MOORE HAVEN – Glades County Commissioners voted 3-1 on Jan. 22 to place a moratorium on the use of county roads by vehicles from mining operations.

 County staff asked the commissioners to consider placing a moratorium on Special Exception Applications for mining operations until the board can consider an ordinance to prohibit or restrict the use of county roads for access to mining operations.

Previously, the county has issued special exception approvals where the mining operations access is by means of a county road, the staff report explained. Over time, the heavy volume of loaded truck traffic has caused significant structural damage to these county roads. Glades County is a fiscally constrained county and does not have the resources to maintain and repair county roads that are damaged by a mining operations truck traffic.

County staff will prepare and present a draft ordinance to prohibit or restrict mining operations from using county roads for access to their operations. A moratorium will provide time for the county staff to prepare the draft ordinance.