Upper Lamprey Neighbors Group
Progress to Date
| February 11, 2010 Planning Board DENIES Permit The Planning Board reconvened for further deliberations on this date and reviewed the draft of restrictions that could be imposed should the permit be granted. At the end of the evening the Board voted 4 to 1 in opposition to the permit request. February 4, 2010 Planning Board Continues Deliberations The Planning Board reconvened for further deliberations on this date. Toward the end of the meeting the Town Planning Office gave Board members a draft of possible restrictions/conditions that could be imposed if the Board were to vote in favor of conditional approval. Deliberations are to continue on February 11, 2010. January 7, 2010 Planning Board Continues Deliberations The Planning Board has closed off public comment and has started deliberations on the merits of the application. This meeting was spent reviewing the content of the application submission and determining whether the content meets the requirements of the Town' regulations. Deliberations are to continue on February 4, 2010. December 5, 2009 ULNG Submits Letter-petition to EPA Region 1 Administrator for Individual Clean Water Act The attached letter was drafted and sent to the EPA to ask for careful review of the existing NOI submitted by Thibeault given the proximity of the property to the Lamprey River and future Town water supply wells. (Read the letter here  ) Also provided with the letter is a list of past Thibeault violations to substantiate the concerns of the citizens of Raymond regarding the approval of permits for this activity. (Review the violations here  )December 3, 2009  Planning Board Begins Deliberations on Quarry Permit The Raymond Planning Board began deliberations on the Thibeault request for a quarry permit, reviewing the existing Earch Excavation Regulations for the Town and determining which elements of the regulations (if any) would be in violation. Continued deliberations are planned for January 7, 2010. John Vetne submitted a post-hearing brief (requests to the Board for findings of fact and rulings of law), which is included in the PDF attachment above. November 5, 2009  ULNG Concludes Their Presentation with Testimony from Sound Study Expert Eric Reuter and Candia Selectman Richard Snow The PDF attachment above is the noise report comissioned by Upper Lamprey Neighbors Group and Clearwater Estates on the proposed Thibeault quarry and presented to the Board by Eric Reuter. As you can see, the noise impact will be severe on residents of Clearwater, Ann Logan Circle, and Branch River.
To date, neither the Board nor Thibeault have been inclined to do a noise and noise mitigation study.
Also, Richard Snow gave a presentation to the Board as a representative from the town of Candia in his capacity of Board of Selectman and Conservation Commission member. October 29, 2009 ULNG Presents Their Issues and Objections to the Planning Board Thibeault has presented their studies and has asked the Planning Board to make a decision on the merits of their submission. ULNG presented their position on items such as noice, dust, errosion, water protetction, and rebutting the accuracy of the real estate analysis submitted by Thibeault.
Review the presentation materials here:
July 9, 2009 Raymond Planning Board agrees to treat Thibeault application as a NEW application for Quarry Only Thibeault came to the July 9 Planning Board Meeting with a request to change their application from an AMMENDMENT to the excavation permit (which is now null) to a NEW permit for quarry operations. The Planning Board agreed to this request with the abutters (ULNG included) agreeing also. This means that all material submitted by Thibeault in the past will be treated as material for consideration for this new permit and NOT in support of an ammended permit. The Planning Board has now scheduled two dates in September to review all material and ask for peer review of this material as well as material submitted in opposition by the abutters. |
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| June 24, 2009 Goodquarry.com Provides Excellent Resources for Responsible Operations Guidelines Please review this excellent resource maintained by the University of Leeds. Goodquarry is designed for all who have an interest in the environment and quarrying. Each of the potential environmental impacts listed alongside is considered in detail, with particular focus on promoting good practice. Since 2004, Goodquarry has been used as a source of helpful information by those within the industry (operators, planners, consultants, etc.) and by the public who may be affected by a quarry. It is also proving to be a valuable educational resource. |
