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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016
County Board approves permit expansion for rural Lena sand quarry At its October 13 meeting the Stephenson County Board granted approval for expansion of the existing Special Use (01-15) request by BARD Materials to allow for a sand quarry on property located at the Southwest corner of Manny and Gooseneck Roads, Lena. Residents of the site fought approval at an earlier public hearing, but by statute were not permitted to comment during the board meeting. Following considerable discussion by Board Members, expansion was approved. “At public hearing, testimony was given by adjacent objectors about the operation of the sand and gravel pit by the Delores Solace Trust and that included Kevin and Lorene Solace; also objecting to the operation was Mark and Nikki Leverton and Mr Leland Kaiser,” said Stephenson County Zoning Director Terry Groves. He said letters expressing concerns about the quarry were received by his office in addition to the testimony logged at the Oct. 6, Stephenson County Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. “Some of those concerns were addressed at the hearing and I would say some were not relevant,” Groves said. “There was for example, not much that the Zoning Board of Appeals could do about the intersection of Hwy 73 and Manning Road.” He said Flynn Sand, Gravel and Concrete of Stockton requested and received a Special Use for five acres on the Southeast corner of the contested 80-acre parcel in 2001. That request was approved 4-0. “Then came Bard Materials with a request for an expansion and among other things, neighbors are expressing concerns about blasting, but there is no blasting in the sand and gravel mines and no dust because the product is wet and would be washed,” Groves said. “There would be two holding ponds of 100K gallons each, and lined with clay from the site so there is no leakage.” There will also a high capacity well capable of pumping 200-300
gallons per minute. The well would pump for about two weeks during the quarry season and would require about 14 hours to fill the two ponds. A portable Wash Plant would be brought on site in early April or May and would be in operation for roughly six weeks. Hours of operation at the facility would be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. four days a week with the possibility of additional hours depending on demand for product. Bard Materials is a family owned operation currently employing more than 160 employees in a network of 20 ready-mix plants and 30 aggregate sources in the Tri-State area. The board’s approval of the Special Use will result in ten new jobs for the Lena area plus whatever the trucking needs are required for the project. “Reclamation was another major concern,” said Groves. “This is overseen by the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals. Bard is required to have an Operation Reclamation Plan prior to opening and there is also a bond that would be held by the State of Illinois in case the company goes under and there is no one to take care of the overall cover.” Tentative plans for the facility are to strip the overburden from an acre, pile that and remove the product. Then move to the next acre, strip that overburden and place it on the previously worked acre, reseed that area and move on. Fears of the property becoming 25-acres of bare ground as the project moved forward are unfounded according to Groves. “There would be an average of 6-8 loads going out of the facility per day during the season,” he said. Still another major concern voiced by objectors and by the county itself was the use of chemicals on the property. “That is not the case with this operation,” Groves said. “They don’t need chemicals on this facility because they are using holding ponds.” The long term condition of Manning Road was also a concern. “I’ve been working with the Township Road Commissioner and
the County Highway Department who, after on-site inspection, stated the road to be in good to excellent shape with at least six layers of seal coat,” said Groves. “They arrived at a figure of $150K to put a three inch layer of blacktop from Gooseneck Road to Hwy 73.” He said Bard Materials appeared willing to help with the construction of an 80K-ton road if it is deemed necessary. Board Member DeMeester questioned the possibility that the pro-
posed high capacity well would cause failure in neighboring wells. “Does a neighboring homeowner that loses water have to dig a deeper well and who would be responsible for those costs,” he asked. Groves said it was his understanding that while the elevation would be lowered the aquifer would remain the same and in his previous experience with a similar situation in Dakota there was not much that could be done. The aquifer likely affected by the
Pearl City Fire Safety
project would be the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system which, according to the USGS is a complex multiaquifer system with individual aquifers separated by leaky confining units. The system underlies the entire State of Iowa except for the extreme northwestern corner, the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin, the entire Lower Peninsula and all but a small area in the central and eastern parts of the Upper Peninsula
See PERMIT, Page 2
COURTESY PHOTO Shopper’s Guide
On Friday Oct. 7, Pearl City elementary students enjoyed a visit from Pearl City firefighters and the Northwestern Illinois children’s Life House. Pictured is Mrs. Lorig’s first grade class with the firefighters. Thank you to all the firefighters who shared their day with the students of Pearl City.
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