City denies sale of land to Canadian Sand

By LIZ HOCHSTEDLER liz.hochstedler@lee.net Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:04 AM CDT

An extra three acres north of Halbleib Street for railroad spurs would ease rail traffic for Canadian Sand and Proppants and other track users, Plant Manager Gary Stone told the Chippewa Falls City Council. However, the council rejected the company’s second attempt to buy city land Tuesday night.
The 3.2 acres, which are in a triangular parcel north of Palmer Street and 78th Avenue and west of the existing railroad tracks, are owned by the city. They lay adjacent to the 100 acres Canadian Sand and Proppants already owns. The council denied the company’s offer 4-3 in closed session, said Mayor Greg Hoffman. Canadian Sand and Proppants wants to add six to eight railroad spurs in that area for storage. “What we need to do is we need to extend our spurs as far south as we can,” Stone said. The spurs would allow room for storage of 100 cars and space for the cars to be moved around. “We can manipulate cars without having to get on the main line,” Stone said. Switching on the main line would cause more congestion with other rail users, he added. Stone said the city would benefit along with the company if the land was sold. “This property is currently not being used,” he said. “It’s city property, so we’d be putting it back on the tax rolls.” First Ward Alderman Mike Dahlby was concerned about storm water blockage, but engineer Mike Swoboda of Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc., said that wouldn’t be a problem. “We don’t disrupt or change any storm water coming from the east side of the tracks,” he said. The company could make another offer on the land in the future. Although no citizens mentioned the land purchase specifically, three spoke up against the plant. Susan Holm read the city’s mission statement aloud and urged council members to stick to it. “If you only hear from CS&P and read their ads, you might not be getting the whole story,” she said. Cheryl Jensen, a teacher at Parkview Elementary, voiced concern over children’s health. She said diesel emissions and sand in the air could cause health problems. “The citizens of Chippewa Falls and Chippewa County feel a responsibility to our future generations,” she said. “I challenge CS&P to bring forth medical research data that proves our children will be just as healthy.” Concerned Chippewa Citizens co-president Pat Popple also encouraged city council members to look at transcripts from the DNR’s public hearing held earlier Tuesday.