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| June 3, 2009 WMUR TV Reports that Blasting on Route 93 Expansion Has Affected Local Wells - What does this mean for us? The local TV News reported that the blasting activities on the Route 93 expansion at Exit 3 has caused traces of explosives in area wells. Although this activity is not related to our current quarry issues, it highlights the concerns we have about potential contamination of our own wells despite assurances that blasting will be safe and controlled. Of particular alarm in this news report is the quote "Officials said the operations have been consistent with or surpassed standard industry practices, but the contractor and blasting subcontractor will have to submit revised plans that will prevent any additional groundwater impact". While Thibeault has assured us many times in Planning Board meetings that their blasting will not affect wells, how can any rational person allow a 40-year blasting operation on the site of the town's future water supply?? |
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| June 1, 2009 Fox25 News Reports Problems with Flying Rock at a West Roxbury, MA Quarry Unknown problems from blasting on a quarry in West Roxbury caused fly rock to land in neighbor's yards. Even the quarry operator admits that this is unacceptable and needs to be corrected. The blaster suggests that "perhaps there were seams in the rock or an overloaded charge". Of particular interest is the quote from one abutter of this quarry who says "we expect to have a few cracks in the walls, and we do". |
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May 27, 2009  ULNG Receives Copy of Real Estate Analysis Prepared for Thibeault and Presented to May 21 Planning Board ULNG received a copy of the "STUDY OF IMPACT OF PROPOSED QUARRY ON THE REAL ESTATE VALUES OF SURROUNDING RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY IN RAYMOND, NEW HAMPSHIRE", which was prepared for Thibeault by Crafts .Appraisal Associates, Ltd. and submitted to the Planning Board at the May 21, 2008 meeting. While ULNG has not yet commissioned their own real estate analysis, we can share one comment received from local realtor when asked whether it is reasonable for an abutter to be concerned about property values next to a working quarry: "Yes, I am aware of neighborhoods that are impacted by noise. I marketed one back in the late 90's early 2000's that abutted the speedway in Epping. Although there was substantial acreage behind the raceway the noise was pretty loud. It took forever to sell those houses. Some are back on the market and I can check to see how long they have been on. There is a buyer for every house, so they say, but if inventory is plentiful, houses near noise (i.e. highways, train tracks, speedways, quarries) will be the last to sell, people then get desperate that the house has been on the market so long, they keep lowering the price to sell it. On a personal level, I chose not to by a house in Conway when I was looking as I could hear the heavy equipment moving sand and gravel and I refused to listen to the 'beep, beep' of the equipment moving around." Please review this study by clicking on the PDF icon above and give your feedback to us at info@ULNG.org if you have comments. |
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| May 1, 2009 ULNG Requests Current Quarry Hearings Be Postponned or Terminated Based on Judge Lewis' Decision ULNG, through attorney John Vetne, asked the Planning Board to discontinue hearings regarding the AMMENDMENT of the excavation permit based on the decision rendered by Judge Jon Lewis (see notation for April 23, 2009 below). At the same time, it has become apparent to us that there may be conflict of interest with Town Council (who negotiated the Town water rights in 2005) and potentially some of the Planning Board members. Therefore, ULNG has also asked that such parties consider recusing themmselves from further participation in the Thibeault property discussion. |
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April 23, 2009  Judge John Lewis finds in Favor of ULNG The judge finds in favor of ULNG in that lack of notification in 2005 makes the renewal of that permit "vacated" and causes Thibeault to re-apply for the original excavation permit. Read the judge's ruling by clicking on the PDF icon above. |
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| December 15, 2008 ULNG v Town of Raymond and Thibeault is Heard in Court Judge John Lewis presides over the hearing at Rockingham Superior Court. The hearing takes most of the day and results in the judge asking both sides to consider compromises and a future decision to be made. |
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| August 5, 2008 Revised and Fine-tuned Petition Re-submitted to Court By ULNG After review of legal responses from Town of Raymond and Thibeault, ULNG has submitted revised petition to the court for consideration on September 5, 2008. The revised documents (see links below) clarify the points being made - primarily the Town's lack of recognition of non-notification during review of the request to ammend the permit and asks that the current excavation permit be null and void based on this non-notification as well as the refusal of the Town Planning Board to consider newer standards for air, noise and water polution that now exist. |
