September 13, 2017
Trying to understand last minute deals taking away local powers
By Senator Kathleen Vinehout
A last-minute budget amendment has folks in Western Wisconsin very worried.
Locals have spent seven years negotiating with large sand mines to reach agreements that
allow neighbors and mines to co-exist. In some cases, locals decided certain sensitive and
tourist areas needed protection from mines.
All the careful negotiations appear poised to go out the window in a strangely evolving
budget deal that seems to affect quarries – or, as we often know them, gravel pits.
First, in full disclosure, my farm is located next door to a quarry. My neighbor crushes