PORTAGE TOWNSHIP -- In Tuesday’s meeting, a panel of seven Portage Township board members came to a unanimous decision to allow Valley View Quarry to reopen for business.
The battle between Portage Township and Moyle Incorporated’s Valley View Quarry is finally over. The quarry can open once again, and Moyle says they’re not the only ones benefiting from this decision.
“It’s good for the contractors, it’s good for customers, it’s good for anybody who wants to do work. There are a lot of materials that are coming in right now from Marquette, for example, that we would have been able to produce right here had we been open, so this is really good that we’re able to get back in the game and call employees back that we had to let go a year and a half ago,” said co-owner of Valley View Quarry, Andy Moyle.
In the original complaint, some residents in Portage Township were upset with the noise coming from the quarry, and they questioned whether or not it was damaging the surrounding area. The township investigated and found the quarry violated their zoning ordinance and that violation kept the quarry from operating.
After a court ruling last year, Moyle was allowed to submit a special use permit in order to continue their gravel extraction.
After a two hour closed session with board members and their attorney, they returned with the unanimous decision.
“I make a motion that we accept consent judgment discussed in closed session subject to the extremely minor changes we made being accepted,” said Trustee Mark Jalkanen.
Moyle says they began working with the township in 2009 because there was no procedure at the township level to operate the gravel pit. So a quarry committee was established, but it took until now to reach a final decision.
“I’m very happy with their decision. It was the right call to make. It’s a good deal for the township, and it’s good for us to be operating again,” Moyle said.
The board would not comment on their decision.
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