by Kieron Kramer
The agenda for the Grafton Planning Board meeting on Monday, September 15, had only one item of new business on it – the “application for site plan review for RJ Valente.” And so, it seemed, RJ Valente Gravel, Inc., was beginning the long awaited site application process in front of the Grafton Planning Board. Not so fast. No application was submitted at this meeting, and Jason Kappell, of Spec Consulting of Albany, the consultant for RJ Valente, said at the meeting that the decision to go ahead with the project, and therefore with the application process, had not yet been made.
[private]Kappell did, however, provide the Board with official copies of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Notice Of Positive Declaration and Public Scoping dated August 12, 2014, which says, “NYSDEC, as SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) lead agency, has determined that the proposed RJ Valente Gravel, Inc. Grafton Quarry may have a significant impact on the environment and that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) must be prepared.” According to the DEC, “The proposed project includes the addition of 15 acres to an existing 75 acre life of mine, for a new life of mine area of 90 acres and a proposal to lower the mine floor by 100’…and expand the approved hours of operation.”
The DEIS that was sent to Planning Board Chairman Tom Withcuskey in August had a discrepancy, Withcuskey said, and so a new DEIS was prepared and resubmitted the week before this meeting. The new DEIS had the same due date for comments on the scope of the project as did the August DEIS, September 19. Withcuskey thought that the due date would not allow adequate time for the public or the Town, in the form of the Planning Board, to comment so he called Nancy M. Baker, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator, and asked to extend the due date by a week to September 26, which she agreed to do.
Kappell said that RJ Valente had no objection to extending the due date. This will give everyone a chance to weigh in, he said. “We stand ready to review the comments and determine if the project will move forward,” Kappell said. There will be no application tonight, he said, “We will wait for the feedback.”
The original mining permit issued by the Grafton Planning Board in April of 1996 had a number of stipulations which included base line water testing, that blasting would be conducted under State regulations, that mining activities would be coordinated with school bus schedules and only operate during certain agreed upon hours, that quarry inspections would be allowed and that 500 tons of processed material and $2,500 each year for ten years would be provided to the Town.
Withcuskey thinks that it will take three to four months “or better” for the DEC to respond to the comments on the Valente mine expansion. “This is no bam-wham affair,” he said. A public hearing on the final EIS and Public Scoping will be scheduled at a later date at a site to be determined. And, if Valente decides to go ahead with the project, a public hearing in Grafton will also be scheduled once the site plan review application is submitted.
Copies of the Draft Scoping (DEC #4-3826-00017/00001) are available for review at the Town of Grafton Town Hall, Route 2, the Grafton Community Library, Route 2, and NYS DEC Region 4 Headquarters, 1130 North Westcott Road, Schenectady, NY. Additional copies may also be obtained by contacting the NYSDEC at 518-357-2452, however, in the interest of timeliness, emailing Nancy Baker at nancy.baker@dec.ny.gov for a copy might work best. Kappell said that Baker has “electronic copies available” for the public.
Hasbrouck-Hull Lot Line Adjustment Approved
A public hearing was held at 6:55 pm before the regular meeting on the Hasbrouck-Hull Lot Line Adjustment that was applied for last month. The lots, at 3172 Rt. 2, are located on the north side of Rt. 2 just west of the intersection with Old Road. Alan Hasbrouck and his surveyor, Bill Darling, were the only people in the audience. No comments were made, and there were no questions from the Planning Board. The hearing closed at 7:05.
During the regular meeting, which began immediately at 7:05, Chairman Withcuskey made the motion to approve the Hasbrouck-Hull Lot Line Adjustment and another motion to declare that there would be no significant impact on the environment due to the lot line adjustment. The Board voted unanimously to approve both motions. The meeting adjourned at 7:10.
Winter Is A-Coming In
Just about everyone who came to the Planning Board meeting Monday commented on how cold it was in the hall so it was not surprising that Planning Board Member Jim Goyer shared his expertise on pellet stoves with the unassembled multitude during the ten minutes of what would have been silence during the public hearing.[/private]