LOWELL -- No decision has been made about the future of an unpaved county road entangled in a stalled limestone quarry project, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring said.
Moehring and Lowell Mayor Chris Moore held a town hall Thursday night to discuss North Old Wire Road. An overflow crowd of more than 100 people filled the City Council chambers.
Requirements
In order to re-appear before the Benton County Planning Board, the applicant is required to re-notify property owners within 500 feet of the subject property via U.S. Postal Service certified mail and re-post signage along the public right-of-way, which advertise the meeting date, time and location. The public notice is required to be completed a minimum of 14 days prior to the public hearing date.
Source: Benton County Planning Department
Benton County's Planning Board voted 6-1 to table the quarry project indefinitely Dec. 19. The board also tabled the item at meetings Nov. 7 and Dec. 5 seeking more information from the applicant. Lowell's City Council approved a resolution in December opposing the quarry.
"The quarry has been such a big, emotional issue," Moehring said. "This obviously has generated a lot of attention."
Moehring said some residents think he can stop the project because he's the county judge. Any decision regarding a permit will come from the Planning Board, he said. He noted the road is just one element in the process, but it's the one part he has control over. It was important to get input from the community on the road, he said.
More than 15 people spoke Thursday night. The consensus was to leave the road unpaved. Each person received a round of applause from the audience after they spoke. Residents cited a litany of concerns about paving including increased heavy truck traffic on the road, safety issues and the loss of a historical and cultural jewel.
"There's no logic to pave a road that doesn't need to be paved," Tony Kaczoroski of Lowell said.
Red dirt is taken from the Cross Hollows mine at 1425 N. Old Wire Road. The area is just northeast of Lowell. Part of the 135 acres owned by David Covington is laid out in 10-acres sections. Each parcel represents a five-year operating period for proposed limestone production, according to the Planning Department's executive summary on the project.
Anchor Stone, the project applicant, from Tulsa, Okla., would lease the land and quarry the stone.
Planning Board members in December asked for a road agreement, more information on the historical and cultural significance of the area, a private drinking water source warranty and an environmental impact assessment, according to a June 12 email Planning Director Taylor Reamer sent to Moehring.
The Planning Department hasn't received any of the items, Reamer said Thursday.
The last correspondence the Planning Department received from the applicant concerning the quarry was March 19, Reamer said. The correspondence requested the meeting minutes from the Dec. 19 public hearing, he said.
The Cherokee Nation and Trail of Tears Association has noted its concerns about the proposed quarry being 900 feet from a section of the trail, according to letters from both.
The trail commemorates the forced removal of the Cherokee from the southeastern United States to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma in 1838 and 1839, according to the Trail of Tears Association website.
In a June 28 letter to Bill Watkins, the attorney for Covington, the Cherokee Nation references a report done on the area earlier this year by Cojeen Archeological Services. A copy of the letter also was sent to Reamer.
"The Cherokee Nation concurs with the report's summary that paving this road segment would adversely affect this significant cultural and historic resource," says the letter from Elizabeth Toombs, tribal historic preservation officer.
The letter also states, "Paving endangers this cultural resource and risks its delisting in the National Register of Historic Places."
Moehring announced at the meeting 11 signs marking the Trail of Tears Historic Route would be put up in the county. Rogers will put another six signs, he said.
A traffic survey done by Peters & Associates Engineers and sent to Ken Booth with Sand Creek Engineering in December gave short and long-term recommendation for the road. Sand Creek represented Anchor Stone at previous Planning Board meetings.
In the short term, the report states the unpaved section of Old Wire Road can handle the additional traffic expected to be associated with the site development if the entire unpaved road section is at least 20 feet wide (allowing for two 10-foot travel lanes) and with some areas re-graded to the north and south of Cross Hollow Road to the paved road sections. The improved two-lane road would add safety and allow adequate traffic operation, according to the report.
In the long-term, the developer should work with Benton County to eventually pave the unpaved section of Old Wire Road to a minimum of 20 feet wide. This would add additional safety and continue to allow adequate traffic operations, the report states.
It's estimated 35 to 50 dump trucks a day would haul limestone from the quarry depending on the size and location of a particular project, Tim Sorey with Sand Creek Engineering said. A loaded truck would weigh more than 20 tons, Sorey said.
A few residents who spoke said they thought the number of trucks per day would be much more than that.
NW News on 07/19/2019