Pit operators host public meeting

Pit owners Brice and Michelle Cotter and Mike Voskamp are applying for an extension to the gravel pit they operate on Telephone Rd. in Cramahe Township. As part of the process they hosted a public meeting on November 16 to explain their plans and to hear public opinion.

About 10 neighbours of the pit showed up to hear pit and quarry consultant Bernie Fuhrmann outline the procedures and put detail to the proposal.

Mr. Fuhrmann clearly outlined how any opponent can protest the change.



In the Aggregate Resources licensing process, anyone who opposes the plan has until December 7 to write to the owners and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), stating concerns. Mr. Fuhrmann suggested they could even write to him.

The owners will sit down after the December date, review the concerns, and possibly make adjustments to their plans. They will also reply to all the letters they receive.

Complainants have 20 days to respond to the owners' letters of reply. If they are still opposed they can meet with the owners and/or take the problem to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

If there are no objections at this stage, the owners will apply to the MNR and await a licence.

Residents can also fight the required zoning changes at the OMB. Mr. Furhmann says the Township of Cramahe has had all the required documents for about a month. Township Council simply needs to make a decision about whether to re-zone the land from agricultural to extractive industrial.

If the township approves the change, it must hold a public meeting. Anyone can appeal the decision to the OMB. If the township turns the request down, the owners of the pit can appeal in the same way.

Later in the meeting Mr. Furhmann cast a bit of reality on the prospect of an OMB appeal by residents. "Over 85% of pit material is used by the public and is therefore protected by the province," he stated. The pits fulfill public demand.

Mr. Fuhrmann explained to the audience how the pit owners were doing everything they could to make the pit more palatable. A portable crusher and screener will be allowed on site but there will be no washing done, and forested areas along the boundaries will be retained. The pit will be mined along the sides and then from south to north. Each area will be rehabilitated when the gravel peters out and before a new section is started. All excavation must remain 1.5 metres above the water table. Fences required along the boundaries will be constructed in consultation with the neighbours and accommodate their needs.

Hours of operation will be restricted, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. There will be no Sunday or holiday work without a special permit from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The consultant reassured the audience that they were much better protected than residents were 50, or even 20 years ago. If the Cotters and Mr. Voskamp break the agreement they have made with the ministry, they could lose their licence to draw gravel out of the site.

Mr. Fuhrmann was certain, under the restrictions of the proposed licence that no wells would be adversely affected by the pit. If it could be proven that the pit had affected wells, the pit owners would be required to rectify the situation.

He could not reassure one neighbour who wondered about restitution for lost property values. That issue has always remained out of the purview of the OMB.

If all goes well for the pit expansion it could be approved by the spring. If it goes to the OMB, the approval or denial of the licence could take up to a year-and-a-half.

There is enough gravel available under the current licence to last about seven-eight years, says Mr. Cotter. The current owners have been operating the pit for four years.

Under the new licence they will be allowed to draw 400,000 tonnes of gravel a year. Trucks vary in size, but that volume will translate into about 2,000 trucks a year if the maximum amount of aggregate is hauled.