SUMMIT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLNS) — The Summit Township Board is halting plans for a potential asphalt plant.
News of the asphalt plant drew concern from residents and led to a packed hall at Tuesday night’s township meeting.
Neighbors told 6 News earlier that they felt left out of the loop when it came to notifying the community.
People like Michael Grundvig say they just heard about tonight’s vote two days ago.
He and others wanted to have a say before the plan could be finalized.
“We’re all concerned, none of us knew it was coming in. We’ve only had a couple days of warning. It sounds like the vote is imminent and basically going to be greenlit at this point,” Grundvig said.
Regulations, location, health concerns and more are all at the top of mind for people living in Summit Township when it comes to the proposed asphalt plant.
Homeowners packed Tuesday night’s meeting to get some answers to their questions after they say they learned about it and were not notified.
“I then went to a neighborhood that was right next to where the plant is intended to be built and asked around and ran into somebody who was notified. At that point I learned that they only notified people within a 300-foot radius and that is literally across the street if you didn’t live almost immediately on the plant location you would not have been told,” Grundvig said.
The proposed asphalt plant area spans more than nine-acres and would require four employees.
Aaron Sherwood with Willbee Transit Mix said approving the site plan and conditional use permit would be critical to meet the asphalt needs in the area.
“There’s so much road work being done, and they are taking care of that. We are trying to take care of the small guys and we see a need for it,” Sherwood said.
Residents like Grundvig hope to mitigate any environmental and health effects.
“We’re not even sure what the impact will be on our homes and our families. We know there’s noxious gasses emitted. We know that they are pretty heavily regulated. The permits will require compliance with the laws, but we don’t actually know what that means for us,” Grundvig said.
While they understand the need for the plant, they just wished they would’ve gotten a heads up.
“Asphalt plants are very necessary; we use asphalt all over the place, and this is beneficial to Jackson and the community. There’s absolutely no disagreement on that. It’s more a matter of the specific location and the handling of the notification, the lack of transparency, how it feels as though it’s been rushed,” Grundvig said.
