Fox Valley Fibre Case Study

Fox Valley Fibre had outgrown its existing leased facility and the owner wanted to construct a new plant. Prior to hiring Davel Engineering, he purchased property near his existing location and executed a change in zoning through the local municipalities. Shortly after the zoning change, he began to pursue the building permit. Davel Engineering was hired onto the project when he discovered he needed a drainage plan. In developing the plan, we discovered that the pond located on the property, originally dug as a borrow pit for highway construction, was now considered navigable waters, requiring permits from Army Corps of Engineers, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and County Zoning. The property was also covered with patches of isolated wetlands.

This all came as a surprise to the owner, who had diligently researched the property on his own prior to purchase. Davel Engineering worked to reclassify the navigability of the pond and wetlands. This effort was largely unsuccessful and the very discouraged owner was nearly ready to give up. Davel engineers urged him to stick with it and promised to help him see it through to a successful conclusion. We felt that if we were persistent, we could find a way to construct the site that would meet all of the regulatory requirements, and preserve the majority of the wetlands. We underwent an extensive alternatives analysis with the Department of Natural Resources, and with the help of the owner, arrived at a site layout that was acceptable to the department. After two years of persistent work, permits were issued and Fox Valley Fibre was able to build a facility to meet their needs.