As Marion City Council contemplates the annexation of a portion of National Lime and Stone to allow them to expand their quarry operations, the residents of a bordering neighborhood are not happy about the plan. Citing concerns over home damage, excessive noise, and issues with wells, several residents spoke out during the City Council’s Zoning and Annexation Committee Tuesday evening.
National Lime and Stone wants to annex 200 acres of their property north of Likens Road. The company says the move is needed in order to re-zone the area to allow for mining. They originally attempted to get the re-zoning done through Grand Prairie Township, but said it had become apparent that the process was not going to succeed. Company attorney Brian Barger explained that the issue was approved unanimously by the Marion Planning Commission, but township officials failed to show up to a zoning meeting and the residents made it clear at that point they had no interest in working with the company on issues surrounding the expansion.
Barger said that because there appeared to be no way to work with the community, the company decided to pursue annexation to the City where they would then request the re-zoning.
The Council Committee started the meeting by assuring the residents that they had no intention of making a decision on the annexation quickly. Barger agreed with the slow approach and explained the company is in no hurry.
Committee member Josh Daniels said that while he understands these issues can become very personal, he hoped that everyone would be able to talk through the situation calmly. He said that while some neighbors may wish the company would just evaporate, he doesn’t take that position because the company is important to the City of Marion when it comes to access to construction materials. Even with that, he said the issues of the neighbors are very important to him.
One concern expressed by residents has been the impact of the blasting done at the quarry. Committee member Becky Gustin asked if the blasts could be directed away from the residential area. Barger said the engineers already design the blasts to reduce the impact area and try to direct everything to the north.
“We’re very confident that it will not cause structural damage,” stated Barger, explaining that he does not believe the company is responsible for any structural damage in the past. He said they have never been cited for structural damage, but has paid for some issues with water wells. He said they were never cited for those issues, but took it upon themselves to deepen and fix the wells rather than argue against the concerns raised by ODNR.
Gustin expressed concerns over how close the company could be mining to the residential area. Barger said that while they have no plans on getting as close as regulations allow that it’s not unheard of to mine close to a residence.
“Shame on them,” responded Gustin. Barger said his company does it elsewhere and the science is there to make it happen. “That doesn’t mean they should,” answered Gustin.
Tiffany Cruminaker, a resident northwest of the quarry, said the house she has lived in for about seven years was built in 1957, the same period as most of the area homes. She said that because of the age of the homes, it is hard to prove the foundation damage is caused by blasting at the quarry. Even so, she said that as the blasts continue to get closer, the complaints of damage are going to increase.
Cruminaker said the noise from the quarry’s crusher was “ridiculous” over the summer. She said that while she understands the machinery is a part of the business, the crusher will only get closer to the residents as the quarry expands its operations. With that, she is also concerned that dust issues will continue to get worse.
Barger said the company will work to reduce the amount of dust generated by the crusher. He stressed that the company needs to be made aware there is a problem before they can take steps to reduce the problem. Later in the meeting, Barger said the company would talk to their engineers about keeping the crusher where it is instead of moving it closer to the neighborhood.
Jennifer Campbell, whose property touches the quarry property, said she has lived in the same house her whole life. She questioned why the blasts are not already being directed away from the residents and said she can remember years ago when they were blasting on the north side and plates and items would fall off the walls during blasting.
Campbell shared that her insurance company once told her they would be unsuccessful pursuing a claim against the company because the cause is always considered to be ground movement and that it’s hard to prove it is the company’s fault.
Barger reiterated that the company has operated well under the guidelines issued by the State of Ohio through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). He said the blast data must be turned into ODNR every time it takes place to ensure they are operating within the regulations. He suggested that an official from ODNR be brought to Council to answer questions about the regulations and the company’s compliance.
