LTE – Carol Vega – 6-26-2013

Does an Industrial Silica Sand Mine make financial sense for Glenwood City?

Vista Sands is promising jobs. How many and what is the likelihood of those jobs going to residents of Glenwood City? This needs to be clarified.

 The mine is supposed to bring business to Glenwood City. The opposite could be true. People may decide not to attend the St. Croix County Fair, the Rodeo, or other special events because of traffic congestion on our two-lane roads. This traffic will be generated by sand trucks. Estimates of trips per day range from 125 to 288.

Vista Sands has offered to buy select properties at “market value”. This proposal does not cover relocation expenses such as realtor fees, mortgage fees, closing costs, and moving expenses.

Vista Sands is a business and exists only to make a profit. The letters LLC of their name means “Limited Liability Company.” If profits are not satisfactory, an LLC can declare bankruptcy and not have any of its other assets affected.

This mine will cause a great upheaval to our way of life. It could also put us in financial jeopardy.

Does Glenwood City have the funds to oversee the mining process, purchase adequate liability insurance, and pay lawyers fees and litigation costs if Vista Sands violates agreements made with the City?

Carol Vega