Following a lengthy public hearing, the Winona City Council Tuesday passed several changes to the proposed amendments to the city's frac sand moratorium that’s set to expire in March.

Margaret Walsh was one of a dozen people who spoke against the frac sand industry as a whole. Walsh said she’s concerned about the air quality if more sand trucks are allowed in the city.

Winona Chamber of Commerce President, Della Schmidt, spoke in favor of new job creation and supported the proposed amnendments.

The draft report is broken down in four amendements ... mining ordinances, which includes air quality monitoring and number of trucks allowed to haul each day, moisture testing, sand processing and transportation and transportation and road wear.   

Staff will bring back the amendments with several changes the council approved, including .... increasing the setback from any sand mining activities to another structure from 1,000 feet to 2,000 feet, mositure testing level would be increased from 1.5% to 2.5%  to better decrease blowing sand and changing the hours of mining operations from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.