Aldermen: Jackson would supply some services to quarry area if it is annexed

The Jackson Board of Aldermen on Tuesday announced how it will cater to a quarry if it's voted into annexation next month and took questions and comments from residents who were mostly incensed by the potential move.

City administrator James Roach said in front of a full council chamber Tuesday night that Jackson will supply emergency and nonemergency police and fire services to the quarry if it is annexed through a vote Feb. 7, but would not supply water, electricity or waste removal immediately.

"There is no present need for electricity, water or waste in the area," Roach said from a prepared statement.

Any services in the future may be fee-based, Roach said. The Missouri Department of Transportation will tend to state roads, while county officials will take care of county roads, Roach said.

The area would be rezoned from a residential area to an industrial area, Roach said, noting that any discussion of rezoning should be saved until after the annexation vote is decided.

Services to the area would begin immediately if annexation is voted into place.

The announcement sparked more than two hours of discussion between the aldermen and residents. Speakers who were against annexation received the loudest applause, while speakers for it received light praise.

One Fruitland resident told the aldermen he did not understand why Jackson wants to expand and that he feared losing his identity as a resident of Fruitland.

"You have nothing to offer," he said. "It looks like a financial bonus for Jackson."

Another said he lives near the quarry and feared blasts would destroy his house and the city wouldn't care because his home is outside the traditional city lines. The blasts shake his walls, rattle furniture and dishes inside his home and scare his handicapped daughter.

"I suggest you get familiar with percussion and how the earth moves and how it affects people and homes," he told the aldermen.

Ken Leimbach said he worried about the inexperienced drivers who attend Saxony Lutheran High School and all the industrial trucks that transport goods to and from the quarry. The trucks, which may see their heaviest traffic in the summer months, according to Mayor Barbara Lohr, present a danger to 16-year-old students at the school, Leimbach said.

Other speakers felt the quarry, which is owned by Heartland Materials, is trying to get annexed to skirt regulations it may have faced in Fruitland.

"We're going to treat Heartland Materials like anyone else," Lohr said. "They're not getting special treatment."

Danny Dumey of Heartland Materials told audience members that his company is meticulous about all regulations and has been checked close to 50 times by the state and has not been reprimanded for any practices.

"We've exceeded every regulation from the state," he said.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

101 Court St., Jackson, Mo.