Pits Property Owners Near Rathdrum Say County Is Bowing To Company

Mining gravel near Rathdrum will coat neighbors in dust, drown them in noise, cheat the county out of millions and leave a hole in the prairie, dozens of residents said Saturday.

But backers of Interstate Concrete’s plan to dig rock and sand say the project will control dust and noise, will help fuel the economy and will leave the land better than it is today.

Kootenai County commissioners hosted a four-hour hearing Saturday on Interstate’s proposal to mine rock near U.S. Highway 95 and Boekel Road.

For the county’s two new commissioners, it was the first real look at a controversy residents say has lasted too long.

Last year, previous commissioners spent several months and countless hours knocking heads with Interstate’s attorney over everything from hours of operation, air quality monitoring and the county’s ability to inspect the site. Terms were outlined in a contract that Interstate never accepted.

Residents told commissioners Saturday they were frustrated because that draft has been buried in favor of a weakly worded agreement.

The earlier agreement limited work on the site to 11 hours during weekdays. The new version allows the company to operate 14 hours a day, six days a week and requires the county give 24 hours notice before making an on-site inspection.

“It’s like a block of swiss cheese,” said resident Dawn Slauson. “It’s full of holes, escape routes for Interstate.”

The residents also tried to sway the three Republican commissioners with their own buzz words: property taxes and property rights.

Marc McGregor, the residents’ attorney, said the gravel operation would offer only about $350,000 in property taxes. After full development as a housing subdivision, the 230 acres of farmland could provide up to $8.5 million in taxes.

“Is that fulfilling your commitment to lower property taxes?” McGregor asked.

He said residents have been around longer than the handful of existing mines and deserved to be protected.

“This boils down to an issue of private property rights,” McGregor said. “The question is whose?”.

Company representatives said they are good stewards and appeased residents as much as time and money allows. Any agreement at all is “merely icing on the cake,” company attorney Dana Wetzel said.

“The agreement before you is an honest one,” she told commissioners. “(Company President) Bruce Cyr didn’t play this like a poker hand. He never has.”

Molly Murphy, with Spokane’s Central Pre-mix, Interstate’s parent company, suggested the pit could become a botanical garden or a golf course following reclamation.

Interstate expects to use the pit for 75 years.

Commissioners said they will make a decision after reviewing records of the long-running debate, though some residents fear it’s too late.

Rathdrum’s Steve Eachon held up a 1994 election-night photograph showing Commissioner Dick Compton laughing over a drink with Interstate President Bruce Cyr.

He threw the picture at Cyr and told him to take it home “and hang it on his wall.”

“This is all I can think about,” Eachon told the commissioners. “It doesn’t tell us you’re going to represent us. It tells us it’s a done deal.”

Compton responded with an incomplete warning. “If you think insulting the board improves your case …” he said.

Cyr is a member of Concerned Businesses of North Idaho, a group that gave $5,000 to Compton’s election campaign. Earlier in the day, at Compton’s request, Cyr “swore under oath” he had not lobbied the commissioners to approve his request.

“We have not made any decision yet,” Compton said.