HARRISON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE PUBLIC HEARING
September 5, 2017
PUBLIC HEARING CALL TO ORDER:
Chairman Bill Welsh called the public hearing of September 5, 2017 to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 6:30pm at the Harrison Township Building, 2746 Weigand Road, Lockbourne, Ohio. Attending were Trustee Doug Clark, Trustee Joe DeFelice, Trustee Bill Welsh, and Fiscal Officer MaryAnn Elliott. Also attending were William Walton, Dave Jones, Ross Crego, Barbara Younkin and Bernard Rathmell.
Trustee Welsh read the Rules of Order for the public hearing.
The Clerk read the Legal Notice of Public Hearing published in the Circleville Herald on August 22, 2017.
The Clerk read the recommendation from the Pickaway County Planning Commission to approve the amendment to change zoning and allow mining on the stated parcels.
The Clerk read the recommendation from the Zoning Commission to accept the Jones Fuel Company’s change of zoning application to Planned Business. The temporary entrance on US 23 is to be used only before the business is opened and all business traffic will use SR 762 as permitted by ODOT. Also, no lighting, signage or structures are approved at this time. Any changes must go through the proper zoning application and permit process.
Dave Jones addressed the board to explain that they do not intend to use this land for approximately ten years. Chris Pence will be farming this parcel for the next six years. ODOT has approved the entrance to the property on SR 762. They will be using a temporary entrance off of US 23 while building the road off of SR 762. There will be no pumping of water and they will not affect the water table. There will be no fuel stored on site. There will be no buildings or structures on this site. He will be removing about ten acres of topsoil to a depth of four feet per year.
William Walton was concerned about the effect of this project on the water tables in the area. He lives on Weigand Road. Dave Jones addressed this concern saying that they will only be removing ten acres per year at a depth of four feet. They will not be pumping water from the site. It is a Federal Law that if the business is pumping and the water table is affected they would have to supply the residents with water or dig them a new well.
Ross Crego, Administrator of the Village of Commercial Point, shared that the Village has four wells on the east side of the Scioto River north of SR 762. They have developed a new well field on the west side of the river which will go into production in 2018. Both well fields are approximately 3000 feet from the parcel to be re-zoned. They are not concerned about the removal of topsoil or dredging operation having any impact on their well fields, but are concerned that at some future time the work site could involve injecting materials into the site which could affect their wells.
Barbara Younkin owns the five acre parcel on the southwest corner of SR 762 and US 23 adjoining the parcel to be re-zoned. Her main concern is adding more trucks to the traffic on SR 762 which is already so heavy at that intersection. She also asked about reclaiming. Dave Jones replied that at maximum times there would be a truck in or out every six minutes. ODOT stated the increase in traffic is not even significant. As for the reclaiming, he stated it is a federal law that any mining site must reclaim the land according to federal requirements.
Bernard Rathmell stated he was concerned that this was going to be mining at the corner of US 23 and Weigand Road. Dave Jones showed him where the parcel he is asking to rezone is located on the west side of US 23.
Mr. Clark said he was concerned about Commercial Point’s water supply. Dave Jones said for him to change any of the water levels would involve multiple government agencies, the EPA, ODNR, Army Corps of Engineers, etc. He cannot pump water off site, therefore the water elevation will not change. If any well water level is affected he would be required by law to replace that well or provide them with bottled water within 24 hours. They have been doing this for fifty years in several locations and this has never been an issue.
Mr. DeFelice asked how deep they will be digging in twenty years. Dave Jones said he only wants this property for the topsoil. Even if he dug to sixty feet, he still would not be permitted to pump water from the site, so it won’t change the water level. If they were digging gravel out at sixty feet, he would only be removing gravel, not adding anything, so it would not change the quality of the water. He stated that the water quality was checked twice a year.
Mr. DeFelice asked how long the temporary easement onto US 23 would be used. Dave Jones said it could be up to ten years until he got the road done off of SR 762. Mr. DeFelice was concerned about dirt carried onto US 23 and asked if Jones Fuel could have the permanent road off of SR 762 finished in 180 days. Dave Jones said he could have the road finished by then and quit using the US 23 entrance.
RESOLUTION 17-69
A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE ZONING COMMISSION TO ACCEPT THE JONES FUEL COMPANY’S CHANGE OF ZONING APPLICATION TO PLANNED BUSINESS FOR PARCELS D1200020031600 AND D1200030031210. NO LIGHTING, SIGNAGE OR STRUCTURES ARE APPROVED AT THIS TIME. ONCE A DEPTH OF TWENTY FEET IS REACHED ALL WATER QUALITY REPORTS WILL BE SENT TO HARRISON TOWNSHIP FOR PUBLIC VIEWING. THE TEMPORARY ENTRANCE ON US 23 IS TO BE USED FOR 180 DAYS OR LESS WHILE THE ROAD OFF OF SR 762 IS BUILT.
Mr. DeFelice made the motion and it was seconded by Mr. Welsh. The Trustees voted as follows:
Mr. DeFelice: Yes Mr. Welsh: Yes Mr. Clark: No Resolution 17-16 was approved.
ADJOURNMENT:
With no further comments and all scheduled matters attended to, Mr. Welsh moved and Mr. DeFelice seconded the motion to adjourn the September 5, 2017 Public Hearing. All were in favor and the meeting was adjourned at 7:10pm.