No Iola Sand Mine

Hello! This GoFundMe site has been created to aid the neighbors and concerned citizens who have appealed the Faulks Brothers/Iola Old Car Show sand mine Conditional Use Permit decision, to be heard by the Waupaca County Board of Adjustment on October 21, 2024 starting at 9 a.m.

Since October of 2022, when we learned of the mining plan these two companies had devised, we have been vigorously and continuously fighting to keep our neighborhood free of this destructive industrial activity. This fight already has come at a high cost, in legal fees, signage, social and print media, and other expenses.

Thanks to generous donations from scores of concerned people like you, this GoFundMe page has received close to $5,000! In addition, through hard work, dedication and incredibly talented people, our cause raised an additional $8000 via our amazingly successful (and FUN!) MusicFest this past May. However, even though the facts are indisputably on our side, and even though we prevailed in this issue THREE TIMES ALREADY, at the Town Planning and Zoning, the full Scandinavia Town Board, AND the Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Committee decisions, behind closed doors and with NO community input, the County Zoning Dept. pressured the Committee into vacating their decision to deny the permit.

As a result three of the neighborhood families, whose homes ring the Car Show parcel in question, filed an appeal of this decision, and we will present our case yet again for a final verdict by the County Board of Adjustment.

We should not be in this financial and legal travesty. Our case was fairly and rightly decided, but the HIGHLY UNUSUAL (and we believe, improper) interference of the Zoning Dept. has created this appeal situation. Our shared legal costs have already exceeded the $20,000 we are seeking with this GoFundMe page. The added legal costs of the extra YEAR of this ordeal since the original permit denial, will be over $25,000 more than we spent already.

Your help financially and support vocally mean more than we can say. It's a lonely battle against deep pockets and special interests. It's a fight for our serenity, and for many of us, especially my husband who suffers debilitating PTSD as a Vietnam War Veteran, it's a fight for our mental and physical lives. It's a fight to preserve our neighborhood for the children who deserve to play freely here, to protect the value of our retired neighbors' property and legacy for their children, and to stop this dangerous precedent of non-metallic mining operations so terribly close to people's homes, and families.

Thank you so much for any amount you feel compelled to contribute. We stand for the rights of LAW ABIDING property owners, for the sanctity of Town governments, for the protection of our precious environment, and for the preservation of our peaceful homes. Thank you for standing with us.

Lastly, be aware, you can send a letter to Candace Bauer at the Waupaca County Zoning department (email address above in our cover photo) to voice your concerns, and it will be shared with the five-member Board of Adjustment. And come speak to them in person that day. Anyone interested will be allowed three minutes during public comment to state your feelings, so come and be heard! Mark your calendar, 10/21/24, beginning at 9 a.m. Public comment likely will occur late afternoon/evening.