Hot Springs council backs letter supporting appeal of venue-change denial for Craven Canyon permit

Members of the public asked the Hot Springs council to support an appeal of a venue-change denial tied to the Craven Canyon uranium exploration drilling permit. After public comments from interveners, council voted to authorize the mayor to sign a letter of support for the appeal.

Marla Cooley, who identified herself as an individual intervener, told council she and a larger group had sought a venue change and placed a letter in the council packet seeking full-board consideration after the chair denied their request. Rebecca Turk, who said she assisted in drafting the packet letter, told council the Oglala Lakota County Commission made a timely and proper request for a venue change that had been dismissed by the hearing chair.

"A timely and proper request can come from a county with affected land, not just the county in which the project is sited," Turk said, arguing the interveners wanted the decision made where people could access it. When council members asked whether the hearing chair who denied the request was Bob Morris, Turk confirmed Mr. Morris had denied the request and said the chair’s rationale appeared to be that the project is sited in Fall River County.

Council members briefly questioned Turk about deadlines and scheduling; Turk said appeals are due by Feb. 2 and that the full board meets Feb. 18. Following discussion, the council approved a motion authorizing the mayor to sign the letter of support for the appeal. The council did not record dissenting votes in the meeting minutes.

Next steps: the letter will be signed by the mayor and included with the record for any pending appeal; the council did not specify further legal action or funding for outside counsel in the discussion recorded.