ABERFOYLE ‒ A Puslinch aggregate company will be extending hours of operations at one of its pits due to problems with meeting their annual extraction quotas.
While they previously rejected an application from Dufferin Aggregates, Puslinch council has conditionally approved the company's request for an earlier start as long as their concerns about trucks tracking mud and stones into the road, as well as trucks parking on Victoria Road, are addressed.
Located at 4445 Victoria Road, the Aberfoyle Pit 2's new hours will extend the company's months of operation from November to Dec. 15 and allow trucks to start work an hour earlier at 7 a.m.
The most mined material in the world, aggregates are construction materials like sand, gravel, crushed stone slag, and recycled concrete that are commonly used in construction.
"Not every day is perfect, we get that," said Kevin Mitchell, Dufferin Aggregate's director of property, planning, and approvals, addressing the councillor's concerns during his delegation, "and we’re trying to step it up and improve it.”
However, MItchell said his staff believes they "worked hard this year" and encouraged township staff and residents to be "more proactive" about voicing any concerns in the future.
"We know people are busy and your staff don’t want to be babysitting us and they shouldn’t have to," said Mitchell. "(But) we normally don’t hear there’s a problem until long after there’s a problem or it's accumulative."
While her request for a delayed left turn to improve traffic flow at Pit 2 was supported, Coun. Sara Bailey remained concerned about slow truck traffic on Wellington Road 34 and asked if smaller trucks would help with delays.
According to the report, the existing peak hourly traffic is 17 to 18 trucks per hour.
“It’s more desirable to use the larger truck because it’s fewer trucks,” said Mitchell. “There’s a minor financial part to it but it is kind of a double-edged sword…I hear what you’re saying but the difference wouldn't be that noticeable.”
Staff will work with the company to draft a county proposal for an extended left turn at the Wellington Road 34 and Victoria Road South intersection.
The company's request to increase its annual tonnage limit from 1,000,000 tonnes to 2,000,000 is currently being circulated within the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the County of Wellington.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
