Bedrock testing for a proposed bridge over the St. Croix River will be delayed at least four months because of a dispute over how state agencies handled the permit process.
The mayor of Oak Park Heights, David Beaudet, told administrative law Judge Barb Neilson on Tuesday that he found "many troubling aspects" in what the agencies planned to do with drilling in the St. Croix.
"They're going much deeper in the river than was originally requested," he said.
Beaudet sat alone on one side of a table in front of the judge. Three attorneys for the state departments of Natural Resources and Transportation sat on the other.
Attorney Patrick Whiting told Neilson the testing could determine whether a new bridge is built. The current proposal shows the bridge launching from Oak Park Heights, about a mile south of downtown Stillwater.
Beaudet said state law allowed him to contest the permits as the city's mayor, but he said after the hearing that other City Council members didn't agree with his position.
Beaudet said the agencies didn't allow sufficient notification of the permitting process.
In one instance in January, notification inadvertently was delivered to Stillwater city offices. In another instance, Beaudet said, DNR issued a drilling permit 12 days after notifying his city offices -- but 48 days short of the comment period that he said the law requires.
