AUGUSTA — Following heated debate city councilors indicated they’re ready to vote, one way or the other, on a long-tabled proposal that would force a paving plant that has drawn numerous complaints from its neighbors out of business, or at least out of its current location.

But first they want to meet with their attorney to discuss potential litigation and “the legalities and defensibility,” of what they may enact, said Mayor William Stokes.

Additional Photos

PAVING DEBATE: Augusta resident Roland Mahieux describes the gravel and paving operation next to his home during an Augusta City Council meeting Thursday to discuss the business. Staff photo by Andy Molloy

So they’ve scheduled an executive session to meet with Stephen Langsdorf, city attorney, for Nov. 10.

A vote that could end — or extend — the controversy over the R.C. & Sons Paving plant, operating near the Grandview neighborhood, in northwest Augusta, could then follow at the Dec. 1 council meeting.

Beginning shortly after the plant came along in 2009, several neighborhood residents have lodged complaints with the city about the smell of asphalt coming from the R.C. & Sons paving plant off West River Road, less than 1,500 feet away from their neighborhood.

The previously tabled changes to the city’s mineral extraction ordinance to address residents’ concerns about the paving plant, as proposed, would force the plant to close or move when its license expires next May, as such plants would no longer be allowed in that zone.

Residents have filed numerous complaints, saying the smell when the wind is blowing toward them from the plant is so bad they can’t spend time outside or leave their windows open.

Regan Haines, an attorney for R.C. & Sons, said 76 percent of the 45 complaints received by the city this summer, and passed on to the company, were from four residents of the neighborhood. She said the complaints occurred on 16 days over the paving season.

Scott Snedden, a Grandview neighbor, said he was one of the people who complained. He said he is retired so is home more often during the day, when the plant was in operation, than some of his neighbors. He said just because the bulk of the complaints came from a few neighbors doesn’t mean others haven’t been bothered.

“We’ve got seniors in the neighborhood; they’re scared to make complaints,” Snedden said. “They come to us (with their complaints) because they know we’ll speak up for the neighborhood.”

Several neighbors spoke Thursday to confirm that they saw Snedden and Lou Craig as spokesmen for the neighborhood, so they didn’t speak up as much as they might have.

Company officials have previously said four people work at the company’s paving plant in Augusta, another eight are on a paving crew associated with the plant and seven to 12 truck drivers haul materials to and from the site.

Haines said the company has also brought more than jobs to the city — it’s also brought competition that she said has resulted in lower bid prices for paving jobs, helping both the city and private property owners save money.

McGee and R.C. & Sons hired Odor Science and Engineering Inc. of Bloomfield, Conn., at an estimated cost of $10,000, to study the odor issue and make recommendations.

Their report recommended potential fixes including building an enclosure around the truck loading area at the pavement plant and inserting an additive during the pavement-making process to combat the odor of pavement.

Haines said the company has built much of the enclosure already, and said, since it was installed, only two neighbors have complained.

Claude Cloutier, a vice president of Auburn-based R.C. & Sons, said the company is waiting to hear whether its desire to continue operating beyond this paving season before investing further in efforts to prevent odors from the plant from bothering neighbors.

Neighbors have said the plant never should have been allowed to locate in the spot in the first place because the plant is not compatible with the neighborhood, and received its permit without ever undergoing its own Planning Board review.

Some of the Grandview neighbors sparred previously, with McGee for several years, primarily over blasting at the pit.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com 

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