Northport Blocks Controversial Concrete Plant's Proposed Move

NORTHPORT, AL — A Northport concrete company saw its plans for a change in location fall well short of receiving the necessary city support Monday night.

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Ballard Concrete has pushed for a conditional use authorization to store raw materials at a new site directly across from Riverside Feed & Seed on 13.7 acres, which is just a short drive south along 30th Avenue from the company's current location — one that has consistently drawn the ire of nearby residents, along with recent attention from state environmental officials.

The Northport Planning and Zoning Commission, which is the advisory board that makes recommendations to the full council, passed the measure on to the Council with yet another unfavorable recommendation. The latest request, according to officials, was largely unchanged from another that was previously met with the same level of support from the City Council.

Greenbrook Drive resident David Kemp, who also holds Seat 2 on the Planning and Zoning Commission, spoke out against the conditional use approval request Monday night ahead of the measure receiving the Council's consideration. During his allotted time, he explained how Ballard Concrete had been granted the necessary authorizations for its current 30th Avenue location, despite an unfavorable recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission and never receiving a full vote of the City Council.

According to company records, it began formal operations in June 2020.

"When they established the first location, they made promises and we had issues," Kemp said. "They didn't follow through with promises they made to Planning and Zoning."

In looking back at Council minutes from May 2020, the measure was mired in controversy from the beginning, as Ballard Concrete requested the Council suspend the rules on May 18, 2020 to approve its initial request without two separate readings of the request — a standard procedure with ordinances of a permanent nature.

At that time, the company said it intended to employ approximately 20 people, before expressing that it expected to outgrow the current 30th Avenue location in 2-3 years and would move on to another site. However, one company official said Ballard Concrete intended to stay in Northport.

The request by the company to suspend the rules that night to push a vote through was met with skepticism and apprehension by then-Council President Jay Logan, who ultimately offered up the measure for a first reading. However, a second reading would never be conducted or published in council minutes, which was followed by numerous officials criticizing former interim city administrator Hardy McCollum for allegedly green-lighting the company's 2020 request without a full vote by the City Council.

Following the business receiving the go-ahead to begin operations, Logan even relented that a second reading of the measure should have been conducted for the sake of transparency.

While Kemp said at two different points that his reasons for opposition focused on the location, and not the business itself, he went on to lay out a list of grievances that included damage to infrastructure and environmental concerns spurred by the company's operations.

Indeed, Ballard Concrete trucks can regularly be seen rolling along the Main Avenue corridor, which comes as the City Council eyes resurfacing and other improvements along the busy city street. The roadway passing in front of Ballard Concrete shows visible signs of stress, due to the heavy trucks frequently traveling 30th Avenue going to and from the plant.

Kemp also mentioned broken agreements concerning routes the trucks would take so as to minimize stress to the city's infrastructure.

"They violated that all over the place," he said. "They've torn up some of your streets. You have a project coming up to resurface Main Avenue. If you keep this business, even at the current location, you're still going to have issues at Main Avenue with road conditions."

Separately, a consent order issued in March to the company by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management details blatant violations by the company as it first began operations in Northport last year.

According to ADEM, Ballard Concrete was issued fines in excess of $20,000 earlier this year for violations that included illegal wastewater discharge into a tributary for nearby Mill Creek.

Additional ADEM citations included operating without the necessary state permit and failing to implement best practices, along with failing to maintain certain required records relating to environmental regulations.

The company also operates ready mix concrete plants in Bibb, Clarke and Limestone counties — all of which have drawn the attention of ADEM investigators in recent years.

No company employees were in attendance during Monday night's public hearing for the conditional use authorization, which came and went with Kemp being the only member of the public to speak on the matter.

A representative from TTL was in attendance on behalf of Ballard Concrete, but told the Council he did not realize he would have an opportunity to comment on support of the request during the required public hearing. As is standard practice, the council president did ask if there were any additional members of the public who wished to comment, to which the representative from TTL did not respond, despite being in the crowd.

Hogg made the usual motion for approval of the request, which was met with silence from his fellow Council members. The measure was allowed to die without a vote.

"The business is a great addition to the City of Northport," Kemp pointed out during his time at the podium. "It's just in the wrong location."

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