| 9/18/2009 9:26:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Sustainability group discusses Nestlé options
by Jennifer Denevan
Mail Staff Writer
A desire to re-energize the community emerged during a meeting Wednesday as the goal of Chaffee Citizens for Sustainability as they considered continuing their challenge of the Nestle Waters 1041 permit process.
The group met to discuss what options are available.
Several members said friends and other community members think the process is over and nothing can be done.
Jay Hake of Hake, Heart and Lintzenich, who advises the organization, said there are four options. One is do nothing, second is a recall, third is a process review and fourth is going to water court.
Hake said the first option would accept the project as proposed after changes and conditions were met. All those changes and conditions came from community input, he noted.
A recall doesn't provide much satisfaction, Hake said, because it wouldn't change anything or stop Nestlé from pumping water.
The last two options could become long, expensive legal battles, Hake said - requesting review of the commissioners' approval of the 1041 permit or going to water court with Nestlé.
A review request must be filed within 30 days of the resolution signing date. Hake said commissioners will host a special meeting at 10 a.m. Sept. 23 in the courthouse to review the staff-written resolution and may approve it then.
Review would raise questions about the process. He said the 1041 has been in effect since 1973. The question to ask, is if officials correctly followed the process, he said.
Hake said it's difficult to determine what is or isn't correct, but does leave a door open if the group wants to seek a review.
That tactic was used in McCloud, Calif., where eventually Nestlé officials gave up on that project, he said. A city in Michigan, Hake said, was able to get the amount of pumping halved.
The Nestlé effort was challenged seven years in McCloud and nine in Michigan, he said.
Audience questions ranged from possible costs to whether or not the permit conflicts with the Colorado Constitution.
Participants asked what would happen if a review was requested and a judge overturned the commissioners' decision. Hake said if that were to happen, Nestlé would have to restart the 1041 process.
There would be a possibility, Hake said, that Nestlé officials might not redo the permit.
Group members agreed to focus on the Sept. 23 special meeting before other steps can be taken. They said they want to revitalize the community challenge of Nestlé.
Lee Hart, a sustainability group member, reminded others the organization been contacted by outside sources willing to help, including Food and Water Watch.
John Graham, a sustainability board member, said the next move will be based upon community feedback.
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