Save TV Butte: Oakridge vs Old Hazeldell LLC 

Thanks for the comment and support. Oakridge keeps getting better these days, and stopping the quarry will help continue that trend. Looks like you work with horses there. That is super cool. If you ever need a horse video, my kids would love to ride one!

Thank you! They are currently suing the county!

Thank you. It seems pretty obvious the public says no here. It seems the only chance the other side has is bribery at this point.

If a millionaire is doing it, more than likely it is not a good thing. They have some nearby quarries there already too.

Oh man Ed King as the onceler!

Few quick off the head facts! 80-98 Rock trucks daily going through our little town. Blasting every 10 minutes. Stadium lights blaring from a mountain where we watch the moon rise- 5,000 gallons of water use daily. Also, if anything does go wrong like the chemicals used to blast getting into our water and land- Oakridge is responsible for it financially though we get zero benefit from this quarry. The scariest part of all this, they are building on an old landfill. We can only imagine what may of been put in that landfill so who knows how that will impact. Scary stuff and icky stuff. None of it benefits this town. Also Real Estate has been shown to instantly go down more than 20%. The list goes on and on….!!!!

Thanks for the support. It was fun to put together.

Hi! I copied this for you from our chamber of commerce page! TIME-SENSITIVE CALL TO ACTION: Oppose the Old Hazeldell Quarry with this easy testimony-TEMPLATE LETTER! 👇 Instructions below👇 We are fast-approaching the deadline to submit testimony urging our Lane County Commissioners to side with Oakride/Westfir against the re-zoning of TV BUTTE. THIS AFFECTS ALL RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES!!! Whether you are a business owner, resident, or visitor to the area, the commissioners NEED to hear your voice - and it's best to submit your testimony in advance - even if you plan to attend the hearing in-person on April 16th. Below I've provided a template letter (first written by Cher Mikkola) that I've modified to include a personalized section at the top to help make each email testimony read as unique, and therefore have more impact upon the commissioners as they read them. If you would like to use it, PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE TEMPLATE BELOW INTO YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM, AND THEN BE SURE TO PERSONALIZE THE AREAS [HIGHLIGHTED by brackets]: ----- To: Taylor.Carsley@lanecountyor.gov Email Subject: Old Hazeldell Opposition: File Nos. 509-PA23-05452, 509-PA23-05454 April 10, 2024 Dear Lane County Commissioners, Regarding: Department Application File Nos. 509-PA23-05452, 509-PA23-05454 [insert your personal concerns and position, ie. As a resident/business owner/property owner/frequent visitor] to Oakridge/Westfir, I am very concerned that allowing a quarry operation this close to the town of Oakridge would be devastating to [my health/business/property value/planned vacation/watershed and water resources/fragile wildlife habitats, etc.] [I/we] are urging you to vote NO on the proposed major plan amendment to amend the Lane County Rural Comprehensive Plan. We urge you to unanimously vote NO to change the approximate 107 acre site known as T.V. Butte to be used for a rock and aggregate mining and processing operation. Here are just some of the reasons supporting a vote of NO on Department Application File Nos. 509-PA23-05452, 509-PA23-05454: 1. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Toxic chemicals are known to be buried at the site. When disturbed, they would contaminate the air, our watershed and underground aquifers, surrounding forests, salmon spawning habitat, and the soil, and affect water quality from Oakridge to Portland via the Willamette River. TV Butte is an elk calving site and is populated by a sizable elk herd and a myriad of other wildlife. 2. HEALTH IMPACTS: Silica dust sent into the air, in combination with the regular extreme summer/fall wildfire smoke, would be seriously detrimental (silicosis lung disease) to the health of all citizens and wildlife. Blasting would cause decades of extreme daily noise pollution and vibration, destabilize the terrain, destroy extensive forestland and an entire mountain, severely disturb the physical and mental health and safety of wildlife and human residents, and lead to eventual costly and protracted environmental cleanup. 3. ECONOMIC IMPACT: The economy in Oakridge and Westfir is growing, thanks in large part to tourism, BUT noise and pollution associated with a quarry would devastate the economy by turning tourists away, creating population flight, and forcing businesses to abandon the town. Property values would plummet. The quarry is estimated to provide extremely minimal local employment, so job creation is not a viable argument in its favor. The increase in heavy truck traffic (86+ more trucks per day) will rapidly wear down the roads, gravel and debris spills create messy and dangerous driving conditions and loose gravel will increase damage to vehicles (windshield dings and cracks being the most common) all of which will directly cause the City of Oakridge and Oakridge/Westfir residents and ODOT increasing maintenance and repair costs, as well as decreasing safety on both city streets and Highway 58. 4. INDIGENOUS HISTORY: TV Butte is an Indigenous heritage site with a centuries-long history of occupation, trade routes, hunting grounds, and burial grounds. Desecration of this heritage and Crown Properties' indifference to this Indigenous cultural history is offensive and shocking. Please seriously consider these concerns, which are shared by most Oakridge and Westfir residents, and deny the proposal to establish a quarry on the eastern flank of Oakridge. Please decide in favor of our citizens' well-being, the environment, wildlife, health and safety, indigenous history, the community's pristine setting, the local economy, and highway safety, as reflected in the current Lane County Rural Comprehensive Plan. Sincerely, [your name/business address contact info] --- After you email your letter to Taylor.Carsley@lanecountyor.gov PLEASE feel free to SHARE this post and template with any and ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS/FAMILY and encourage them to submit one. FINALLY, take a moment to DONATE to help pay legal fees: gofund.me/c556f404

Thanks. I am glad to hear the video is raising some awareness as intended. The winery millionaire can build a quarry right next to his own house or winery!

