Comment periods now open on 3 permit requests for LBJ operation
A bigger public notice announcing that comments are open for a dredging permit for Collier Materials was posted in Kingsland next to one for a sand and gravel plant by the same company. The permit applications are with the Lower Colorado River Authority, which is collecting public comments on three of four requests from the aggregate mining company deemed 'administratively complete.' Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Lower Colorado River Authority is now collecting public comments on three permit applications under two ordinances for one aggregate mining company that wants to dredge and process sand and gravel on the shores of Lake LBJ in Kingsland.
Collier Materials Inc. recently filed for two permits to dredge the lake and two to set up processing plants for the extracted sand and gravel near RR 2900 and CR 309. Three applications have been deemed administratively complete by the LCRA and are in the public comment period.
Only one of the two dredging permit applications filed under Dredge and Fill has been deemed administratively complete and is open for public comment: Kingsland II sand and gravel in Zone C, which includes a popular sandbar in the middle of the lake near the confluence of the Llano and Colorado rivers. Phase I of this project will remove that sandbar. No deadline has been set for comments on this one.
Two other permit requests are filed under the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance for the Kingsland I sand and gravel plant and Kingsland II sand and gravel plant. Both are deemed administratively complete with deadlines for public comments based on when public notices were posted and mailed.
Kingsland I comments are open through Wednesday, April 12. Public notice was posted and mailed to nearby landowners on March 28. Those wanting to comment, whether in support or opposition, have 15 days from the date of the public notice.
The deadline for comments on the proposed Kingsland II plant application under the Watershed Ordinance is April 24, based on mailings and signage that should go out and up on Friday, April 7.
“The initial notice included an incorrect address for the proposed (Kingsland II) plant,” an LCRA spokesperson said in an emailed reply to DailyTrib.com questions. “LCRA has required the applicant to send a corrected notice to nearby property owners and to post a new notice at the site of the proposed project.”
The correct address is Ranch Road 2900, about 600 feet south of County Road 309, where two notices have been posted for two different permit applications.
The first notice posted is for one of the Watershed Ordinance requests for a sand and gravel plant and is dated March 28. That notice is an 8-inch-by-10-inch, pink and laminated sign zip-tied to a fence at the top of a 6- to 8-foot embankment.
Several opponents of the plants have complained that the sign cannot be read without climbing the hill. The notice gives a mailing address for sending in comments and does not mention an online option.
A second, larger public notice was posted next to the small notice on Wednesday, April 5. It refers to the dredging application, which does not have a deadline for comments yet. The sign includes a QR code that leads to an LCRA webpage with links to the application and another link to submit comments electronically.
While more visible than the first, a DailyTrib.com photographer had to climb halfway up the embankment before the QR code would work.
A second public notice for the Kingsland I plant has not been located by DailyTrib.com yet but should be “at the location adjacent to and just south of Lake LBJ east of Moss Creek and southeast of LCRA Zone D,” according to the Collier application materials.
The applications for the watershed permits can be found online here. The dredging applications are online here. Each webpage has links to submit comments.