Is there a good place for a hot asphalt plant?
The plants emit black smoke and stink of oil, but they’re needed to pave area roads, which the public demands.
The hot-button issue came to the forefront this month when D&L Construction applied for a high-impact permit from Montezuma County for industrial operations on Road L on the northern boundary of Cortez.
The application narrative (which can be found on page 53 of the April 11 Cortez council agenda) states that a variety of plants might operate at the site, including ready-mix concrete production, crushing plant, hot-asphalt plant, pipe and stone cutting, storage silos and machine shop. It states that the possible processing plants will operate on a short-term basis to support local projects and recycling of materials.
During a heated county planning and zoning meeting on April 13, about a dozen residents objected to the possibility of a hot-mix asphalt plant on County Road L, near the Cortez Industrial Park.
Citing private property rights and an industrial zone, the county planning and zoning board recommended approval of a high-impact permit for industrial uses, but they stopped short of recommending an asphalt plant.
Planning director LeeAnn Milligan stated that if a hot-asphalt plant were proposed for the site, it would require additional and separate permitting before it could operate.
The D&L permit application needs final approval from Montezuma County commissioners, but during Monday’s regular meeting, they also expressed concerns of the potential of a hot-asphalt plant at the Road L location.
“I’m opposed to a hot mix plant there,” said commissioner Larry Don Suckla. Commissioner Keenan Ertel also expressed concerns about that use at the location.
The county is investigating whether the Montezuma County Landfill, south of Road F, is a more appropriate location for mixing hot asphalt.
Landfill manager Shak Powers, who was asked to study the option, reported on the potential.
He said there is enough room for the county to lease a portion of the landfill property for the industrial use to the east or south of the landfill, near the northwestern foot of Mesa Verde National Park. Powers recommended that if the idea were pursued, the operation should have a stormwater drain system and cleanup reclamation plan for when the plant closes. He didn’t report on the impact that the smoke might cause.
The change in use of the landfill property to include a hot-asphalt plant would trigger a high-impact permit process, said planning director LeeAnn Milligan.
“It’s an idea to see if one is feasible there,” Suckla said. “The county could provide a location for whoever wants a hot-asphalt plant in the future.”
Emissions from a hot-asphalt plant at the landfill could impact air quality at the adjacent Mesa Verde National Park. As a Class I air shed, under the Clean Air Act, the park superintendent must be consulted by the permitting agency of a proposed emitting facility to determine in there are adverse impacts on national park air quality.
Cortez council weighs inAfter a divided debate on April 11, the Cortez City Council voted not to send a letter to the commissioners voicing their own concerns about the high-impact permit. The voted ended in a tie. Tim Miller, Orly Lucero and Shawna McLaughlin voted against a letter, and Mayor Karen Sheek, Bob Archibeque and Mayor Pro Tem Ty Keel voted for it. Councilwoman Jill Carlson was absent.
On Tuesday, April 25, Sheek second-guessed that decision and reopened the issue for discussion.
“I’ve given a lot of thought to this particular decision the council made, and I didn’t feel good about it the night that we left the council meeting, and I haven’t felt good about it since,” she said. “If we don’t take the opportunity to express reservations that we may have, we may not have another opportunity.”
She was responding to two Cortez residents who spoke up during the meeting’s public comment period to say they believed the city should let the county know how its citizens would be affected by a heavy industrial plant, as proposed by D&L owners Dave and Lana Waters. Chris Eastin gave each council member a letter listing parts of the city he believed would be negatively affected by the proposed permit. Eastin referred to a possible increase in traffic on Road L and nearby streets and the noise and pollution that could spill into the adjacent Geer Natural Area.
“If you look at the layout of Geer Park, and the layout of the Waters’ proposed industrial park, it directly abuts the memorial to George Geer,” he said.
Mike Lavey, who was appointed to the Cortez Parks, Recreation and Forestry Advisory Board later in the meeting, also voiced his opposition to the permit. But the three council members who voted not to comment on the permit at the last meeting stood by their decision. Miller, Lucero and McLaughlin said they didn’t want to approve a letter without knowing what would go into it. McLaughlin added that the city already has its own industrial park, and asking the county not to establish one would enforce a double standard.
“I don’t feel that I made a mistake,” she said.
Carlson said that if she had attended the previous meeting, she would have voted to send a letter to the commissioners, which would have broken the tie.
Keel said that voting again on an issue the council had already decided would set a harmful precedent. Ultimately, the council decided not to hold another vote.
The county commissioners plan to rule on D&L’s high-impact permit application at their regular meeting on May 8.
