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Resident urges court to block proposed rock quarry near longtime family farm, cites road damage and property-value loss
Summary
A Pulaski County resident, speaking during public comments, described storm damage to a multi-generation farm and urged officials to oppose a proposed 30-acre rock quarry and recent pipeline work adjacent to the property, citing heavy truck traffic, bridge weight limits and property-value concerns.
Bob McAlpin spoke during the citizen comment period about damage to his wife's family farm after a tornado and raised objections to recent and proposed industrial activity near the property, including pipeline work and a proposed 30-acre rock quarry.
"I'm begging for my family to not let this rock quarry go in out there and destroy ..." McAlpin said, describing barns destroyed by the tornado and asserting that quarry truck traffic was causing road damage and safety problems. He said quarry trucks had run local residents into ditches and that heavy loads were accelerating deterioration of county roads and a bridge near the farm.
McAlpin said the day after the tornado pipeline workers arrived to begin core drilling and that those crews left fences open and treated neighbors poorly. He described the proposed quarry site next to the farm and told the court the community planned public meetings: "They ... got it moved down here to the Somerset Community College. This coming Monday night, the sixteenth at 05:00," he said, and he also cited a gas pipeline meeting he said was scheduled "tomorrow at 04:00" at the rural center.
McAlpin told the court that a former property valuation official had told him property values can fall 30 to 50 percent near quarries, and he urged officials to intervene to protect elderly family members and long-held family property.
A county official responded that state authorities regulate quarry operations and that county zoning limitations reduce the court's authority to prohibit activity on private land. The official said he had reviewed a state bridge report and received a figure indicating a maximum bridge rating of 40 tons. "I got a report that the bridge max weight is 40 tons," the county official said, and acknowledged the need to study traffic impacts and possible striping to improve driver safety on the local road.
McAlpin also cited what he said was KRS 189.210 (as read aloud during his remarks) and asserted that the bridge and road weight limits should constrain quarry truck movements; the court's county official said he would review the statutory citation and state guidance. The official also said the county does not have local zoning regulations that would let it ban an activity on private property and suggested some regulatory authority rests with the state.
Ending: McAlpin urged residents and officials to attend the community meeting he said was scheduled for Monday at Somerset Community College; county staff said they would review bridge-weight information and state statutes cited by the speaker and that some regulatory authority may lie with the state rather than the county.
