McHenry Times

The McHenry City Council met on Jan. 16, where they heard a presentation from a mining company, Meyer Material Company, followed by a public hearing in which local residents spoke out about potential noise and environmental impacts.

According to Randy Willie, who manages land and environmental services for Meyer Material Company, the company is asking to expand operations into the north side of the property. He explained that in 2002  the north area was originally annexed, saying that it was bolted onto an existing pit on the side. A conveyor was constructed in 2003 as well, in an effort to move materials 

“This has been in play for 20 years already,” Willie told the council.

The request is for 10 more years with the land, where the company plans to construct a berm, for which Willie showed the plans at the meeting. There will be seeding and silt fences along the base to avoid erosion. There is also a plan to create a small lake as part of their excavation process. The plans will go through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to be approved before starting. There will be bonds associated for the north side project, he said. 

During the public comment portion of the meeting, neighbors shared their concerns. Joann Hajdrowski said she’s lived in Martin Woods for 40 years and had several concerns about the gravel pits, an asphalt plan and new construction in the area. Hajdrowski was already concerned about the noise in the area and said she has complained to the city, police and even contacted a lawyer. She said people are selling their homes due to the sound of construction, which starts before 7 a.m. She also said there are TNT blasts at 2 a.m.

“It’s just unbearable,” she said at the meeting, adding that she and her neighbors are upset and don’t know what to do. 

She claimed that gravel pits were operating well outside normal hours, and that gravel and silt was spread everywhere. There were also complaints about the smell of the asphalt plant. Comments were made about the potential environmental impacts of the expansion proposal, but the representatives from Meyer Material Company addressed this, as well as noise complaints. Willie said monitoring wells have been sampled for water levels, chemicals and more. Willie said there are emergency kits for chemicals. For dust, even when put through the crushing plant, it is not required to have spray bars. He said they do sweep and water the roads.

“Our dust control practices are top-notch,” Willie said. “When it comes to noise, we’ve done noise studies at the school. We’ve done dust studies at the school back when this was originally permitted. We are within state and federal guidelines.”

Willie said, from an environmental habitat standpoint, there are plenty of fish, fowl and deer. He said they do not think his company is negatively affecting the environment.

Willie said only two pieces of equipment will be operating with people at the north side, and they will be very quiet. There will only be trucks brought in to build the berms, and there won't be any crushing on that side of the road.

The council debated on how long they are willing to extend the agreement and what to tell residents who were not in favor. Alderman Andrew Glab said the way he looks at it is, if there is a 10-year extension, they want them out in 10 years to be sold off to a developer to build a subdivision.

“It’s got to happen. To keep hearing about the economic situations and everything else, that is your business problem,” Glab said. “But our problem is that we've got residents that have been, for years and years, waiting for some of this [to end]. When all the people from Martin Woods came out here, you extended it on the north side. Allen Miller here was your representative, and he promises this grandiose, beautiful subdivision we were going to have in a short period of time. It was only to be a few years. And these people in Martin Woods have been very, very accommodating, as far as waiting to see this coming to fruition. And it hasn’t been happening. And we are sitting back here representing those people in Martin Woods, and I've got to tell you that we're trying to represent them to where this has to come to a closure. And to say that ten years and then five-year extension? No. You need to send back to your company the fact that you've got to be done in ten years. And that's the way I look at it.”

The council closed the public hearing session and decided to grant an extension until the end of 2031 with strict maintenance hours of 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. for their facilities.