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| July 16, 2008 Rockingham Superior Court Reschedules Hearing to September 5, 2008 Due to scheduling conflicts with the presiding judge in this case, the hearing originally scheduled for August 13, 2008 has been rescheduled to September 5 at 9:00AM. Meanwhile, the Town of Raymond and Thibeault Sand and Gravel have each submitted motions to the Court to dismiss the case. Council for ULNG is working diligently to reject such motions for dismissal and filing the appropriate responses. |
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July 2, 2008  Town of Raymond Files Amended Response and Request to Dismiss the Case The town, through counsel, submitted a second response to the court to request a dismissal of all or portions of the case, citing that - in addition to claims for non-notified abutters - many allegations listed were for non-abutters. |
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| June 10, 2008 Thibeault Presents Plans to New Hampshire DES on Request to Extend Permit for Quarry The Water Division of Terrain Alteration Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services held a public hearing and asked Thibault to present their plans for extending the existing permit to allow quarrying operation - including blasting and rock crushing on that site. The NHDES is accepting written public comment until 4pm June 24th. We urge all of you to put pen to paper and send something to the Alteration of Terrain people with your concerns/comments on the proposed quarry project. It can be as brief or as labor intensive an effort as you deem fit. Get involved! All written commentary should be sent to the attention of: Amy Clark, P.E. NHDES Water Division- Terrain Alteration Bureau P.O. Box 95 - 29 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03302 |
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| June 4, 2008 Town of Raymond Files Response and Request to Dismiss the Case The town, through counsel, respond to the ULNG Legal Petition with request to dismiss the case. ULNG responds to this request for dismissal with a legal response to proceed. |
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| May 7, 2008 Abutters Notified by NH DES That Thibeault Asked to Present Details on Their Quarry Plans Abutters of the Thibeault property were notified by mail from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Protection that there is a public hearing scheduled for June 10, 2008 at the Raymond High School Media Room. Thibeault is asked to "present a general overview of the project and design features for the protection of surface water and groundwater". Although this quarry operation is not related to our issue about non-notification for gravel operations, many of the same issues about water, air and dust pollution will be addressed in this public meeting. You are encouraged to attend. |
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| April 25, 2008 Seacoast Online Publishes Retraction to Erroneous Report Seacoast Online had previously reported in error that the Thibeault Sand and Gravel was denied the ammendment to the excavation permit for the quarry. ULNG requested a correction to this story so that readers didn't come away with the feeling that this issue is no longer relevant. The Letter to the Editor may be viewed at http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION/804250320/-1/OPINION04 |
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| April 22, 2008 Court Schedules Hearing for August 13, 2008 at 9:00AM The Rockingham County Superior Court responds to the Group's petition via "receipt of notice" and has required the Town of Raymond, Planning Board and Thibeault Sand and Gravel to prepare an answer to the Petition by July 3, 2008. Upon receipt of this response, the Court plans to hold a hearing on August 13, 2008. |
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April 17, 2008  Legal Petition filed with Rockingham County Superier Court The petition has been filed by our legal counsel to request the court to intervene with Thibeault Sand and Gravel excavation permit and to request the Town of Raymond to declare the renewed permit null and void. This petition, if successful, would require Thibeault Sand and Gravel to re-apply for the Excavation Permit and for the Planning Board to review more up-to-date standards for the excavation operation. You can review this petition by clicking on the PDF icon above. |
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April 10, 2008  Mr. Jonathan Wood reads the Hedman letter to the Raymond Planning Board. The Planning Board read the letter submitted by one abutter, asking for reconsideration of their decision to renew the gravel operation permit based on the non-notification in 2005. You can read this letter by clicking on the PDF icon above. |
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| March 20, 2008 Raymond Planning Board Votes 4-2 to Reject Abutter Motion for Rehearing The abutters requested the Planning Board, via formal letter written by Mr. John Vetne, to reconsider their earlier decision to grant a renewal of the existing Thibeault Sand and Gravel excavation permit on the grounds that not all abutters were properly notified back in 2005 and also based on new concerns about noise, dust, and traffic concerns. |
