Resident: Hanson Owes Village $500,000

A homeowner spoke up during public comment period at a village board meeting, questioning Romeoville officials about a more than $500,000 tab Hanson Material Service owes the village.

Nottingham Ridge resident Tomasz Suliga has been vocal about his opposition to west of the Route 53 quarry. Suliga said he was incredulous after learning that the company owes $505,758.62 in tax differential payments, dating back to 1999.

“As a resident, I am speechless,” he told officials Wednesday.

According to village documents, Romeoville is asking the company to make the payments plus interest, for a total of $687,392.89, as part of negotiations as Hanson looks to annex the new property.

Jeff Sieg, a spokesman for Hanson, acknowledged the unpaid tax differentials, but said the company’s property taxes have been paid.

The tax differential payment is part of a 1995 agreement between the company and the village. Under the deal, the quarry, then known as Material Service Corporation, agreed to an annual payment to compensate the village for tax revenues lost due to the undeveloped nature of the quarry property.

The agreement states that Hanson must pay the difference between the property taxes it has paid and a set amount calculated by the state.

“We are in discussions with the village about the tax differential,” Sieg said.

According to documents, Hanson is objecting to the interest charges, maintaining that the village did not bill them for the annual fee between 1999 and 2010.

Concern continues

Suliga once again echoed the concerns of residents who fear the company’s plan to begin mining the property along Taylor Road will negatively impact homeowners in the nearby Nottingham Ridge subdivision. Residents have complained of shaking caused by quarry blasting, along with the dust produced by the blasts.

Suliga said he is afraid that the proposal will result altered blasting standards for the limestone quarry.

“It really scares me,” he said.

Sieg said the company will continue to stay well within the blasting range set by the state. Illinois law sets the maximum peak particle velocity at 1 inch per second. The quarry’s agreement with Romeoville is even more restrictive, Sieg said, setting it at half an inch per second.

“What we really do is actually around a quarter [of an inch per second],” Sieg said. “For some people, the experience of a blast and a vibration can be unsettling. That’s why we try to stay around those levels.”

The company is asking to adopt a blast level chart based on vibration standards used by the U.S. Bureau of Mines Study.

“We’re not asking to do anything different necessarily,” Sieg said. “We’re trying to bring the monitoring we do up to date with technology.”

Sieg said Hanson typically blasts once or twice per week during set hours between 1 and 4:30 p.m. The blasting is also seasonal, lasting from April to November. He acknowledged that if the demand for construction materials were to increase, so would blasting.

“What drives our blasting right now is customer demand,” he said. The rock mined at the Hanson quarry is used primarily to make concrete and asphalt.

Sieg said the company isn’t likely to pursue underground mining at the site, addressing another issue creating concern among homeowners.

“Underground mining is a fairly expensive option,” he said. “Our plan is to surface mine it.”

A public hearing on the quarry’s proposal is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at , 100 N. Independence Boulevard.