Thank you Mike. That is some real action. Oakridge and nature lovers will appreciate it. Oh man if our senator checks out my channel I would be happy hahaha.

Thank you! It was fun.

Thank you. Oakridge is awesome. One less thing polluting the air would be nice.

Thank you. I am enjoying picking up some other topics than the usual.

Good to hear from you Justin. Hopefully this butte is still in tact by the time you move back!

Thanks for that comment. Quarries gotta go somewhere but this one is just odd. Why does this guy want a quarry so bad? Why right next to peoples houses?

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks. Glad to hear it is putting some eyes on this.

Bless YA man!!

Thank you!

I apologise I meant no insult, I had no Idea I was bullying you,I did not know till this that you had a speech problem, please forgive me.

@@kittty2005 Don't worry about it. I was talking about some other comments.

Huh. I always thought it was pronounced the way you said it anyway, but I guess not. Ignore those people! Great videos, btw!

Good on him!

Thank you very much!

Thank you!

Thanks for directing your energy at this issue Mike. I am gonna have to invite you to all the movements I get involved in. You are really good at voicing opinions and getting heard.

Thanks for doing that Mike. Nice to see people supporting this. STOKERIDGE they call it.

Thank you! I am having fun doing videos on different topics.

Thanks. I hope they other side gives up!

They already have a couple too! The others are less destructive and local.

Welcome!

Thanks. I'll be fine! I am hoping to help Oakridge here.

Thanks. Don't worry about it. I had to delete some nasty comments. Some are nice about it at least.

I nominate your house to be the next quarry site. I get all the profits of course.

@@MattCookOregon what’s funny about your comment is that I live right next to an old quarry site that the city turned into a lake that they now stock with fish

@@toandfro2377 That is some nice land recovery!

Stonebroke, LLC has not responded to invitations to do just that. They're in it for the quick buck and the savings from being close to a state highway and with with lesser overburden to remove, their investment would be lower. Plus they have a bullying attitude evident from the $15 million lawsuit they pursued against the county after their previous application was rejected over the presence of elk calving grounds. They lost, but are sore losers as well and obviously used to getting things their way. Buyers would step forward if they'd just realize this is a horrible project--front to back. Some obscenely rich people just don't like playing by the rules. They have made no attempts to meet with or work with townspeople from the get go. Just ram it down people's throats with no advance warning. At some point they will have to understand that "no means no." And they'll find resistance up and down Highway 58 once people understand the impact of diesel exhausts on stagnant air during the summertime--especially with the regularly-occurring forest fires and smoke that's already been off the charts for measuring hazardous air for months in this town, this valley and down to the Eugene Springfield all the way to the coast. Blacked out skies and they want to move 8 or so loaded trucks through Oakridge and every other burg along the route, contributing to global warming as well as creating a public health disaster--with increased lung disease, premature births and asthma among the young and elderly, most impactful. But these people just give a damn for any life that's not their own and any lifeforms they consider inferior. No, they have chosen the hard way. And that's what they'll eventually get. Rocks in the head types.

@@rossjohn414 Yours is the most outstanding comment we see here. Thank you, very much!

I believe they are trying to buy the land. You know the millionaire is going to want top dollar for it. He will want the price that he would get if it was a quarry, which it is not. The issue isn't just private land that other people want to use. They don't trespass on the land at all. The issue is how it will affect the people around the land, by a choice from someone who does not live there. We are not talking about a mom and pop business here, this is a millionaire that somehow pays less taxes than you and I.

@@MattCookOregon Just to clarify for everyone, I used to live in Springfield Oregon, and I currently live in Washington county Oregon. I am very familiar with Oakridge and how it used to be a very nice timber town, until the spotted owl BS closed all mills down. There is no doubt in my mind, with the political makeup of Lane county that they would full support using eminent domain to force the sale, and the fair price would be set by the courts, not what it COULD be worth, but what it is worth as it sits now.

@@Jeffy2n The owner is currently suing the county to get the price as if it was a quarry.

Thanks for the comment and not being afraid to share your opinion! Quarries are necessary and Oakridge already has a couple. The easy issue to get behind for all sides here is going up against a rich guy trying to get richer. They could build the quarry right next to their winery if it really has no effect. Anyways if this is important to you, show up to the hearing. Usually hearings have been all one side all against the millionaires lawyer.

@MattCookOregon thanks for sharing your opinion as well. While it does not directly affect me, I won't attend the meeting. As far as rich getting richer, that is the American dream and how our entire economy is based. I am just a lower income working class person, but I understand that if the millionaire that owns the company I work for does not keep getting richer, he could reduce the number of employees it has and I like having a job. I am all for rich people getting richer by creating jobs for those that are not rich.

Nice complaint comment lmao

@MattCookOregon because of the lack of logging, the trees are more crowded, and there's more underbrush/fire fuel. I wasn't trying to be a jerk about your pronunciation, it was hard to get past. I might have a bit of misophonia.

@@anymaru I can't believe all some people have to say is a little complaint like pronunciation of one word. At least you had something else constructive to say! Logging does often mean more forest management, but not always. Non logged forests can be well managed and replanted forests can become unmanaged.

Is that really all you have to say?