by Kieron Kramer
In response to R.J. Valente’s application to New York State for a modification of the Mined Land Use Plan for its mine in Grafton, the Grafton Planning Board voted unanimously, in a roll call vote, to pass a resolution declaring itself the lead agency in the NYS environmental review process (SEQR) and demanding that a site plan review application be submitted to the Board immediately. [private]The site plan review is required by Town law when there is a change of use. In this case the R.J. Valente company, which has an approved site plan for mining to a depth of 850 feet, wants to mine its quarry on Route 2 near the Brunswick Town line to a depth of 950 feet and to increase its hours of operation.
The history of the relationship between Valente and the Town is a troubled one. After some contentious hearings the original mining permit was issued by the Grafton Planning Board in April of 1996 with a number of stipulations. The application proposed the development of a surface consolidated mine consisting of 81 acres or so on an approximately 136 acre parcel; the remaining 54 acres would be maintained as a buffer.
At that time the NYS DEC declared itself the lead agency in the environmental review, and the Grafton Planning Board allowed them to do so. The State agency was interested in promoting operations that mine a stone called greywacke. Greywacke is used as an important underlayment in road construction. Greywacke, a resistant sandstone, comprises much of the bedrock of the 105,000 acres of the forested Rensselaer plateau. (See http://rensselaerplateau.org/RensselaerPlateau/History.aspx for a discussion of greywacke on the plateau.) It is one of the main products of the R.J. Valente mine in Grafton.
On June 3, 2002, Eastwick reporter Judith Radford attended a special meeting of the Grafton Planning Board regarding the Valente mine. She wrote, “Sal Ferlazzo, Grafton Town attorney, …discussed the lawsuit brought by R.J. Valente claiming the Town passed the 1997 moratorium staying all actions on site plan applications to block the quarry project. In June of 1997 a settlement was worked out between the Town and Valente with certain stipulations being agreed upon by both parties. Stipulations included base line water testing, blasting would be conducted under state regulations, mining activities would be coordinated with school bus schedules and only operate during certain agreed upon hours, quarry inspections would be allowed and 500 tons of processed material and $2,500 each year for ten years would be provided to the Town.”
Covering the July 2013 Town Board meeting, Eastwick reporter Alex Brooks wrote, “Higgins said Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey visited Valente Gravel. The Town is in the last year of its ten year agreement with Valente in which Valente agreed to give the Town $2,500 and 500 tons of material each year. Higgins said he and Withcuskey are making sure these are delivered as promised.” In reporting on the August Town Board meeting Brooks wrote, “Money and materials that were supposed to have been given to the Town by Valente Gravel as part of the agreement which allowed them to come into the Town have been delayed, and Supervisor Higgins said he has turned it over to the Town attorney to get them to deliver what is owed.” At the November meeting, Town Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said he had picked up 1,000 tons of Item 4 gravel from R.J. Valente as part of Valente’s deal with the Town when they were given a mining permit.
Not fulfilling the agreed stipulations, which Grafton Planning Board Chairman Tom Withcuskey said is court ordered from the 1997 court case which Valente lost, is not the only problem between the Town and R.J. Valente. According to Withcuskey, Valente has unilaterally extended its hours of operation and built a scale house with a bathroom without the proper Town permit or County Health Department permit which, Withcuskey said, he closed down. Perhaps most importantly, the trucks coming out of the mine have silty mud on their tires which ends up on the roadway on Route 2, making it very slippery. Any motorist who uses Route 2 on a regular basis has experienced this. Planning Board Member Owen Grandjean concurred and said that sometimes there are large rocks that have fallen out of the trucks onto the roadway and that one of Valente’s trucks turned over. The Town is getting a lot of complaints from motorists because of the hazardous condition of the roadway, Withcuskey said, and added that the DEC, NYS DOT and Rensselaer County have been notified. “It’s not a question of if but a question of when an accident will occur,” Withcuskey said and added that his worst nightmare is that there will be an accident involving a school bus on this section of Route 2.
Withcuskey said that he doesn’t want to interfere with Valente’s business and that he understands that hours might be extended occasionally when there is a big project in the works. Sometimes the road might have silt on it after a heavy rain, but he pointed out that Callahan, a worldwide mining company with headquarters in Ireland, has a mine right across the road, and they clean up after themselves right away. The Callahan mine has been there longer than Valente’s, and there have never been complaints from neighbors or motorists regarding their operation. He added that Callahan notifies him immediately of any change on the property. One of the things that rubbed Withcuskey, and the Planning Board, the wrong way is the feeling that Valente was trying to bypass the Board’s authority by going directly to the DEC requesting that they be lead agency. Hence the resolution that was passed at the Planning Board meeting on Monday, January 27.
