Hydraulic Dredging, 24/6

Meyer lost. They lost at the Zoning Board and they lost at the Village Board level.

However, the powers that be want them to have another chance. Although, due to Village rules, they cannot submit another plan until a year long "cooling off" period. Nonetheless, Meyer presented an informational meeting to Village residents about a new plan.

In order to get this plan in action, the Village of Cary will have to give Meyer a waiver. The plan will then go to the new Zoning Board and then back to the Village Board.

What Meyer wants to do is bring in some dredging equipment and turn the pit into a 24 hour a day, 6 days a week operation. They claim it will be quieter than what they are doing now.

At the meeting, Meyer presented the following video, showing how a hydraulic dredger works:


The video has no sound, so we can't hear the dredger in action. Although Meyer insisted that that this method would be less noisy than what they have now, they couldn't get more specific than that.

However, here is another video of a hydraulic dredger. This is what Meyer wants to be operating next to Fox Trails 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. This setup, I am sure, is not what Meyer will do, but the plans presented were not too specific and this is all we have to go on:


And another:


And another:


I think Meyer will have to provide evidence to the Village of the exact setup that they will use so the Village can be assured that at 2 am the sound is not excessive.  

Sounds from the Pit

Recently, Meyer gave residents a tour of their gravel pit operations when they were looking for a time extension for mining. While on that tour, Meyer officials touted how they were using sound mitigation techniques in order to minimize the noise in the Fox Trail Subdivision. Among the things that they discussed was a way to damper the back-up beeping sound from trucks and equipment. In fact, we were told that if we heard back-up beeping sounds it wasn't coming from the pit.

Oh, really. Well, there's a lot of sound coming directly from the pit, including back-up beeping noises. So they must not be using the very equipment they claimed a few months ago.

Current;y, the sound coming from the pit is loud. Very loud. The beeping noise can be heard in houses even with windows closed.

I recorded a couple of minutes of what is sounds like in my front yard.



Last week, Meyer gave a presentation about their plans to use dredging equipment for 24 hours a day, six days a week.  At that presentation, they could not say how loud it would be.

Considering the fact that they can't damper beeping noises, my faith in Meyer Material being able to keep a dredger quiet in the middle of the night is very much in doubt.

If you do not like what you are hearing, please let the Village of Cary know. Email them at Villagehall@caryillinois.com.

Pit Sounds

No, it's not a new Beach Boys album.

It is the sound outside our bedroom window.

Over the last few days, the noise from the pit has been louder than normal. This is to be expected, due to the fact that they are moving closer to the subdivision. Right now, I suspect, they are removing overburden from the cells closest to the subdivision. And it is loud.

I recorded the following audio using a voice recorder app on my cellphone. It was placed in my bedroom window, approximately 1200 feet from the pit. This is pretty typical for the sound coming from the pit, especially in the last few days.

Democracy? What Democracy? Get Ready for a Meyer Waiver

UPDATE: On the Facebook "Cary Connection" Page, it was stated that the Meyer waiver vote is "not expected" to be on the agenda for July 5th. The agenda will be published sometime in the afternoon of July 1.

UPDATE 2: A vote on Meyer Material is not on the agenda for July 5. Meyer can still be discussed in the Administrator's report.

Trustees at the last two Village of Cary board meetings had lively discussions about the fate of Meyer Material.  Those who voted yes to the extension want to give Meyer another opportunity to present their plan to the Zoning Board. They cite "new evidence" as a justification to waive the required one year "cooling off" period.

They even presented what a new proposal "might" look like at the last Village Board meeting. Keep in mind, this proposal was not written by Meyer, but by the Village:

In order for Meyer to be able to submit another proposal to the Zoning Board this summer, the village would have to waive the 1 year requirement.  As Trustee Kraus so plainly stated at the June 21 meeting, "We've already voted." Why would they want to do this?

Simple:  They want a "yes" recommendation from the Zoning board so that the mayor can vote at the Village level. That way they can overcome the three "no" votes.

Two Village Board meetings ago, Trustee Dudek lamented the fact that the Meyer proposal they voted on was not the same as what was presented at the Zoning Board in February. Given that, he argued, Meyer should be allowed to present that plan back to the Zoning Board. He and the Mayor expressed a belief that Meyer--"a good corporate citizen," they added--was not being treated fairly.

This is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent the system and get another vote. I am sorry, Trustee Dudek and Mayor Kownick--the system worked just as it was intended:

1) Meyer presented a plan to the Zoning Board in February
2) The Zoning Board gave a "no" recommendation
3) Meyer adjusted their proposal for the Village Board meeting of May 17
4) That proposal was defeated 3-3. The Mayor was prohibited from voting in this instance due to the negative recommendation from the Zoning board.

Done and done.  Or so we thought.

Now we have a new Zoning Board. Shortly after that vote in February, Zoning Board Chairman Joe Tournier was basically fired by the Mayor.

Now, with a new Zoning Board, the mayor wants to start the whole process over so he can vote and reverse the outcome. In other words: DEMOCRACY BE DAMNED!

