Wood grinding company fails to get permit as opponents turn out in mass

Mueller Pallets has been trying to get permit near landfill for months

A wood grinding operation slated for property west of the Sioux Falls Regional Landfill failed to get approval Tuesday after the Minnehaha County Commission deadlocked on a 2-2 vote.

And unless one of the two commissioners who voted against the proposal changes their mind – either Dean Karsky or Jen Bleyenberg – it will be headed to defeat next week.

That’s because under state law, a measure that deadlocks must be heard at the commission’s immediate next meeting, said Erick Bogue, the county’s chief civil deputy state’s attorney. And Commissioner Jean Bender, who commissioners said is out of town, is not scheduled to be back by next Tuesday’s meeting.

The 2-2 vote followed more than two hours of testimony on an application from Mueller Pallets to put the tree grinding site on about 13 acres of property near the landfill. The Planning Commission unanimously approved Mueller’s conditional use permit last month and planning staff supported the measure.

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