"St. Joseph County Gravel Pit Plan on Hold"

Last night, we as a council unanimously voted to table consideration of the proposed gravel pit in North Liberty until our next meeting.  I asked that the proposal be tabled because I wanted to fully address the issues of water table integrity and Osbourne Road safety.  The South Bend Tribune reports.  Excerpt:

The St. Joseph County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to table a petition for special use to operate a sand and gravel pit on Osborne Road in Liberty Township.

"One of the reasons I'd like to table this until the next meeting ... is because there are a couple of key concerns I think we need to try to address," council member Dan Herbster, R-District F, said after about an hour of testimony from more than a dozen residents opposed to the operation.

Herbster said he would like to know what effect the operation might have on the water table as well as whether the developer, J.W. Green of Lakeville, might be able to access the site via Indiana 4 rather than Osborne Road, which is lined with homes.

Some people posted very critical coments on the online version of the Tribune article.  Here's my posted response:

Thanks for your input. I just wanted to respond briefly.

1st, I'm as pro-business as they come, but we as a council have to carefully consider the impact of a particular business at a particular location on the surrounding neighborhood.

2nd, I'm optimistic that after some further meetings we will be able to come up with a solution that is a win-win for everyone involved.

Finally, we will have a vote on this issue once-and-for-all next month.

Dan Herbster
St. Joseph County Council
District F
http://www.DanHerbster.com