No decisions were made Thursday by the Peoria County Zoning Board of Appeals about a potential gravel pit in Medina Township.

ZBA members heard about six hours worth of evidence and opinions at its monthly meeting.
Chairman Troy Roberts said everyone would be heard in the case.

In the morning, Mossville Land Investments LLC’s attorney, Janaki Nair of Elias Meginnes Riffle & Seghetti PC, presented information for the company’s members and managers, Stan Maxheimer and Joe LaHood, both of Washington, who also spoke.

At least a dozen entities or groups submitted objections to the request for special use at 14728 N. Old Galena Road, including Medina Township and its planning commission, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Valley Central District 321 school board, Chillicothe Public Library District, Chillicothe and Peoria park districts and Traders Realty.

The Peoria County Planning & Zoning Department also recommended denial in its staff report.

Two special-use permits are needed for the proposed 222-acre facility, as one parcel of land is zoned agriculture and one industrial, though both are currently being farmed.

Nair said it is thought the industrial parcel has been zoned I-2 since 1973.

MLI is imposing a 1,300 foot setback for the project, Nair said.

“We, in fact, believe there won’t be any adverse affects with this project,” Nair said.

Both Maxheimer and LaHood said more gravel products are needed in Peoria County.

“At present, if we don’t get started soon, we will be in trouble,” said Maxheimer.

He estimated the men import about 40 to 60 percent of gravel products from outside Peoria County.

“We do need more in the area locally,” said LaHood of LaHood Construction Inc.

He added they were traveling 25 to 70 miles away and then the cost gets passed on to the consumer.

If the permits are granted, Maxheimer said they will begin on the project next year.

Also giving testimony at the hearing was Devin Birch of Austin Engineering, who prepared the plans with the petition.

He said the plans are preliminary, with more work to be done after the project gets the OK.

No more than 10 acres will be mined at one time at the load-and-carry facility due to Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations, Birch and Nair said.

The ingress/egress on Rome West Road will be used for agricultural purposes, as the land will continue to be farmed while the mining process begins, and as an emergency access point or fire/safety use.

Reclamation, depending on the market, could be some sort of recreational facility with grasses and the lake.

Birch also said from talking to colleagues, there is a need for sand and gravel, including certain gravel products and fill sand.

Steve Kroll of Patrick Engineering, a professional geologist, prepared the hydrology report for MLI.

He said the purpose was to address concerns of the project in relation to the San Koty aquifer, which supplies water in the Chillicothe and Peoria areas.

He said the aquifer is rated the second highest for susceptibility to contamination.

With no municipal wells in the area, Kroll said, should a problem occur, officials would have time to clean things up.

Kroll also said concerns of Buckeye Terminal’s proximity in relation to risk is “extremely low,” and airborne pesticide he said is “insignificant.”

Board members asked Maxheimer about how much gravel was on the property, and he said they were “fairly certain” more than 10 million tons.

Board member Jeff Myers of Chillicothe said he knows of three gravel pits in the county and asked why they could not get gravel from them.

Nair said it is a question of the supply tapering.

LaHood said their main supplier shut down in Spring Bay, and then they switched to Washburn and LaSalle/Peru.

Nair said local users are in direct competition with the Chicago area. LaHood said Galena Road Gravel in Chillicothe is shipping its products by rail and barge up north.

LaHood also stressed the kind of gravel quality they needed.

As far as the process of day-to-day operations, Maxheimer said they would excavate the material using a drag line to pull the gravel up, size it, wash it, and then haul it to its end use. The dust should be kept to a minimum due to using that method.

He said he did not know how many machines would be needed on the property.

Nair said the working time would be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. as set by county ordinance.

Nair said the men do not plan to do any finishing work to the product, such as crushing the product, but if so, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency would have to issue the permit.

It was pointed out, though, that the county’s special use permit does not make a distinction between just extracting gravel and crushing it.

They were also asked if they had looked at other pieces of property.

Maxheimer said they began testing properties about 10 years ago in Peoria County, and the closest they found for material they need was what is now the soccer field south of Mossville Caterpillar.

Maxheimer also said the men are willing to meet with the public and walk them through the property and explain their plans.

Board member Larry Cox asked about school buses running in the area with Mossville Grade School close.

“The amount of traffic added will be nominal,” said Nair about an estimated 1 percent increase on Old Galena Road.

Cox said truck traffic is different than automobile traffic.

No truck route was given at the hearing.

Eric Therkildsen of the Illinois Department of Transportation said the proposed mineral extraction facility would impact IDOT’s Illinois Route 29 project, as the proposed road goes through the industrially zoned portion of the property.

Beginning in November 2001, IDOT began work on locating a road known as the Peoria-to-Chicago highway.

Final approval on the road is expected this winter, and there is no funding, except that IDOT does have funding for the first design phase to Cedar Hills Drive, Therkildsen said.

The project will begin at the south and head north, and could begin in the next 10 years, he said.

“It’s been in the process for quite a long time,” said Therkildsen about the road that has been discussed since 1969-70.

In several months, Therkildsen said, IDOT could have funding to buy the men out.

If special-use permits are granted, Therkildsen said IDOT would have a two-to-three year delay, at a cost of $3 million in redesigning the road.

Nair asked if the road could be “nudged” to avoid the area.

He said it may be able to be moved, but it would take time, and IDOT has to avoid environmentally protected areas. They also have to present multiple alignments, not just one, he said.

A change would mean re-alignment from Cedar Hills to Chillicothe, Therkildsen said.

Resident Charlie Brown of Pinewood Estates presented more than 200 names on nine petitions of those against the project.

He cited concerns of school buses, dust and of empty trucks entering on Rome West Road and going out on Old Galena Road full.

Nair stressed the opening on Rome West Road would be used for agriculture purposes only.

Resident Cecil Dickson, who lives on Old Galena Road, expressed concerns about truck traffic, stating that trucks already do more than the speed limit. He also said the driveway for the property would be hazardous, as it cannot be seen from the hill.

Medina Township Planning Commission chairman Jim Christopher brought the minutes from the commission’s meeting, recommending denial, and produced a petition with 424 signatures on it.

When asked why people objected, Christopher said he thought the main reasons were water issues and traffic.

Township attorney John Redlingshafer, of Heyl Royster Voelker & Allen PC, made a presentation on behalf of the township.

He said Nair told about the community character of industrial zoning to the south of the property — Buckeye and Caterpillar — but not the residential and agricultural to the north, east and west.

He also showed evidence of pipeline failures and spills in Woodland Heights and the Miller property in Edelstein.

Redlingshafer also played video of the two old cemeteries near the proposed project and then showed videos of Galena Road Gravel in Chillicothe.

Medina Township supervisor John Dawson asked if money for reclamation would be enough a couple decades from now.

Representing the Chillicothe Park District, president Mike Krost said the project does nothing for the equalized assessed value in the area and does not help development either.

Dawson echoed those concerns.

“We don’t believe that there will be a negative decrease on the surrounding area due to setbacks,” said Nair.

The ZBA will meet at 11 a.m. Nov. 13 in Room 403 at the Peoria County Courthouse to deliberate on the case.

The issue then will go to the land use committee and the full county board.