An Open Letter to the Village of Cary

Dear Mayor Kownick, Village Trustees and Village Officials:

I would like to make a clarification regarding the last Village Board meeting of July 7, 2015 concerning Meyer Material Company and their annual report.  Trustee Dudek stated near the end of the discussion that there have “not been any complaints” regarding the gravel pit located next to the Fox Trails subdivision.

This is plainly not true.

I made two complaints early in the process. One of the complaints was regarding the building of the berm and the other was a complaint regarding the failure to cease operations after the 7:30 deadline. Neither complaint, as far as I know, was ever addressed, as I never heard back from the Village.

But that is not all. Several residents issued complaints between 2008 and 2012. For one resident, Cam Davis told her that the noise she was hearing was not from the pit but from “somewhere else.”  Some people I know complained about the sound of firearms from the pit.

All you need to do is look back on the minutes from the Zoning Board meeting of November 10, 2011 and you will see several complaints by residents that are part of the official record:

• One resident complained about the mud in his pool from all of the dust
• ATVs and snowmobiles running the berm. One resident described it as the “Indy 500 day and night”
• A complaint about “lack of security” along the berm
• Complaints about furnaces becoming clogged due to dust and particulates
• Unable to open windows because of the dust
• Decline in home values

Although not a resident of Cary, the business owner of Trinity Auto also made a statement regarding the extra money he has had to shell out due to the amount of dust from the pit in order to clean the cars in his lot.

The fact of the matter is that Fox Trails residents know that they have to put up with the realities of living next to a pit for a certain amount of time. As a result, many people may not have issued formal complaints.  They have just been waiting for it all to end by June 1, 2016.

My point is this: the perception that there have not been complaints regarding the pit is just plain false. Perhaps those in the previous administrations did not keep adequate records, I don’t know. Even so, a perceived lack of complaints does not mean that everybody is happy with the pit.

We were just hoping for it all to end by June 1, 2016. And they haven’t even started mining the sectors close to Fox Trails. That is yet to come.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Bruce Janu
Knollwood Dr