Wabasha group appeals OK of silica sand facility

A citizens' group in Wabasha has appealed the city's recent decision to allow a Calgary-based company to set up a silica sand transport facility.

The group, Friends of Wabasha, filed the appeal against the project, citing environmental, economic and traffic concerns.

Last month, the City Council voted not to require Superior Sand Systems to complete an environmental review for the facility. The city's planning board later approved the project's conditional use permit for the facility along the Canadian Pacific tracks.

City Planner Molly Patterson-Lundgren said the City Council has 60 days to respond to the appeal.

"What that means now is that the City Council will review the decision that the planning commission made to issue that conditional use permit," Patterson-Lundgren said. "Under state law, any such request a local community is allowed 60 days to do that review."

Patterson-Lundgren expects the Council will discuss the appeal at its Feb. 5 meeting.

Superior Sand Systems has not yet started hauling sand through the city.

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