In mid-April, the Comsat Area Lakes and Land Alliance, or CALLA, won its case against the State regarding a quarry near Christiansen Lake in Talkeetna. Now the State of Alaska has asked for reconsideration of the decision. CALLA attorneys submitted a response opposing the reconsideration.
According to the CALLA filing, the State did not supply a specific reason for any of the six grounds for reconsideration. The State also submitted their request after the ten-day filing requirement had passed.
In addition, the CALLA filing says that the State has made a new argument about the gravel mining and how it is defined. CALLA says the State contracts the gravel sale as an already-mined commodity. However, the contractor mined the gravel as part of the agreement. The State now says this only sells an interest in a consumable resource and is not a disposal of interest in the land.
The State argues that the initial public notice of the designation of the site in 2012 satisfies the requirement of public notice going forward. However, any disposal of land requires public notice and CALLA argues that gravel mining, or material sales, are a disposal.
The entire case focuses on a narrow piece of the State Constitution referring to public notice of land disposals and how those notices will be conducted.
The Comsat Quarry site remains under DNR management, but it is unclear what its future may be.
