Whitefield residents will decide Tuesday whether to approve an overhaul of the town’s mining ordinance, changes prompted by a construction company’s plan to expand mining operations at its site on Route 218.

The town began pursing changes to its ordinance after learning of a proposal approved in December by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for Harry C. Crooker and Sons Inc. to excavate below the water line at its 157-acre pit on Thayer Road and Route 218 and create a 37-acre pond.

Jim Torbert, chairman of the Whitefield Planning Board, said the town was concerned that the proposal could harm the water quality of the aquifer draining into the Sheepscot River.

“In the long run, I think the water is our most valuable resource here,” he said. “The gravel will all be taken out eventually.”

There are 20 commercial mining pits licensed through the town with nine owners, according to Town Clerk Aaron Miller.

Torbert said the Planning Board met weekly between March and the middle of September to draft a revision of the town’s ordinance. At the Town Meeting in March, residents approved a 180-day moratorium, retroactive to Jan. 31, on new or expanded mining operations. The moratorium was approved and extended in July to give the board more time to make the changes to the ordinance.

The changes were proposed in response to the plan from Harry C. Crooker and Sons Inc., but Torbert said he doesn’t know whether it will resubmit a new proposal after the vote in November.

The Topsham-based company announced earlier this month that one of its employees and a group of local investors had purchased the previously family-owned business.

A man who answered the phone for the company Tuesday morning said he didn’t know who in the company could comment on the Whitefield mining proposal.

Torbert said it was necessary to examine the town’s ordinance because the Sagadahoc County Superior Court ruled it was unconstitutionally vague in 1994 after Crooker and Sons took the town to court about a Board of Appeals denial of a mining expansion. The ordinance hasn’t been updated since then.

Tobert said he hopes people understand that the existing ordinance doesn’t do anything to protect the town.

The current development ordinance requires applicants to meet general standards about not placing unreasonable burdens on residents or hurting the town’s finances, but it doesn’t say what the standards mean or how to determine whether a proposal meets them.

The proposed amendments remove those general, vague requirements and add extensive detailed requirements for mineral extraction and gravel mining, including limits on how close to a water table operations can dig and a requirement for reclamation plans.

The revised ordinance also includes more detailed water quality rules, gives more power to the town’s code officer to inspect operations and allows the board to seek advice from outside experts when reviewing proposals.

Torbert said if the changes pass, the board will reconvene to establish permit protocols. The proposed revisions would charge applicants for the cost of inspections so it doesn’t become a burden on the town, Torbert said.

If voters reject the ordinance changes, the board will have to meet again to see if it can make different changes to the ordinance.

“We’re hoping people see this as a reasonable step,” he said. “If they don’t, we’ll have to go back and see what else we can do. I frankly don’t know what that would be at this point. We gave it our best shot.”

Paul Koenig — 621-5663

pkoenig@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @paul_koenig

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