Joliet council delays decision on quarry blasting

A proposal to allow blasting at an East Side quarry has been put on hold for a month.

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday, tabled a public hearing and vote on the matter until its Jan. 17 meeting.

The council for a second straight day heard objections to the plan.

The quarry is north of Richards Street and east of Sandall Place. The area has been used for a quarry since the 1880s, according to a staff report on the project. The quarry is owned by VN Land and provides rock aggregate to PT Ferro Construction.

But blasting could cause problems for buildings and wells, David Potete told the council on Tuesday.

“The property owners near the quarry are concerned about vibrations near our buildings,” said Potete, who is on the board of a church that owns property in the area. “There are distinct possibilities that the vibrations could cause several problems.”

Potete was the only person to speak on the matter Tuesday. Residents from the area came to the meeting but did not speak once the public hearing was tabled.

Several people spoke against the blasting proposal at the council’s workshop meeting on Monday.

Councilman Joe Clement said after the meeting that the public hearing and vote was tabled at the request of the quarry owner, who wanted time to bring blasting experts to a hearing to address issues raised by residents.

Clement said residents who attended a community meeting in November with the quarry operator appeared satisfied with answers provided by blasting experts at the meeting.

But Potete said many people who live in the area were not aware of the meeting and did not attend.