Utica Village Board Welcomes New Sand Mine
Posted by wlpo on February 6, 2014
Make way for another sand mine in Utica.
After a 28-hour hearing spread out over five nights, the Utica Village Board of Trustees voted 5-2 in favor of Aramoni, LLC mining for sand north of Love’s Travel Stop. According to the NewsTribune, trustees Kevin “Chops” Stewart, Ron Pawlak, Joe Bernardoni, John Schweickert and Village President Gloria Alvarado all voted in favor of the mine. Trustees Matt Jereb and Jim Schrader said no.
The former police chief Bernardoni doesn’t think the mine will adversely affect tourism and told the packed audience “if you care about your neighbor, don’t sell your land to a developer. It’s as simple as that”.
In voting no, Schrader says he doesn’t think the mine fits with Utica’s comprehensive plan. Meanwhile Jereb also voted against the last sand mine near the Osage Curves.
Aramoni says they’ll bring 30 full-time jobs and pump 25 million into the local economy. The mine is also expected to allow the board to lower property taxes.
Opponents though think another mine will worsen the air quality, use up valuable farmland, create unwanted noise with blasting and increase truck traffic.
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