Council zoning decision set for Aug. 16

Portland City Council will make its decision Aug. 16 on U.S. Aggregates’ rezoning request for expansion of its stone quarry.

Council made that decision Tuesday at the conclusion of a special meeting dedicated to the rezoning request after hearing from both the company and residents who have expressed concern about the project.

U.S. Aggregates has requested 108 acres of land between county road 100 South and Tyson Road, east of county road 200 West, be rezoned to industrial from the current agricultural. It hopes to use that land to expand its stone quarry operation. Company officials have said the current site at 2228 W. 125 South has about three to five years worth of material left and that the new area would extend the life of the facility by an estimated 30 years.

The rezoning has been discussed at various local government meetings for about six months, with Portland Plan Commission in April recommending that the request be denied and then, after modifications by U.S. Aggregates, voting 7-0 in July to recommend that it be approved. The rezoning decision is ultimately up to city council.

U.S. Aggregates president John Schmidt on Tuesday presented details of the various commitments the company has agreed to make in conjunction with the rezoning. Those include:

•Providing compensation to any adjacent homeowner, including all of the Beacon Heights addition, who are unable to sell their properties for at least 110% of the 2021 assessed value, if it is determined that U.S. Aggregates’ is the cause of the devaluation of the property. (This provision is applicable for the next seven years.)

•Providing a remedy if homeowners have issues with water wells that Indiana Department of Natural Resources determines are attributed to the U.S. Aggregates operation.

•Constructing a berm 20 to 35 feet high along Tyson Road and county road 200 West with native grasses, bushes and trees.

•Setting allowed hours of operation for 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, transfer of materials between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. (Company representatives later clarified that it will not regularly be doing business throughout all of those hours, but that they provide enough flexibility to meet customer demands.)

•Limiting blasting, which is to remain about two to three times per month, to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. (Adjacent residents will be notified of planned blasting upon request.)

•Conducting seismic monitoring at Jay County Junior-Senior High School for a period of six months to ensure vibrations are below established guidelines.

Schmidt also again emphasized that U.S. Aggregates is monitored by various state and federal agencies, including Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Council also heard from several residents who oppose the project. They made requests including that a fence be built around the quarry, landscaping be kept up, that the city and U.S. Aggregates extend city water service to the Beacon Heights properties, that the company pay a flat rate of $20,000 to any Beacon Heights property owner who sells their property in the next 10 years, that stone and sand piles be covered, that the woods to the east of the proposed quarry expansion be preserved, that hours of operation be further limited, that dust monitoring be conducted and that a specific reclamation plan be put in writing.

Tim Sheffer, a resident of Beacon Heights, referred to Jay County as an “ever-expanding utility room” in reference to the quarry expansion as well as confined feeding operations, Jay County Landfill, wind farms and solar farms.

“No one wants to live, build next to or hang out in the utility room,” he said.

Jay County Development Corporation executive director Travis Richards spoke in support of the rezoning request, noting U.S. Aggregates’ local economic impact in terms of jobs and materials. Cory Price, a 17-year employee of the company, advocated for it as well, representing his fellow employees.

City council members asked various questions, with Kent McClung requesting that a noise plan and traffic plan be included in the company’s commitments. Dave Golden echoed residents’ request for a more defined reclamation plan and asked for extended seismic monitoring and a larger property value commitment.

After some discussion about the viability of those requests — U.S. Aggregates agreed to some of them while pushing back on others — council members agreed to provide any further proposed changes to the agreement to city attorney Bill Hinkle by Monday. That will allow Hinkle and U.S. Aggregates attorney Josh Atkinson time to negotiate any changes before council votes.

Council members Don Gillespie, Matt Goldsworthy, Mike Aker, Janet Powers, McClung and Golden, absent Michele Brewster, voted unanimously to act on the rezoning request at their Aug. 16 meeting. (By city ordinance, council has 90 days from the time the plan commission recommendation is certified to make its decision.)

If approved, U.S. Aggregates would then need to receive a special exception for mining from Portland Board of Zoning Appeals to allow the quarry expansion to move forward.