JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The Campbell County Commission, in a recessed session Monday night, voted unanimously for a resolution that commissioners hope will block or at least restrict a planned rock quarry near Campbell County High School.

The commission last week authorized Mayor E. L. Morton to contact a Nashville attorney who was recommended by the county services group CTAS as someone with experience on similar issues. That attorney declined to take the case due to the distance but recommended another Nashville attorney, James Wright, who is already working on similar issues in East Tennessee.

Wright appeared before the commission Monday night, having already researched the problem and with a draft resolution drawn up that he proposed as Campbell County’s best chance to regulate and minimize any offsite effects from the quarry.

The quarry is to be operated by Potter Southeast, the same company that ran into delays and then withdrew from a state contract to add passing lanes to I-75 north of Caryville.

Wright told the commission that since Campbell County has no countywide zoning , prohibiting the quarry operation is not an option but Campbell County still has the power to regulate any activities that may be detrimental to the health or safety of the public.

Campbell County has adopted the County Powers Act and therefore can, by a two-thirds vote of the commission, pass resolutions to regulate such activities as the proposed quarry.

The resolution proposed by Wright would prohibit any blasting activity on property where the boundary is within 2,000 feet of a public school. Presently the quarry property is roughly 1,000 feet from the property line for Campbell County High School.

The proposed resolution would also require the quarry to submit plans to the county showing it meets the distance requirement before commencing operations, and those plans would need to be approved by the county. The plans would also have to detail methods to “control noise, dust, seismic compliance, adequate beams and barriers and means of safe ingress and egress.”

A long discussion followed Wright’s presentation, with commissioners asking numerous questions and making comments. “If they ignore us, the only thing we can do is impose a $50 fine and our next option would be to go to court and seek an injunction for relief,” Rusty Orick observed.

Ralph Davis suggested that the resolution should also restrict blasting to after school hours. “You could set those parameters,” Wright replied, “but what if the school plays a ball game that night and the blast goes off during the game.”

“We have after school activities every day,” Director of Schools Jennifer Fields observed. “We’re also concerned about structural damage to the building.”

“That’s why I proposed the 2,000 foot restriction,” Wright responded.

Scott Kitts then asked, “Is there anything we can do to stop this outright?”

“For you to have any power over this, you need to pass a resolution. You have no zoning,” Wright reminded the commission. “The City of LaFollette included this area in its urban growth plan, so they have a step up on the county and a better chance at blocking it outright. If you pass this resolution the county can do something,” he added.

Orick expressed his doubts, pointing out that he had talked to LaFollette officials and doubted the city could succeed in restricting activities outside the corporate limits. “What you’ve drawn up might help us in the future or they might laugh at us and move on.” he concluded.

“Well they can laugh,” Wright replied. “That is why you adopted the County Powers Act. It gives you the authority to prohibit, suppress or regulate any activities that can be detrimental to health and safety.”

“Unless you pass something, you have no power to act,” he added.

Dwayne Baird asked whether the quarry might be covered by a grandfather clause and win in court.

“They will raise every issue they can and grandfathering will be one. If you lose on that, you can at least set parameters to control sound, dust and other effects,” Wright explained.

County Attorney Joe Coker posed the question of public notice, asking, “What can Campbell County actually do tonight? The law requires a five-day public notice. The (January) meeting was recessed to tonight but this resolution was not on the agenda when you suspended the rules.”

Coker advised “If you act tonight, you should also put the resolution on the agenda for the regular February meeting as a fall back measure and add it to the agenda. That way there is no question about public notice.”

Finally after nearly two hours of questions and discussion, Kitts made a motion that the county retain Wright to represent the county as their attorney on the quarry issue. Lisa Lester seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Ralph Davis then made a motion to pass the resolution that Wright had drawn up but add to the 2,000 foot limit that no blasting or quarry operation can occur within 2,000 feet of a power grid, in order to protect a nearby electrical substation.

After another vote was held to suspend the rules to allow the resolution to be voted upon, the motion by Davis to approve Resolution 27-2020 passed unanimously. Now the commission will await the quarry operator’s response, probably ending up before a judge. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 01/29/2020-6AM)

 

 

 

One Reply to “Commission moves to ban quarry from blasting within 2,000’ of CCHS”

  1. I am thankful that I pushed to get the County Powers Act adopted while I was in office even though many commissioners didn’t see the need. Unfortunately, they should now. I also proposed trying to do a countywide zoning plan but received minimal support from fellow commissioners because so much of the public gets zoning and building codes cross threaded they get scared. It’s all for the good of the people. It’s times like this I really wish those in office would vote for the long-term good of the people and not worry about being re-elected or worry about public scrutiny. Thanks for keeping the public informed.

Comments are closed.