Neighbors vent concerns about mining operations to township

MILLSTONE — Township mining permits must be renewed every two years.

At the July 21 Township Committee meeting, members of the governing body discussed permit renewals and other issues concerning the township’s four mines.

Township Engineer Matt Shafai said the Stavola mine on Backbone Hill Road has been inactive for the past two years, but the owners want to renew the permit. The renewal passed in a 4-1 vote, with Committeeman Fiore Masci casting the dissenting vote.

Shafai said the Campo mine on Baird Road wants a 60-day extension of its permit, which also passed with the same 4-1 vote.R

ogan O’Donnell’s house is located next to the Preston mine on Sweetmans Lane. O’Donnell, who also represented the neighboring Ekdahl and Kark families, alleged that the Preston mine owners expanded their driveway with a paved apron that encroaches on his property and the Ekdahl property. He said he researched the mine’s deed and did not see information that would grant the mine full access or the ability to trespass on neighboring lands.

O’Donnell alleged that the mine owners paved over a property monument and have been storing a bulldozer and other machinery on his and the Ekdahl acreage. He added that the mine owners put a “No Trespassing” sign on one of his trees.

O’Donnell gave the governing body photos of the driveway entrance to the mine taken before and after the changes. He said the expansion allows for two dump trucks to enter and exit the driveway at the same time. He complained of sand blowing out of the trucks onto neighbors’ properties, noise, and strangers coming to his house to ask when the gates to the mine open.

Frank Kark said he had to replace three pool pumps in five years due to sand from the trucks. He said he can’t open windows due to dust from the mine. Kark also alleged that the trucks are overloaded, and said a state trooper with scales should be stationed near the mine.

Mark Preston, owner of the mine, gave Township Attorney Duane Davison a letter from his lawyer stating that he researched the title to the property, which dates back to the 1920s. He said the driveway had not been widened.

Davison said the Township Committee does not have jurisdiction over titles, which are reviewed by a judge. He suggested that the committee wait to decide the mine’s permit renewal until he spoke with both O’Donnell’s and Preston’s attorneys.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the parties should try to resolve their issues.

Shafai said the Pine Hill mine, also known as the Buck mine, has not applied for a new permit since its last permit expired on June 30. The township had issued several summonses to the mine for operating without a permit, he said. Shafai said he received a letter from the mine’s attorney asking for a 60-day extension.

Grbelja said she has seen trucks come out of the Buck mine two at a time and not follow the mining truck route designated by the township. She said the code enforcement officer has been sent out to the mine. William Stone, an owner of the Buck mine, said he has tried to get the truckers under control.

“I’ve even called the state police on them,” he said.

Stone said the trucking company removing the soil has warned its truckers.

“We want to resolve the problem,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to play by the rules.”

Stone said that some of the truckers do not speak English, and he has been trying to produce route instructions in their languages.

As a condition for a temporary permit, the committee required Stone to hire a flagman for trucks leaving the property, no later than July 26.

The issue of granting the Buck mine a two-year permit was carried to the Aug. 18 meeting.