TOWN OF NORTH HARMONY
PLANNING BOARD
TUESDAY, 07/12/2022, 7:00 PM
MEMBERS PRESENT: PAT RICE PHIL STRAND
RICHARD JOHNSON GARY WINGER
JIM GOODLING BRANDON VANCURAN (alternate)
Brad Lawson – Zoning CEO
OTHERS PRESENT: Stephanie Gibbs, Dick Sena, Kelly Johnson, Robert Yates, Mike Pfeil, Maureen Mack
- PAT RICE OPENED THE MEETING AT 7:00 PM.
- Mr. Lawson gave Zoning Report.
- Mr. Sena gave Town Report (see 7/11/22 Town Board Minutes)
- Mr. Rice said Don McCord will not be able to continue to help the Town of North Harmony any longer for personal reasons. He said that Mr. McCord had given him some suggestions and recommended speaking with some of the county planning boards.
TRI-JAMES SERVICES, INC., REQUEST FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A PROPOSED MINE FOR GRAVEL PRODUCTS ON LAND LOCATED AT THE CORNERS OF OPEN MEADOWS RD. AND CHENEY’S RD. SPECIFICALLY SEC. 348.00-1-29.1 AND 348.00-2-19.3.1.
Mr. Lawson said the SEQR is already done. He said the DEC is lead agency on the SEQR.
Mr. Rice asked what the result of the SEQR was.
Mr. Lawson said as far as he knows it is approved.
Mrs. Mack said Tri-James wants to dig out gravel on a property on Open Meadows Rd. she said the water table is high so as they dig it will fill in and will be a pond at the end. Mrs. Mack said it would take them about two permit terms and each permit term is five years.
Mr. Johnson said the permit says 180 months so it would be 3 permit terms.
Mr. Rice asked if the DEC continues to regulate.
Mrs. Mack said yes. She said they come out every year sometimes twice a year to inspect and make sure all regulations are withheld. She said Tri-James is reputable.
Mr. Johnson said on the drawing there is a spot for screening. He said Mr. James stated there would not be any screening. He said that if there would not be screening the neighbors might be relieved because they won’t be exposed to too much noise and dust.
Mrs. Mack said the nice thing about digging in water is there will be minimal dust. She said they do plan on having 10’ berms to reduce noise. She said if water cannot be contained onsite, they must apply with the DEC to discharge water off site, and it must be tested.
Mr. Goodling asked if water does flow, and the water level gets too high what keeps it from flowing into the wetlands.
Mrs. Mack said hopefully they planned for enough free board and berm to stop the water. She said they have 2’ of free board.
Mr. Goodling said on the environmental review for the floodplain section is unavailable or left blank.
Mrs. Mack said that section she had to manually put that information in. She said she will get that information to them.
Mr. Rice asked what they plan to do with all the topsoil.
Mrs. Mack said they are going to use it to reclaim all the dryland areas and the rest of it because they have an excess will be sold as part of their business.
Mr. Johnson said in C3 regarding zoning it says residential, but the town zoning of that area is agricultural. He said there are many sections that are left blank or incorrect.
Mrs. Mack said it seems like they received the draft form of the application because they should all have answers.
Mr. Johnson said the diagram said the slopes of the pond might need to be adjusted and it is supposed to be 100’ from the property line according to section 613 in town code and 500’ from a residence. He asked if there isn’t any fuel storage on site how do they plan to refuel.
Mrs. Mack said they are required an 8’-10’ slope for a pond. She said the residence that it is near is the owner of the property. Mrs. Mack said they bring a truck with the proper tanks and fuel and take it away.
Mr. Johnson asked if there will be a fence installed during the operation or after.
Mrs. Mack said it is part of the requirements of the DEC to have a fence during operation.
Mr. Rice asked if there will be vegetation screening from the road.
Mrs. Johnson said they can add that suggestion to their recommendations.
Mr. Johnson said there has been concerns about the wildlife and wetlands.
Mr. Rice said it seems to him that the DEC is giving them a negative declaration he said he wouldn’t second guess their expertise. He said his experience with them is they are aggressive with protecting the environment.
Mrs. Johnson said some of the residents are curious if Mr. James sells are the permits transferable with the business.
Mrs. Mack said yes. She said if someone were to take over, they will have to follow every rule that Tri-James is permitted to follow.
Mr. Lawson said to his understanding if the property is sold, they would have to come back for at least the special permit. He said the special permit goes with the person not the property or project.
Mr. Strand said that the permit goes with the property not with the person.
Mr. Lawson said it isn’t in the zoning law like that.
Mrs. Johnson said we could put it in our restrictions that they have to reapply if it is sold. She asked if they will be able to bring the pond to zoning code.
Mrs. Mack said she will discuss it with Mr. James.
Mr. Goodling said it seems like the information they have received is not complete or correct.
Mrs. Mack said she will get them to correct and complete forms.
Mr. Rice asked Mrs. Mack if she could check on the setbacks. He said we should table this until next month until we have all the information.
Next regular meeting scheduled August 9, 2022, at 7:00 P.M.
- MOTION
ON A MOTION MADE BY MR. VANCUREN, SECONDED BY MR. JOHNSON AND NONE BEING APPOSED, THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:20 PM
Stephanie Gibbs
Deputy Town Clerk
