Seneca County commissioners provisionally approve vacating 1‑mile section of County Road 31 after public hearing

Seneca County commissioners on Oct. 29 held a special public hearing in Old Fort and voted 2‑1 to move forward, with conditions, on a petition from Carmoose to vacate a one‑mile unoccupied section of County Road 31.

Carmoose site operations manager Jake Michalagic told the commissioners the company wants the vacation to eliminate a safety hazard where heavy haul trucks cross a public road. Michalagic said the company has studied multiple engineering options, that the one‑mile stretch is unoccupied, and asked commissioners to approve the vacation. “We’re asking for you guys to vote yes for the vacation, this one‑mile section that’s unoccupied on County Road 31,” Michalagic said.

Vicki Kent, Carmoose regional HR manager, framed the proposal as part of a broader local investment and mitigation package. She said Carmoose will fund a $2.8 million upgrade to Township Road 71, pay for third‑party seismograph monitoring at “about $60,000 annually,” and enter legally binding village and township agreements to monitor and, if necessary, remediate damage tied to blasting. “We’re investing an additional third party seismograph monitoring company that’ll cost us about $60,000 annually,” Kent said.

Company presenters and several business leaders argued the unoccupied mile carries very low vehicle counts and that traffic could be redistributed with minimal community impact. They cited traffic studies (ODOT tube counts and a third‑party study) showing a long‑term decline in volumes on the segment and said school transportation routes and emergency access would be preserved around the quarry.

Opposition testimony focused on access, community character, water and structural risks and impacts to local businesses and youth programs. Several residents said they regularly use the road for daily trips and raised data and personal examples to dispute the company’s traffic counts. A longtime resident said his well went dry after past quarry expansion and warned similar water impacts could recur; the resident said he had a well drilled in 1997 and “I lost my water.”

Kara Pence, an Old Fort school bus driver, emphasized the safety of children on school routes and described a narrow intersection that she said worries her when large trucks use alternative routes. “I haul the most precious cargo,” Pence said, asking how redirected truck traffic would affect school bus safety.

Local officials split as well: Bettsville Mayor Scott Harrison told commissioners the village council supports closure of the segment if it protects residents and secures monitoring and remediation for wells and structures. Other township residents and small‑business owners said closing the road would harm local commerce and force traffic onto narrower township roads that are not designed for heavy truck traffic.

Commissioners and staff repeatedly stressed they will not finalize any vacation without written, legally enforceable assurances and verification that required road improvements are completed. The county engineering staff recommended any approval be conditioned on completion and certification of Township Road 71 upgrades and related agreements; the board discussed withholding final action until those improvements are verified.

At roll call, the three commissioners recorded votes in this order: Commissioner Busdekker — Yes; Commissioner Frankert — No; Commissioner Paradiso — Yes. The board’s action was taken with the understanding the vacation would be implemented only after the county engineer certifies the required public‑safety improvements and legal agreements are in place.

What happens next: the commissioners’ conditional approval requires documented completion of the road and safety improvements and legal instruments (village/township agreements and monitoring plans) before the roadway will be vacated. The record of the earlier public viewing and the sign‑in sheets are part of the public record for this petition.

Note on terminology and sources: participants referenced the Ohio Revised Code, ODOT counts, ODNR water studies and Army Corps/Black Swan wetland reviews during testimony. Where the transcript offered differing spellings for the company name, this article follows the names used by company presenters in their statements at the hearing.