EDDINGTON, Maine — During a meeting that drew about 50 residents, members of the town’s Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to extend a soon-to-expire moratorium for up to 180 more days.
Residents wanting new rules on the books regarding the operation of quarries voted in April to support a moratorium and gave town leaders six months to craft the new regulations.
“They’re almost done, but not quite,” Town Manager Russell Smith said Tuesday afternoon.
The moratorium was slated to end Oct. 8, but more time was needed to complete the new rules, according to the town manager.
After town planners complete their work on the proposed local quarry rules, the revisions must be sent to the town attorney for review. The planning board must then hold a public hearing and vote. If approved by planners, the proposed rules will be sent to the town council, which will hold another public hearing and vote, Smith said.
“That could take up to three months right there,” he said.
A citizens’ petition for the 180-day quarry moratorium started in January, after a Hampden contractor’s proposal to create a ledge quarry on Fox Hill upset nearby residents. Residents voiced concerns about safety, noise and dust associated with the project proposed by earthwork contractor Hughes Brothers Inc.
Hughes’ first application for a 10-acre quarry was denied by the Eddington planning board after a two-hour review in October. The most recent application seeks a quarry between 5 and 20 acres with a different entrance to address several concerns neighbors have. The planning board asked for an independent sound study for the project in April, just before the initial moratorium was enacted.
Bangor Daily News writer Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.