GOLD BEACH – The Curry County Board of Commissioners will conduct an on-site inspection at 9 a.m. Tuesday as part of the appeal of Tidewater Contractors’ application to mine gravel at the Old Mill Site on the Rogue River. The inspection will be on the property located at 95858 Jerry’s Flat Road east of Gold Beach.

The public is invited to attend the inspection but no testimony will be taken nor interaction with the commissioners will be allowed at the site visit.

County commissioners on Dec. 14 heard oral testimony on the appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of a permit for Tidewater Contractors to mine gravel at the old mill site on the Rogue River.

 The majority of those who spoke opposed the approval of the three-year conditional use permit to mine up to 36,000 cubic yards of gravel each year at the site.

The city of Gold Beach joined nearby residents and Curry Sportfishing Association in the appeal. They also requested the tour of the site.

The Gold Beach City Council voted to join the appeal after being told planning commissioners did not give adequate consideration to what that might do to the city’s water supply.

Robert Elayer, representing Tidewater, told the commissioners that the part of the mill site Tidewater hopes to mine is at the south end of the 43-acre parcel.

He said the Gold Beach water intake is 3,500 feet upriver from that site.

“From where we mine, it’s almost a mile away. We are a considerable distance from the intake,” Elayer said.

He said the water intake was an issue that had been taken to LUBA (The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals).

The next Board of Commissioners meeting on the Tidewater application is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18,  in the Commissioner’s Hearing Room, Curry County Courthouse Annex.

Then the commissioners will disclose the substance of the site visit, the public will have an opportunity to ask questions about that visit and the parties will have an opportunity to rebut any evidence presented regarding the site visit.  

No other public testimony will be taken before commissioners deliberate that afternoon.

The commissioners closed oral testimony in the December meeting, but left the matter open for written testimony. The new testimony was due Dec. 28, rebuttal of that written testimony by Jan. 4, with Tidewater’s final argument due Jan. 11.

The appeal is being heard only by Commissioners George Rhodes and Bill Waddle. Commissioner David Itzen recused himself, saying he had a conflict of interest because his sister-in-law is employed by Tidewater.