Decision on Ledyard quarry plan tabled to next week
Lee Howard
Ledyard — The Planning and Zoning Commission tabled a vote
Thursday on a proposed 40-acre quarry off Route 12 in Gales Ferry that
residents have said would ruin their health, disturb their neighborhoods and
reduce the value of their homes.
The commission is next scheduled to meet to discuss and
possibly vote on the application Thursday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall
Annex.
Commission members had expressed skepticism during a series
of meetings over the past two months about the quarry application submitted by
Gales Ferry Intermodal LLC, a division of Cashman Dredging & Marine
Contracting Co. of Quincy, Mass., for a site that once housed a Dow Chemical
plant. The company is seeking a special permit that would allow it to blast
away large portions of Mount Decatur, where a War of 1812 fort once stood and
which GFI promised to protect and help place on the National Register of Historic
Places.
Commissioners agreed early during Thursday's meeting that
Gales Gerry Intermodal had not proved that dust from the quarry operation could
be kept within the the GFI property boundary, and therefore the application
would not adhere to town regulations.
"We're not satisfied because of fugitive dust,"
Chairman Marty Wood said. "Commissioners felt that there will be some
phantom dust that will get away."
"All they can do is to try to minimize dust,"
added Commissioner James Harwood. "It's going to impact adjacent
properties as well as properties across the street."
Concerning vibrations from blasting during the quarrying
process, Harwood said the initial blasts 150 feet up on the hill might not be
an issue, but later blasting at ground level likely would create more severe
impacts.
Commissioner Howard Craig said he was concerned that
vibrations would create a nuisance and that they would be transmitted beyond
the boundaries of the property, both of which would violate town regulations.
Planning Director Liz Burdick offered a long explanation of
how GFI planned to handle the problem of silica dust. Toward the end of her
presentation, a member of the audience said "People die," to which
Burdick complained that she couldn't hear because of the interruption. Wood
asked audience members not to speak out, and the conversation continued.
"When you blast silica you get a lot of little tiny
pieces," Harwood said. "If you breathe this in, they're very sharp
... it's not like breathing normal dust."
One of the major controversies the commission had to decide
Thursday was whether the quarry application fit the definition of
"excavation major" under the town's zoning regulations. Burdick, who
was brought on in the middle of the quarry controversy after Mayor Fred Allyn
III fired previous planner Juliet Hodge, offered her opinion that the
application did fit within the definition, but commission members were
initially skeptical. After much back and forth with Burdick, however, the
commission decided that it wouldn't cite this as a reason for denial.
Another major issue brought up at previous hearings was
concern over property values. Commission members previously had discussed
expert testimony and decided that home values might not lose value after the
quarry project is completed in about 10 years, but they were sure people who
needed to sell during the blasting and rock-hauling process would almost
assuredly be facing lower home values.
Commissioners Beth Ribe and Matt Miello previously said they
worried about blasting and the likelihood of litigation from homeowners if
damage occurred. Ribe was particularly concerned with the intensity and
duration of the proposed quarry operation, and Miello said property values most
assuredly would be affected.
In other business, the P&Z heard a brief presentation
about a proposed 12-unit elderly housing development in the back of the former
Ledyard Center School at 740 Col. Ledyard Highway. The age-restricted
development would be part of a larger development that would be presented
later. A full presentation on the project is expected next month.
Tariff fears tied to biggest construction cost jump in 2 years
Construction
input prices jumped 1.4% in January, marking the largest monthly
increase in two years, according to an analysis by Associated Builders and
Contractors.
Energy costs drove much of that increase, with crude
petroleum, natural gas and unprocessed energy all rising.
However, the price jump also stems from a rush to purchase
materials ahead of potential tariffs, said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist.
The cost of inputs to construction now sits 40.5% higher than February 2020,
according to the report.
Dive Insight:
The latest construction input price surge underscores concerns
among contractors about material costs, particularly in light of
new steel
and aluminum tariffs, according to Associated General Contractors of
America.
Even before
Trump’s inauguration, the high probability of tariffs already appeared to
have been driving price increases, said Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist.
The sharp increase in prices signals a shift after a year
of relative
stability for contractors. That’s largely due to three factors, said Basu.
“First, energy prices rose sharply. Second, producers often
raise their prices at the start of the year,” said Basu. “And third, many
purchasers rushed to buy inputs before potential tariffs could go into effect,
and that surge in demand pushed prices higher.”
Of these factors, tariffs will likely have the most lasting
impact, said Basu.
“A strong majority of contractors expect their sales
to increase
over the next six months,” said Basu. “The combination of increased demand
for construction inputs and ongoing supply chain confusion suggest input price
escalation could accelerate through the first half of 2025.”
Construction backlog posts gains to kick off the year
Construction
backlog increased to 8.4 months in January, reversing December’s
slight decline, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors survey
conducted from Jan. 21 to Feb. 3. The metric tracks the volume of work in
builders’ pipelines.
The Western region posted the largest backlog growth, both
on a monthly and year-over-year basis, while the South maintained the longest
backlog at 9.5 months, despite seeing the steepest decline over the past year.
Contractor confidence remained strong, with sales and profit
margin expectations rising, though staffing level expectations fell, according
to ABC.
Dive Insight:
The backlog increase in January reflects continued stability
in construction activity as contractors enter 2025, said Anirban Basu,
ABC chief economist, in the release.
“While backlog has remained within a narrow range over the
past year, contractors broadly expect construction activity to pick up over the
next six months,” said Basu. “Contractor confidence regarding sales has
improved significantly over the past year, with much of that improvement
occurring since November’s election.”
Though confidence in sales and profit margins continues to
stay strong, the dip in staffing expectations comes after a sharp
decline in job openings in late 2024. Open construction jobs fell by
55,000 to 217,000 in December compared to November, according to Bureau of
Labor Statistics data.
Basu noted, however, that all three readings remain above
ABC’s threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six
months. That means hiring demand could bounce back sooner rather than later.
“The fact that staffing level expectations remain elevated
suggests that job openings, which fell sharply during the final months of 2024,
should rebound during the first half of 2025,” said Basu.