| Author | Message | ||
     Dan Shelffo Citizen Username: Openspacer Post Number: 52 Registered: 6-2001 |
Activity that includes surveying and the movement of construction equipment has been taking place in the quarry. My neighbor tells me that there is a company doing structural surveys on the surrounding homes to document structural flaws that exist prior to the upcoming blasting. Has anyone been approached by this company? | ||
| mayhewdrive Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 336 Registered: 5-2001 |
Has Pulte ever brought forth an actual final plan? The plan that the Planning Board approved, made the ASSUMPTION that the plans would be re-done so that there would be no grading within some of the buffer areas. The plans being presented at that time required grading in the buffer which required a variance. Pulte either had to remove those duplex units, or reduce the size of the properities for those duplexes. They can't possibly begin construction with a nod & a handshake saying "trust us" | ||
| Eric DeVaris Citizen Username: Eric_devaris Post Number: 29 Registered: 2-2003 |
One of my neighbors received a visit for such inspection. Below are some of the questions that I would ask should someone come to inspect my home for its present structural condition. Of course, before any action, I would consult my attorney first and see what are my rights. The engineering company that goes around doing the inspections works for the developer. Their report will be critical if the anticipated blasting causes any structural damages to my property. If the engineering company’s report records any damages in my house now, I will not have any legal recourse later for damage repairs, should my home get damaged as a result of blasting. So, I would certainly like to know what they write on that report. Before I let anybody have access to my home now and examine it, I would consult with my attorney whether I should request a written document, signed by the developer, that answers to my satisfaction the following questions: a) Would I be given a copy of the engineering company’s report before its gets finalized? b) Would I be given the opportunity to have the report examined by my own engineer, and if he/she has any remarks/objections on its contents, would I be granted the means to record these remarks/objections? c) Can the person doing the inspection provide me with proof that he/she holds a Professional Engineer’s license in the state of New Jersey? I would also ask my attorney what is my recourse should the developer refuse to give me such assurances in writing. I don’t have to go through all this because my property is not within the blasting risk zone, but these are the concerns of this neighbor who had the inspector in his home, and I share them with my neighbors for their consideration. Eric | ||
| spw784 Citizen Username: Spw784 Post Number: 351 Registered: 5-2001 |
Will they be blasting during school hours? | ||
| woodstock Citizen Username: Woodstock Post Number: 306 Registered: 9-2002  |
Does anyone know what they consider the "blasting risk zone," as Mr. DeVaris puts it above? Waiting For The Electrician, Or Someone Like Him | ||
| newtoallthis Citizen Username: Newtoallthis Post Number: 51 Registered: 2-2003 |
What is considered to be the "blasting risk zone"? | ||
| Eric DeVaris Citizen Username: Eric_devaris Post Number: 30 Registered: 2-2003 |
I am told, by a not absolutely reliable source, that the "blasting risk zone" is the area comprised within the 200 feet from any point of the quarry border. Perhaps the Village Engineer's office (973.378.7706) has this information. Eric | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3299 Registered: 5-2001 |
Didn't blasting go on in the quarry when it was, well, a quarry? What is so new about this? Blasting surveys are standard operating procedure in the business. It doesn't mean that the owner or blasting company is anticipating problems. This is an insurance requirement in most cases. Are the developers going to be blasting nearer the property line than was done when the place was an active quarry? I know many of you near the quarry are disappointed that anything is going to be built there, but I think you are making more of this than the facts, admitedly scarse, indicate. | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 1976 Registered: 5-2001  |
What's the matter, Bobk? Nothing interesting going on in our town, so you've crossed the border?  Q. What's the difference between Columbia High School and the quarry? A. They only threaten to set off bombs at Columbia. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3300 Registered: 5-2001 |
Funny, Noahero.  Actually we are thinking of moving. | ||
| Eric DeVaris Citizen Username: Eric_devaris Post Number: 31 Registered: 2-2003 |
Bobk, What’s new about blasting in the quarry, is that blasting has stopped for almost twenty years, and since then a considerable number of new residents have moved in the area; to them that's new, and they are not comfortable with the idea. It is exactly because blasting surveys are a method of the insurance companies to cover their behind, that we, the residents, should learn how to cover ours. If you examine the developers’ plans you will see that they blast up to ten feet from the properties around the quarry, in areas that have never been blasted off before; they are actually opening a larger hole to make more room for housing. I think that their plans are available at Village Hall for your perusal. The developer has informed the residents that blasting will last for one year. Although blasting in a construction site is a standard procedure, blasting of this humongous scale, which will last for one entire year, is not. Am I really making more of this than the facts indicate? I think not. Yes, I, together with the other 600 residents in town who expressed their opposition to development in the quarry, are disappointed that instead of desperately needed recreational space, there will be buildings, cars, and asphalt which will replace trees, waterways, and wildlife. But at least we all have the satisfaction that we were the major force that reduced the planned housing units by 65%. I am sorry to hear that you are thinking of moving. Does urban sprawl have anything to do with it? Eric | ||
| spw784 Citizen Username: Spw784 Post Number: 352 Registered: 5-2001 |
Was the site an active quarry (i.e. with the blasting, etc) at the same time the school was being used? | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3306 Registered: 5-2001 |
Spw, I assume you are talking about Newstead, and yes Newstead school was an active school up to the early 1980s when it was closed because of declining enrollment. Eric, thanks for the additional information. Please don't think that I am unsympathetic to the goals of your group. You fought a classic grass roots battle and were very succesful in scaling the development way, way back. To me your actions seem almost text book. With that said, I think it was unrealistic to expect the quarry to not be developed. As far as sports fields are concerned, wouldn't they require even more blasting to level the ground? When the quarry was a quarry blasting took place all year round, year after year. Also, take a look at the parking congestion at New Waterlands or DeHart on a Sunday during the soccer season. The traffic from sixty or so houses will not be as great and upsetting to the residents imho. My comments to Noahero concerned moving to SO from MW. | ||
| spw784 Citizen Username: Spw784 Post Number: 353 Registered: 5-2001 |
so, bobk, IOW, blasting was going on between 9a-3p, during the same years that Newstead School was filled with students. ? I wonder how that impacted their learning. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3307 Registered: 5-2001 |
Probably not very much. Having been around blasting sites a few times there is usually a dullWhoommmppp kind of noise. Then it takes several days to clear the debris before the next shot. It isn't exactly Von Rumsfeld's "Shock and Awe". Also, I have a pet peeve about people who move next to an airport and then compain about the noise. To a degree people who moved near the quarry are, imho, kind of in the same boat. | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 255 Registered: 3-2003 |
bobk: Welcome to SO if you move. FWIW,and it has nothing to do with the school issue, many of the houses in Newstead back then had cracked ceilings caused by the blasting in the two quarries. | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 256 Registered: 3-2003 |
I should have added that most likely those cracked ceilings have long been repaired and I can understand homeowners not wanting to go through the repairs again. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3310 Registered: 5-2001 |
Doublea, the moving to SO was, more or less, a joke. I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I think I did about the quarry (and people who move next to airports), but I do think it unreasonable that people would move into an area with a quarry and not expect development. | ||
| NCJanow Citizen Username: Librarylady Post Number: 898 Registered: 5-2001 |
These are the same people who buy cheap houses next to highways and then demand huge, very expensive sound barriers. NCJ aka LibraryLady | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 257 Registered: 3-2003 |
Peace. I do know people (met one at the first public meeting) who before moving to the area asked their realtor about any future development and were told there would be none. But what has happened has happened. Although I'm a little bit out of range of the blasting, I was a little concerned even though the developer's representatives said it would hardly be noticeable. |
