PITTSBORO, Ind. — Neighbors of a proposed concrete plant made their voices heard in Pittsboro Tuesday night, raising concerns for the roads and environment as the Town Council considers annexing nearly 50 acres of farmland.
The room was filled to capacity before Tuesday’s public hearing began, causing a crowd of dozens to form outside, many listening in from the windows.
“We’re very frustrated because I went around and counted and we had 88 people here outside the building when the meeting first started,” concerned resident Keith Yager told FOX59/CBS4.
Inside the building, there were over 60 people concerned about the same thing.
“I respect the fact that they have the right to sell their property,” resident Tom Davis said. “I just object to the fact that there’s going to be a concrete plant literally three-quarters of a mile or less behind my house.”
Cash Concrete Products Inc., which operates several locations in Putnam County, is hoping to build a plant there. The company hopes the town will annex nearly 50 acres of land and agree to re-zone about 15 of those acres – from agricultural to industrial. They’ve got the landowner on board, but not many other residents of Pittsboro.
“Our decision to sell farmland was very difficult,” landowner Bill Alexander said. “I’m sorry if this inconveniences people. There’s a ton of misinformation out there about what’s going on.”
Though no decisions have been made yet, many are worried about the potentially negative impacts a concrete plant could have on the area’s environment, water supply, real estate values and more.
“I spent a million dollars, plus, on it and come to find out they’re going to put a concrete plant next door,” one concerned resident said during public comment.
“Who’s going to be responsible for fixing all of these roads that are now currently under the county’s responsibility once they start driving their 80,000-pound approximate trucks up and down them every day?” another resident asked during public comment.
When asked about water concerns, Town Council President Jarod Baker told FOX59/CBS4 over email that Cash Concrete would need to drill a well for water and install a septic tank immediately until the town could provide utilities. He added that many who are voicing this concern and live near the proposed annexation depend on wells for water, so they are not connected to town utilities.
“I understand the concerns as access to groundwater continues to be a growing trend and we hear more about it on a regular basis. If the Town of Pittsboro accepts the annexation and if Cash Concrete received their zoning, I would want to ensure that getting them on town utilities is a top priority and completed as soon as possible (and not take up to three years),” Baker said.
When asked about potential pollution, Baker said more work would need to be done to understand the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s standards related to these kind of projects.
“There has been some discussion raised by the public so far, however, the Town of Pittsboro does not regulate the environmental standards. That is conducted at a state level and I honestly don’t know what that entails,” said Baker. “That is a concern of myself, but I’ve not had time to conduct a deep dive into IDEM violations for businesses that are similar in nature in what Cash Concrete proposes to develop.”
During a May 28 meeting, the town’s Planning Commission gave a recommendation of agricultural zoning for all land associated with the proposed annexation. The industrial zoning request was not approved.
A consultant for Cash Concrete attended the public hearing Tuesday and expressed the company’s intent to seek a re-zone to obtain industrial zoning for part of the land, if the annexation is approved in the first place. The council will further discuss and vote on the annexation on June 18.
