May 10, 2024
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Vote on Joliet quarry blasting delayed again

City officials agree to seek outside expertise, expand public notice

By Bob Okon
Site of a quarry east of Sandall Place in Joliet that was a topic at the December 6th City Council meeting Tuesday night.

The VN Land quarry is in the area of Richards Street and Sandall Place in Joliet. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

A controversial vote on a plan to start blasting at an East Side quarry was put off for three months, but that didn’t stop a dozen people from speaking out against it on Tuesday.

The Joliet City Council agreed to table the vote until April 18.

Residents, told they could go home because there would be no council discussion on the matter, stayed around long enough to voice opposition to the way the matter was being handled. Later, the council discussed the matter anyway, although the discussion was focused on points raised by the residents.

A standing-room only crowd gathered Tuesday at Joliet City Council Chambers before a public hearing on a proposal to allow blasting at a quarry on the city's East Side. Jan. 17, 2023.

A standing-room only crowd gathered Tuesday at Joliet City Council Chambers before a public hearing on a proposal to allow blasting at a quarry on the city's East Side. (Bob Okon)

City officials agreed to bring in a third-party expert for advice on the blasting plan and also agreed to extend public notice to property owners beyond the usual 600 feet from the site.

“I’m asking you to bring in a third-party expert who is unbiased,” Boise Walker, who has spoken against the blasting plan at previous council meetings, told the council.

Walker also said the city should consider what she called a “blasting impact zone” in deciding what property owners get notified of the plan instead of using the usual standard of 600 feet from the site.

Walker and nearly all the people who filled the council chambers to the point that there was standing room only left after having their say during an early segment of the meeting set aside for public comments.

When the council got to the matter on the agenda, Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and a few council members began raising questions posed by the opponents of the project.

Those questions included why the vote was being tabled until after the April 4 Municipal Election for mayor and five district council members.

City Manager James Capparelli said the tabling date was requested by the petitioner seeking approval for blasting, which would require an amendment to the annexation agreement for the quarry.

City Manager Jim Capparelli listens to council discussion on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at Joliet City Hall in Joliet, Ill. The Joliet City Council discussed an amendment to allow for liquor consumption and video gambling at gas stations.

Joliet City Manager James Capparelli seen at a 2021 meeting of the City Council. (Geoff Stellfox/Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

VM Land owns the quarry.

“The petitioner called today and asked that it be tabled,” Capparelli told the council.

Capparelli at the urging of council members agreed to pursue a third-party expert on blasting, saying he would initially look to two other quarry operators in Joliet that do blasting.

Resident John Jensen, who stayed until the end of the Tuesday City Council meeting when it is opened again to public comment, told the council that it was “on the right track” in pursuing more information about blasting.

“We are totally against it because of the age of the buildings out there,” Jensen said.

Jensen said he worked at Stone City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2199, which is in the vicinity of a Vulcan quarry that does blasting.

“It was 2.5 miles away, and the Stone City building shook,” Jensen said. “There are ramifications to the blasting.’