Proposed pond project causing uproar in Emmett

Emmett locals are raising concerns over a proposed gravel pit that the owner of the property in question claims will just be a residential pond.

• Locals are concerned about impacts to noise and air pollution.
• Others are worried the project will contaminate the Payette River.
• Neighbors are worried that their well water will lower.
• The project is expected to last 4-6 months if everything goes according to plan.
• The site will not have industrial crushers as the rocks will be transported over the hill.
• The engineer on the project says the pond will not affect well water levels.
• To see the project application click here .

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Outspoken Emmett residents are raising concerns about plans for a future gravel pit in town. But, the person behind the application says she just wants a pond on her own private property. I'm your Emmett neighborhood reporter Alexander Huddleston with a copy of that application for mineral extraction. I talked with some concerned neighbors and the property owner to sort out what the project would really entail.

"A gravel pit is not a low-impact type of operation, and it would be directly in my backyard."

Kelly Brown neighbor of the property

For the last month, Gem County residents have been anticipating a hearing that has been canceled twice now, on what a zoning application is calling a “mineral extraction project”, raising a lot of red flags for folks around the area.

"Depending on the size of such an operation, there may be a lot of noise that may drive away the animals and it may disturb the peace and quiet we are seeking here."

Emmett local Petra Sando e

Sando is concerned about environmental impacts, even starting a Facebook page about the proposed project.

Neighbors tell me they're worried about impacts on their well water. But, the engineer involved tells me that won't be an issue. The project itself is not even a commercial gravel pit but rather, a private pond.

"My project is to build a pond so that I can build my house. Thats the entire goal."

Shellee McReynolds property owner

But what does a pond have to do with building a home?

"In order for me to get a building permit, I need to be able to remove dirt from the property, and at least as much as I need to bring in, so I can have a no-rise certificate."

McReynolds

A no-rise certificate means McReynolds' property cannot impede the flow of water in the case of a flood.

Many locals tell me they're concerned about what's outlined in the application.

"Gem County has an interesting code, that says you are not allowed to remove more than 300 yards of material per year. The only option to go over that is to get a special use permit, and that requires us to go into a commercial business application because Gem County does not have a residential pond application."

McReynolds

McReynolds wants neighbors to know they do not plan to have gravel crushers on site and hopes this will only take 4-6 months starting in the winter with 80 trucks a day taking the gravel over the hill to other facilities lowering dust and noise pollution.

The property owner also wants the marshy pasture around the proposed pond to remain the same, even though the land is already zoned for housing, she says with the pond there would not be homes or septic sites around the body of water.

"If we can't do it this way with us then it's looking like subdivisions."

McReynolds

County commissioners have not yet scheduled a hearing to take additional public comment.

"I will be there at the next hearing and I will have my voice heard, and I'm hoping others will too.

Sando