EDDINGTON, Maine — 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 ends Oct. 8, and town councilors are holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, to determine whether additional time is needed to complete the new rules, the town manager said.
“It can be for up to 180 days, but I don’t think it will take that long,” Smith said of extending the moratorium.
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 then must 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,” the town manager 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 Bros. 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 some of the concerns of neighbors. The planning board asked for an independent sound study for the project in April, just before the initial moratorium was enacted.
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