Will County Gazette

At the request of the petitioner, the Joliet City Council has voted to table a controversial rock quarry development until after the April election.

"I am speaking for the whole council without speaking to the whole council," Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said. "But again, it's controversial. People are upset about it. It should be brought forward very publicly and either voted up or voted down so we can move forward."

The city council of Joliet was supposed to hold a public hearing on the development at its January 17th meeting. At the meeting, however, the council announced it would be tabling the item until the April 18th council meeting instead. 

The request had already been delayed from the December meeting so that the council could hear the public opinion on it. The proposal is to annex six parcels of land near 800 Richards Street and 620 Sandall Place on the city’s southeast side to allow PT Ferro Construction to expand its soil operations into the area. This would include blasting tactics to deal with the materials instead of their current methods of hydraulic crushing. This area would be operated as a flagstone quarry and a construction/demolition debris disposal site. The proposal only allows blasting between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Despite the council tabling the item until April, many citizens who came out to speak about it still decided to share their opinions with the council. Many of them were residents of the area and asked the council to not allow any blasting to occur in the area, citing prior homes in a blasting area that had cracked walls, thrown doors off-kilter, and caused other structural problems in addition to noise and debris. They were also concerned about the proximity of the site to two different school buildings, and the potential traffic impacts on the students and buses as well. 

Residents also asked if the council considered any factors of potential damages to residents and if anyone, either the city or company, would be prepared to offer payments and replacements for any damages to a resident’s home or property caused by the blasting. They asked the city council to get more information on the subject before they considered moving forward. The council decided to bring in some third parties to discuss the impacts of blasting as well as inform the public and the school board about this potential issue.