| FLDS and neighbors at odds | |
|
Jason Ferguson Custer County Chronicle - Custer, South Dakota | |
Tensions are escalating between members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) at the Custer County compound and their neighbors, as construction noise and a late-night hauling of construction equipment have become the focal point of the latest dispute between the parties. The Custer County Sheriff’s Department has been on the receiving end of calls from both the FLDS and its neighbors in the past few weeks. Perhaps the neighbor who is most upset is Karl Von Rump, who said he is considering a civil lawsuit to limit the hours the FLDS can work on its property. "He is at the end of his rope with the noise," Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler said. Von Rump confirmed that is the case and has pleaded with the Custer County Commission on a couple of occasions to do something to limit the hours FLDS members can work. Von Rump said the work is around the clock, with the help of floodlights at night. "It looks like a football field out here at night," he said. Wheeler has tried to be a mediator in the dispute and said he thought he had an agreement between the two parties as to when work would take place, but that quickly fell apart. The noise is happening because the county recently issued two new building permits to the FLDS, which county planning director David Green said are for a dairy barn and a structure to house agricultural and construction equipment. The permits were issued as part of a deal brokered by the county in which the FLDS could not receive any more building permits until it upgraded the road that leads to the compound, 20 Mile Road. Neighbors complained the permits should not have been issued until the road was completed, claiming the FLDS is dragging its feet on getting the road done. Neighbors to the compound were also livid when the FLDS hauled in a large piece of construction equipment on a pair of semis late Thursday night. The piece of equipment hauled in is a 385C hydraulic excavator, which weighs 197,000 pounds. Neighbors said in hauling the equipment in, two cattle guards were torn up, which was confirmed by Wheeler. Wheeler said he contacted the compound, and they assured him they would replace the damaged wings on the cattle guards. In addition to the excavator, a D-9 dozer has also been in use on the FLDS compound. Officials at Butler Machinery in Rapid City, from which Von Rump said the equipment was rented, said the cost of renting a D-9 dozer for one week is $6,665, while cost of the excavator is $9,817 a week. Butler Machinery said the excavator must be taken apart, with the stick and bucket hauled separately from the "car body." Butler also requires its staff to both disassemble and assemble the machine on site where it is going to be used. Von Rump questioned whether or not the machine was hauled legally. Von Rump said the semis came down Highway 79 at night, but did have a pilot car leading the way. First Sgt. John Broers of the South Dakota Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Unit said oversized loads cannot be hauled after dark, with the exception of agricultural equipment. He said if the weight is spread out enough, a 197,000 pound load could be hauled on a single trailer, depending on the trucks pulling them, the trailers being used and the amount of wheels carrying the load. The legal width to haul down the highway is 18 feet, six inches. However, oversized loads can be permitted based on a number of factors, including the road used, the time of day the load is being hauled and whether or not the load is "divisible," meaning it takes less than eight hours to reduce in size. As far as county roads, there are no posted weight limits or restrictions, and the county has stated in the past it generally only enforces standards when roads are visibly torn up from truck traffic. To haul oversized loads, certain permits must be received by the state. It is not the place the load is being hauled from — in this case, Butler Machinery — that is responsible for making sure all of the paperwork is correct, but rather, those doing the hauling. Broers said they have no records of the FLDS getting permits for the haul. He said moving a normal excavator almost always requires a permit either because of width or weight issues. Not getting a permit is a class 2 misdemeanor, although the HP has to witness the illegal hauling. The states attorney can still press charges, however, if they choose to pursue it. Neighbors have also questioned the legality of a batch plant the FLDS has on its property. The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Air Quality Program said portable concrete plants are required to operate under a general permit for concrete plants, which includes requirements for both air quality and water quality. Jim Anderson, an air quality engineer for DENR, said he will contact the FLDS to be sure the equipment is properly permitted before it is operated. | |
|
CusterCountyNews.com Originally published Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
