Rutland Herald

Wallingford board wants residents' take on trucks

May 21, 2000
By SANDI SWITZER Correspondent

WALLINGFORD - Townspeople will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on a proposed quarry operation in Danby that could affect Wallingford roads.

Residents attending the Select Board meeting June 5 will be able to address truck traffic associated with OMYA Inc.'s plan to mine the Jobe Phillips Quarry in Danby.

Officials will listen and decide whether to allow or oppose increased truck traffic once OMYA applies for a land use permit.

Selectman Ed Crelin, who heads the town's Transportation Impact Committee, suggested a public forum be scheduled.

"I'm adamant that I don't want to be behind when they file for an Act 250 permit," Crelin said at a Select Board meeting last week.

OMYA's plan includes extracting marble ore from its Otis Road property near Danby Four Corners and hauling the material to a processing plant in Florence.

The proposed hauling route would have loaded, 76,000-pound, five-axle, 18-wheeler trucks traveling from Danby through Tinmouth taking Route 140 into Wallingford, then heading north on Route 7.

OMYA has called for a maximum of 40 round trips a day, six days a week.

Trucks traveling through Wallingford would pass recreational sites and the town's transfer station.

Crelin suggested public sentiment was against designating routes 140 and 7 as the haul route.

"I haven't had anyone come up to me and volunteer their support for it," he said.

As for the meeting next month, town officials initially considered posing two questions to citizens seeking their opinion on truck traffic as well as the overall OMYA proposal.

However, Crelin suggested officials limit it to the traffic issue.

"I don't know if we have the right to oppose digging in another town," he said.

The Transportation Impact Committee recently made a number of recommendations to the Select Board including:

-- To review the town's guidelines for overweight permits and weight limits;

-- To hire a road engineer to evaluate Route 140 and other roads;

-- To oppose any use of Route 140 and other roads by trucking companies that want to make them a permanent part of their transportation route if trucks exceed certain limits.

Officials have approved spending up to $1,500 to hire an engineer to study Route 140 and other roads.

The Select Board meeting scheduled for June 5 at 7 p.m. will be at Wallingford Elementary School.