Gravel pit trucks violate state laws

At last week's Woodstock City Council meeting on the Merryman Aggregates gravel pit, reference was made to numerous traffic law violations by trucks leaving the mining site. Trucks exit the pit onto Lily Pond Road at the east end of the project.

All of them now must go south to U.S. 14, because the Woodstock City Council decided Thursday night to prohibit northbound gravel-hauler traffic on Lily Pond Road, which dead-ends at McConnell Road. This new Condition on the Special Use Permit will likely be ignored by drivers, many or most of whom are probably independent contractors. Once they leave the property, does Merryman really have any control over them?

Local residents have complained about the noise of trucks early in the morning before opening hours of the pit. They have also complained about dust, debris dropped from or falling off trucks on Lily Pond Road, and untarped loads. It was stated at the meeting that Merryman has erected signs, warning drivers to tarp their loads. And if they don't?

But the major traffic problem is at the intersection of U.S. 14 and Lily Pond Road.

There is no doubt that loaded, heavy, slow-moving, gravel-hauling trucks have a hard time pulling out into U.S. 14, whether the drivers intend to turn right or left. A line of southbound trucks (and cars) builds up behind the first truck at the stop sign.

The drivers have figured this one out. A westbound truck driver, heading to the pit, will stop (unnecessarily and illegally) in the westbound traffic lane and wait while the southbound driver watches for an opening in eastbound traffic. An eastbound gravel truck driver will then stop and block eastbound traffic.

Then a whole line of gravel trucks will turn out of Lily Pond Road, convoy-style, while U.S. 14 traffic is stopped (illegally blocked by the two trucks). I have witnessed this maneuver.

The westbound truck remains stopped, so that the eastbound truck driver can make his left turn, to go north on Lily Pond Road and enter the pit. And then the westbound driver turns right, proceeds to the pit entrance and turns in.

The Beat 24 car of the Woodstock Police Department can't spend its day there, waiting for violations. Plus, the first driver to spot it will alert all the others. What a perfect place for photo enforcement!

However, the Woodstock Police Department, McHenry County Sheriff's Department and Illinois Secretary of State (SOS) Police could put their heads together and figure out an enforcement plan. Use the police motorcycles of the City and of the County in good weather. Use unmarked cars. Get the SOS Police there. They are the truck-enforcement agency of the State Police.

Or maybe some local vigilantes will figure it out. We can arm ourselves with videocameras, still cameras with long lenses, tape recorders and notepads. We will be able to identify drivers and take photos of their faces. We'll record truck identification. Then we can ask for the Woodstock Police Department and the McHenry County Sheriff's Department to issue tickets, and we can go to court to act as witnesses for the prosecution.

Citizens should not have to assume the responsibility for enforcement of traffic laws. But we shall, if the police aren't effective.

Wha' Happened?

What really happened at last night's Woodstock City Council meeting?

The bottom line - on the table was a request for special use permit to begin mining gravel in Woodstock on the north side of U.S. Route 14, west of Lily Pond Road.

I suspect a lot of people in Woodstock thought the City Council was voting on a multi-purpose event venue, including a minor league baseball stadium and a new home for the McHenry County Fairgrounds.

One speaker asked if the City Council would rush through the permit process if the request were ONLY for a mining project. If the Council had an answer for that one, I didn't hear it.

The Petitioner claimed, through his attorney, that he would abandon the entire project if the City Council didn't approve it last night.

Whoa! Did Woodstock slide on the ice into Chicago last night?

No one (no City Council member, including the Mayor) asked just what the rush was to get the permit approved last night. Words slid around about timing, urgency, intimations that the seller wasn't going to sell the land (at the same price?) if the Council didn't approve it at that meeting.

Another speaker asked the Council to delay its decision and take time to study an important environment report that was delivered to the City only the day before. He referred to "transparency" in dealings and said, "If the proposal can't stand a one-month delay, then there is something wrong with the proposal."

The Council and the Petitioner continued to skate around on the ice on one final sticking point. Everybody was tired by 12:30AM, and confusion was mounting over word-smithing of a final condition at the last minute. Had sufficient time been taken to work out details before the Council meeting, the meeting would have been 2-3 hours, not 6 hours. That's SIX hours. (Maybe I'll re-think my position on Council pay. At least, they don't get paid by the hour.)

The deal started out with 48 Conditions attached to the Plan Commission's recommendation for approval. Will we ever know why the Plan Commission voted (unanimously, which is unexplainable) to clear the request with a record-setting 48 Conditions?

The last condition? (unless I closed my eyes (and ears) too many times between midnight and 1:00AM) If the stadium doesn't get started by May 2014, then no further mining can occur. If anyone thought Woodstock was voting on a baseball stadium and not a mining project, he should have stayed to the end of the meeting.

Merryman's claim is that the construction of the stadium must start in the Spring of 2009 in order to be ready for the first game in 2010. Can a ballpark be built in a year? Stadiums, buildings, parking. Wetlands protected. Environment studies. Stormwater management studies.

One thing is for sure. The mining will start.