Complaints lead Granite Falls to regulate hot mix operations

GRANITE FALLS -- Complaints by citizens about emissions from a hot mix plant operated within the city limits have led city council members in Granite Falls to consider an ordinance to regulate the activity.

City Council members on Monday approved the first reading of an ordinance. It will require a conditional use permit to operate a hot mix plant within the city limits, and it sets limitations on their operations, according to City Manager Bill Lavin.

Council members took the action after residents complained about odors and emissions from a Central Paving Specialties hot mix plant that operated earlier this season in the Martin Marietta quarry on the city's west side.

Lavin said the ordinance is modeled after similar ordinances used by both Chippewa and Yellow Medicine counties to regulate hot mix plant operations.