Park County agrees to send letter supporting limited seasonal extension for Alma Placer operation
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Summary
The Board approved a county letter supporting an applicant-requested extension allowing seasonal concrete-plant operations and continued tailings processing at Alma Placer within an April–Oct window; the town of Alma had already drafted a similar letter.
Park County commissioners voted June 18 to approve drafting and sending a letter that supports a time extension for operations at the Alma Placer aggregate mine.
Public Works staff explained the operator has been reprocessing tailings for gold recovery and wants to add a temporary concrete plant for summer months. The Division of Mine Reclamation permit includes a seasonal exception that can allow operations between April 1 and Oct. 31, subject to conditions, the board was told.
The Town of Alma, the adjacent local government, drafted a letter agreeing to the extension; county staff recommended concurrence. Commissioner Whistle volunteered to draft a county letter to mirror Alma’s support, and the board approved that action by motion. The motion carried 3 to 0.
County discussion emphasized that the extension is a time-limited, weather-dependent allowance in the mining-reclamation permit and that the county’s role was to register concurrence with the adjacent town’s letter rather than to change state reclamation conditions.
Jared from Public Works provided the background on the operation’s reclamation plan and the proposed temporary concrete plant; commissioners described the item as housekeeping to ensure county concurrence with the neighboring municipality.
The clerk will send the county’s letter of support, as approved, to the appropriate parties.