The Miami County commissioners approved a required designation of truck hauling route for a proposed surfacing mining operation by Piqua Materials on Farrington Road, west of County Road 25A between Troy and Piqua. The vote on whether the project will be approved lies with the county Board of Zoning Appeals.

State law requires the county engineer’s office to make a recommendation to the commissioners on the preferred haul routes for a proposed operation before an application for a conditional use permit is filed with the appeals board.

The proposed primary haul route was outlined by Paul Huelskamp, county engineer, and approved by commissioners March 29.

The commissioners while discussing the truck route heard comments from two nearby property owners with concerns about the proposed project.

A permit application has not been filed, but is expected soon, said Dan Suerdieck, county planning and zoning manager. The zoning appeals board decision could be challenged in the county Common Pleas Court.

The primary ingress and egress from the proposed surface mining site would be on the west side of Experiment Farm Road, about 650 feet south of Farrington Road. The primary route to and from the proposed site was identified as Experiment Farm Road to Farrington Road to County Road 25A and on to Interstate 75.

Huelskamp explained that access to the site from Experiment Farm Road was preferred to off Farrington Road because of concerns about the speed of traffic on Farrington Road and trucks entering and leaving the site.

“The quickest, shortest possible route is this one,” Huelskamp said.

The commissioners also heard comments from Phillip Neal and Thomas H. Hartzell, both who own properties nearby.

Neal said existing truck traffic is breaking down the roads, including Experiment Farm.

“I’m not really excited about having more trucks moving up and down that road,” he said, noting his family has farmed in that area of the county since 1920.

Hartzell said he, too, owns a farm on Experiment Farm Road near the proposed gravel pit. Among his concerns, he said, would be the potential negative impact of the operation on area groundwater.

“I am highly opposed to this … It is going to have a tremendous negative impact on property values, both home and agriculture, within at least a two-mile radius,” he said. “It is also going to inhibit the orderly development of Experiment Farm Road and that environ over the …foreseeable future.”

Hartzell asked anyone who didn’t know the impact of a gravel pit on the area to visit the quarry near Piqua. “I do not believe putting a pit out there is the right usage for that property,” he said.

Commission President Richard Cultice said the commission’s role in the issue was limited to the truck route.

Commissioner Jack Evans said because the code requires the commission to accept the recommended route or with modifications, the route outlined by Huelskamp appeared to be the best.

“It is something you would think the county commission would have some say, but they don’t” Commissioner John “Bud” O’Brien said.

Information submitted to the engineer’s office on behalf of Piqua Materials states the proposal is for 93 acres in Washington Township. The mining operation would be for extracting, crushing, screening and stockpiling limestone and related mineral products. The materials would be delivered to construction project sites via trucks.