James Patrick, who lives on Woodlawn Drive with about 1,100 feet bordering the company property, said his water well went bad last year. He had been assured that he should not have any issues because the well was drilled in the 1990’s and was 95 feet deep. He said when they investigated, they found the limestone plate had shifted and collapsed the well. Patrick said National Lime and Stone was contacted and they paid to have the well fixed with just one phone call.
Patrick also explained that he has a room that is pulling away from his house. He believes that it is due to the ground shifting which is caused by the blasting. He said he took the company’s suggestion and has forwarded the information and photos to ODNR.
One other concern expressed by Patrick was the planned re-alignment of Harvey Ditch. He said that ditch drains a lot of water from the neighborhood and even through the drought had water all summer long. He questioned how the move may affect the flooding on his property.
Barger said the ditch re-alignment will be overseen by the City and/or County Engineer along with ODNR and other agencies to ensure that it is done correctly.
After being asked about the financial impact to the City compared to the benefit from an increase in income taxes, Daniels said he has not looked at the financial cost of providing police and fire service. He said that what he has considered is that National Lime and Stone is the only quarry in Marion County. Daniels explained that if people have to start trucking in gravel from out of county, it will add at least $10 a ton to the cost. He said if you consider that $2.7 million in gravel was sold to Marion County municipalities last year, the impact could push the cost to well over $3 million for local government projects.
“We can’t afford to not come to a compromise,” stated Daniels, who challenged everyone to work on solutions rather than dwell on problems.
There were some questions on how long the new area of 200 acres would last the company before it would ready to expand again. Barger said about 10 to 12 acres a year is being mined currently. Two residents suggested at different times during the meeting that since there seems to be a lot of valuable limestone under their houses the company might be interested in buying them out.
Speaking again later in the meeting, Jennifer Campbell suggested documenting the current damage to show if there was damage in the future. She also said she feels that since the company has their lawyers and ODNR on their side, the City should provide someone to the residents to fight for them.
Barger disagreed with Campbell, saying that ODNR is certainly not on the company’s side in these issues and has a process for determining fault.
Connie Shuffler told the Council Committee that one reason the neighborhood is gun shy because there have been promises made in previous meetings that were not kept over the summer, including smaller blasts, no back-up beepers, and stopping the crusher over night. She asked if these promises are made again, how will they be documented and how will they be enforced?
Daniels explained that to proceed with the annexation and re-zoning, a new zoning district would have to be created because it does not currently exist in Marion County. He said that in creating this zoning district, there can be protections included in the codes.
The company agreed with residents that they typically crush four months out of the year with three shifts. Once of those shifts is for maintenance, but that is done during the day for safety, which results in crushing overnight.
“Unless you live there, you cannot understand what it’s like,” stressed Shuffler, talking about the noise and blasting.
Daniels reminded residents that if the company expands, they will have to use newer, more stringent ODNR rules, not the grandfathered rules they are operating under now. Daniels said he was prepared to suggest larger setbacks from the residential area. He said those larger setbacks would mean that blasting would not take place any closer to the neighborhood than it does now.
Daniels asked the residents about questions he received recently about the fact that all the homes were built after the quarry was already in operation. He asked if the residents did not realize there was a quarry there. One resident stated she was not made aware of the quarry. Resident John Fark said that it has gotten a lot worse since they moved in. An additional resident said there used to be a road and farms that acted as a buffer. The road was vacated in the 1970’s and the company purchased the farms and has since moved closer to the neighborhood.
There were some questions over the amount of income tax the City of Marion would realize from the annexation. Mark Russell, City Law Director, said that even though the company’s office would not be located in the annexed area, the employees physically working in the new portion would be assessed income tax.
Ayers Ratliff suggested that instead of piecemealing the property, the company should offer to annex all of their property into the City of Marion. He said that would eliminate any confusion over which employees are taxed and would provide City services to the whole property. Barger said the issue over who pays what is not difficult to work through and is done all the time throughout the state.
The Zoning and Annexation Committee did not take any action at the end of the meeting. They also did not schedule the next meeting, but promised much more discussion and work would take place before any decision was made.
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