The resolution says, “The Town has communicated with R.J. Valente by letter dated September 3, 2013 concerning the deficiencies in compliance with its current operations under its original approval by the Town, and…the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has requested by letter dated December 20, 2013 to assume lead agency status for this action, which includes an expansion of hours and of operations to include substantially more land to be mined, and…the Planning Board has not received a submittal on a project entitled Site Plan Application development for R.J. Valente, Inc. Gravel Quarry on Route 2 notwithstanding the fact that it acknowledged the Town’s Site Plan authority when it applied for and received a site plan in 1997 that was subject to a court ordered stipulation and settlement, and…the Planning Board believes that the application by R.J. Valente and the anticipated impacts of the modifications are primarily of local significance and that the Town has the capacity and ability to objectively review the project with the interests of the local public in mind better than the State of New York…after the review of the submittal contained in the proposal by Griggs-Lang Consulting Geologists, Inc. dated December 5, 2013 and the letter from Nancy Baker of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) dated December 20, 2013, it is hereby resolved:
1. That the Town Planning Board has jurisdiction to approve this project, which requires site plan review of a mining quarry under Town Code Section 186.
2. That the following agencies are believed to be involved or interested agencies: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Department of Transportation, Rensselaer County Department of Planning, Town of Brunswick.
3. That the Planning Board wishes to assume lead agency status in connection with the SEQR review of this project and does not wish the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to assume lead agency because, among other things, the major anticipated impacts – traffic, environmental and visual – are local not statewide.
4. That the Planning Board directs R.J. Valente to immediately apply for Site Plan approval and directs the Town attorney to communicate the Board’s resolution to all interested parties and to take whatever action is needed to secure lead agency status for this project.”
Withcuskey said that the resolution will be forwarded to the Commissioner of the DEC, who will decide whether the DEC or the Grafton Planning Board will be the lead agency in the environmental review. Whatever body becomes the lead agency, Valente will still have to submit an application for a site plan review to the Planning Board, Withcuskey said, and he added that he hoped Valente will apply right away so as to get the process moving and to avoid unnecessary delay. If the DEC Commissioner decides within the next month, the decision on lead agency will be announced at the February Planning Board meeting.
Brock Road Subdivision
Marion Jeffries applied for a two lot simple subdivision for her family’s approximately 60 acre parcel at 15 Brock Road at the intersection with Babcock Lake Road. Six heirs own the parcel formerly known as the land of Aumond. Jeffries, who attended the meeting with her sister, said she was the executor of the estate and has power of attorney from the heirs, who agree to separate a parcel of 9.8 acres for the sister, leaving 49.9 acres that abut Babcock Lake Road. The 9.8 acre parcel is at the side of the original parcel farthest from Babcock Lake Road.
Withcuskey has inspected the property and said that the subdivided lot would have a driveway just down from the log cabin nearby on Brock Road and that there would be no problem with the grade of the driveway. He helped Jeffries fill out the new State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) short form which is now four pages long instead of one page as it was last year. He said that it asks essentially the same questions but breaks them down into specifics. “It was my first experience with the new form,” Withcuskey said. He also said, “There is nothing on the property that is in violation.” A survey map and a check for $150 was supplied by Jeffries.
The sister said, “I grew up with that property, and I want to keep it.” When asked if she had plans to build she said, “Some years from now I might build a home when the kids are out of the house.” Marion Jeffries said the family has no plans for the 49.9 acre parcel other than maybe logging it. We may subdivide it in the future, she said. Withcuskey reminded her that if “you do four, it becomes a major subdivision.” A major subdivision is a more complicated process. “It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Withcuskey added.
The Board studied the survey map and the SEQR form and then unanimously accepted the application for the subdivision. Withcuskey will notify the abutters, Don Richardson, Brock and the State Line Trail Riders.
Public Hearing
A public hearing was scheduled for 6:50 pm before the next regular Planning Board meeting on February 24. Normally, the Board would meet on February 17, but that is Presidents’ Day, a holiday. Board Members Pete Gundrum and Jim Goyer said that they would be absent from the February meeting due to other commitments. That leaves Grandjean, Withcuskey and Arthur Surprise to form a quorum on February 24.[/private]