ES-CA will be holding a meeting on Sunday, February 12, at 2 PM at the Placitas Community Library, to discuss the Asphalt Plant issue. All residents of Bernalillo and Placitas are invited to attend.
At the Feb. 2 County Commission meeting, Bob Gorrell, ES-CA President, made a presentation to the Commission regarding County actions on the Asphalt Plant equipment presently on the Fisher Sand & Gravel Property, and the gravel mining operation that has been going on there for a long time, in violation of zoning. Bob widened the criticism to other areas where the County Development Department has been negligent in enforcing ordinances. The paper presented to the Commission and officials of the County is here: Negligent-Enforcement-of-Ordinances
The Commission listened respectfully to members of the community who expressed concern about this issue, during Public Comments, but the Commission members were advised not to discuss the community comments at that meeting, as these matters could come before the Commission at later hearings. County Manager Phil Rios reported to the Commission that the County had sent a January 27 letter to Fisher informing them of the zoning violations, and ordering them to remove the violating equipment and material within 30 days.
In an article in the Albuquerque Journal, Fisher told the Journal reporter that the asphalt equipment is only being stored on the I-25 frontage road site in preparation to moving it to Tucamcari for a project there. Some have criticized ES-CA for over-reacting to the placement of equipment there, claiming that there is no intention of using it for asphalt production at that site. But there is no question that Fisher did apply for re-zoning to do just that in August of 2010. Then later, after Fisher withdrew the zoning application from the County, they continued to apply with the NM Environment Dept. for permission to do asphalt production at that site, as shown in the following application documents from October, 2010:
Fisher 2010-10 Application – Text — Fisher 2010-10 Appl. – Picture 1 — Fisher 2010-10 Appl. – Picture 2 — Fisher 2010-10 Appl. – Picture 3 — Fisher 2010-10 Appl. – Picture 4 — Fisher 2010-10 Appl. – Picture 5
Many have asked: What project might Fisher be doing that would require asphalt production at this site near Bernalillo and Placitas? This short “News in Brief” article in the Jan. 28, 2012, Albuquerque Journal may shed light on their plans:
N.M. 313 Section To Be Repaved
The state Department of Transportation plans to repave a section of N.M. 313 from about five miles north of the roundabout at Roy Road, north to the town of Bernalillo.
The $1.2 million project involves milling off the top layer of road and repaving it. Work will be done by Fisher Sand and Gravel and is expected to begin in the late spring, said Phil Gallegos, district spokesman for the state DOT.