The fact of the matter is this: Meyer screwed up. They went into the meeting in May thinking they were going to sail through. They didn't present a plan that gave enough back to the Village and they lost. End of story. They can present a proposal again. But they have to wait a year just like everybody else.

But that's not enough for Mayor Kownick, Trustee Dudek and the other two trustees who voted yes. They didn't get what they wanted so they want to re-do the vote.

Nice. And this is why people do not trust government.

Although the agenda for the next meeting has not been released, I suspect that the Meyer waiver vote will come at the July 5th meeting. As has been done now a few times, important votes have been scheduled for this meeting after the July 4th holiday--A day where they will get less attendance.

Its been done before and so the pattern continues.

More to come.

Just when you thought it was all over....

Last month, the Village of Cary denied the extension of mining to Meyer Material in a vote 3-3. The mayor was not allowed to vote and, because the Zoning Board did not recommend the extension, the vote needed to be a super majority. A special thanks to trustees Covelli, Krause and Cosler who voted "no" because they listened to the residents of Fox Trails.  That was not an easy vote for them and they need to be commended.

However, it is not over. This week, Meyer was brought up again by Trustee Dudek who read a statement in which he expressed a belief that Meyer should be allowed to resubmit their proposal to the Zoning Board. His reasoning: the proposal that the board voted on was not the same as the one presented to the Board. However, according to the rules, Meyer cannot reapply for a year, in what is called a "cooling off period."  Dudek suggested that the board waive that requirement.

Trustee Cosler rightly called such action as a "backdoor method of getting it reheard."  The mayor was obviously upset by the vote last month and wants to have the matter reconsidered. He said it was not fair to treat Meyer in such a way. I guess in his mind it is fair to treat the residents this way, but that's beside the point.

Here's what is going to happen:

1) Meyer is going to continue mining through November. They have made their first $100,000 fine payment.
2) Meyer has been in conversations with Village Administrator Clark
3) The Village will put on an agenda to vote to waive the time period in which Meyer can resubmit a proposal.

Stay tuned for that. It will probably come at the traditional low-turnout board meeting on July 5.

See the video below. The Meyer portion starts at 57:44.



Looks like we are going to go through this whole thing again.

Does Meyer have the right to resubmit a plan? Absolutely. But the rules state that they need to wait a year.

Dudek and the Mayor seem to believe that the proposal that they voted on needed to be the same as the proposal offered to the Zoning Board. That is simply not true.

The system worked. The Zoning Board did not recommend the extension. And, as is the reason for a zoning board hearing, Meyer revised their plan for the Village Board vote.  The Village Board voted no.

There.

But apparently the democratic process is inconvenient to certain members of the Village Board and this is likely to start up all over again.

Stay tuned. The drama continues.

Information regarding the Meyer Extension Vote Tonight

The Village has placed a lot of information on their website.  Here is a breakdown of the mining schedule if approved:

If approved, the mining, which was to stop on June 1, 2016, will continue until June 1, 2019. Three years. 

Here's the thing: according to the current contract, Meyer would have to pay $100,000 a month for every month they go beyond the June 1, 2016 date.  This comes to about $600,000 a year.

Here is the updated ordinance that will be voted on tonight.

The entire packet, including Zoning Board minutes and resident emails can be read here. Beware, it is long:

This is it...The Meyer Vote Comes on Tuesday

After a couple of postponements, it appears that the Board is now ready to vote on the Meyer extension. And all signs point to a "yes" vote. But only we can prevent that from happening.

It appears, as usual, Meyer has sweetened the deal. Somewhat. They've sweetened it at least enough to make this new board feel inclined to vote yes.  And, at the last couple of meetings, a very nice "plan" was presented on what the Village would like to do with the land. A plan that cost some $16,000 to put together, by the way, with no real proposals on how it would get done.

According to the new deal, Meyer is now going to pay for some improvements to the Fox Trails subdivision (as one person on Facebook remarked: Maybe now we can get an 'S' for our sign) totalling some $50,000. This sounds good to the board, but one has to remember that Meyer will have to pay fines if they go beyond the June 1, 2016 date. So one month of fines is more than double what they have offered. Doesn't sound like a great deal to me.

Here are some other points:

1) The Zoning Board gave a resounding "no" to the extension deal back in February

2) The homeowners of Fox Trails were assured by a previous board back in 2008 that the penalties in the contract would make it so Meyer wouldn't come back and ask for an extension.  And here we are. This board is increasing the fines, but who is to say the same thing won't happen in three years?

3) If Meyer stops mining as they should on June 1, we still get a lake. Meyer still needs to restore the land. The lake will be a little smaller, but so what.

4) The area that still needs to be mined is right next to the Fox Trails subdivision. Happy summer everyone!

5) Half of the proposed recreation area is in the Village of Algonquin. I'm not sure if this has been worked out as of yet.

I think most of us are just tired of this mess. We want it done. We are tired of the dust and the noise. It's time to say goodbye to Meyer Material Company.

Please come to the meeting on Tuesday. The more people who show up the harder it will be for them to vote yes on the extension. If you can't make the meeting, please send a message to the board at villagehall@caryillinois.com