Minutes - 04-12-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- engage in no noise-causing operations between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. - reduce the allowable ground vibration limit from one inch down to .6 of an inch - monitor with at least two seismographs - meet periodically with neighbors to go over questions ar concerns He said that most of the land around them has been an asphalt plant and they plan to add less than 25 acres to their present site. He said that American Stone Company has been criticized and analyzed by citizens, the press, and others who are looking for same connection between the work at the quarry and the allegations of damage to homes and wells. He said that no one has found anything including an inspection that took place today. In conclusion, he said that American Stone Company operates the quarry responsibly in light of the permits and regulations. If these mitigation measures are adopted, the impacts will be greatly reduced and the operation will be substantially less intrusive in the neighborhood. Chair Carey made reference to a question from a citizen and asked if 36.8 acres were approved for mining in the current quarry. Mr. Badham did not know the answer. Chair Carey noted that Mr. Badham spoke far 15 minutes. Mr. Peter Gordon, Chair of the OWASA Board of Directors, spoke in support of the proposed change to the land use plan. He said that since the idea of using an expanded stone quarry for water storage was first proposed ten years ago, there have been a lot of changes at OWASA. There is a new Executive Director and a completely new Board of Directors. He said that OWASA has very strong support far this proposal. He said that when OWASA was first formed in 1977, its customers used around 4-1/2 million gallons a day. In 1999, there was an average of 9 mgd sold. In projecting future demand, OWASA looked at projections of growth in different sectors of local economy and came up with .18 mgd of growth per year into the future. Under that scenario, in the year 2050, OWASA would be selling 18 mgd. There is a slowing of growth according to their projections. They expect in 2050 the average daily water sales will be between 15-21 mgd. According to the projections, between 2030 and 2050 OWASA will need additional water. One way to meet those demands is to use the stone quarry and the other is to use the Jordan Lake water source. It is highly passible that the Jordan Lake watershed will receive the level of water protection that is in Orange County. One question is how big of a water storage facility is needed. The analyses show that the ideal storage facility would hold around three billion gallons of water, and that is the approximate size of what is held currently in the Cane Creek reservoir. The analyses also show that there is sufficient drainage in the watersheds to usefully have that much storage. OWASA's current supply system gives approximately 15 mgd. If they have excess storage capacity, they would have greater flexibility to maintain their existing facilities, release additional water downstream, etc. He noted that some things have changed since this application was first submitted. They are as follows: 1. The mitigation measures that were developed and came out of the mediation process 2. The duty to quarry -the original agreement does not specify what size pit American Stone would produce as a result of its quarrying activity. They have agreed to a supplemental set of agreements which would go into effect if this is approved which we believe would greatly increase the likelihood that we would end up with a three billion-gallon facility. There would be checkpoints over the years to be sure we will end up with the size pit we need and assurances this will be done if at all economically feasible. 3. OWASA has entered into an agreement in principle to buy the current quarry site from Mrs. Durham. That allows OWASA to tell the neighbors that OWASA will own the site north and west of the road and that in the year 2030 the site will only be used for water supply purposes. This will be a 60-acre lake that will be surrounded by 100 acres of woods and no other activities will take place on this site other than those related to water supply. Chair Carey pointed out that Mr. Gordon spoke for 15 minutes. The opponents will be allowed up to 30 minutes to make their presentation.