The Mason Planning Board’s hearing and deliberation on an application for a gravel excavation site plan was continued this month without further public comment.
A continuation of the public hearing on the site plan had been scheduled for Wednesday, but the applicant requested a continuation to the board’s Aug. 26 meeting. The stated reason for the request was to allow completion of an independent review of the applicant’s environmental engineering and trucking plans.
The board granted the request for a continuance.
In the agenda for the meeting, the board had announced its intent to continue the hearing and said no public testimony would be accepted during Wednesday’s meeting.
The site plan calls for a gravel excavation business on Brookline Road, which would be operated by Onyx Corp. The site would be excavated in stages no larger than 3 acres at a time, with each area reclaimed after excavation.
The original plan has undergone changes based on community and board feedback throughout the process. One of those changes eliminated proposed Sunday hours and shortened Saturday hours; hours are currently proposed at 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, on a seasonal basis.
Trucking would cease before 3:30 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. Saturday.
According to Onyx’s operation plan, trucks must stage on site and cannot idle for more than five minutes, and are not allowed to stage on Brookline Road.
Residents have cited concerns related to noise, dust, safety and the impact of trucking traffic, both in the immediate vicinity of the site and along the planned travel route to Massachusetts.
The Planning Board has received two proposals for outside review of the application, and approved both on Wednesday. The first is from KV Partners LLC, to provide professional engineering services reviewing a traffic study and road safety analysis on the proposed haul routes for the project.
A traffic study has been conducted by a third party on the proposed haul routes, but members of the Planning Board have expressed dissatisfaction with the scope of the study.
KV Partners, in its proposal, outlined a plan to field-check roadways and intersections in Brookline and Mason to determine existing conditions and lane configurations, and to ensure roadway capacity and sight distances. Roadway condition, one of the main points of concern cited by neighboring towns and residents, will be evaluated based on current pavement and traffic loads, and future roadway improvements due to additional heavy vehicles will be estimated.
The total estimated cost of the review is $4,600.
Aries Engineering has also proposed a scope of work to provide an engineering review of Onyx’s excavation plan, reclamation plan and stormwater plan, for a total cost of $4,000.
Aries’ proposal would cover reviewing the plans for compliance with Mason’s excavation regulations and zoning code, the proposed fuel management and spill protection, evaluation of risk to a vernal pool on the property, evaluation of dust control measures and planned monitoring, and compliance with state and local regulations.
Third-party reviews of the application are paid for by the applicant.