10 more citations for gravel mine

PALMER — A controversial gravel pit is piling up violations as it works with the Mat-Su Borough to come into compliance with a condition-laden mining permit issued earlier this summer.

Since a July 16 Board of Adjustment and Appeals decision to overturn a Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission denial of Northern Gravel and Trucking’s permit, the company and its owners have been hit with 10 borough citations.

The citations — issued July 26, Aug. 9 and Aug. 12 — allege noncompliance with conditions the BOAA set out in its permit approval, including staging flaggers at the intersection of Mike’s Lane and Buffalo Mine-Moose Creed Road, trucks not coming to a full stop at that intersection and trucks turning into the lane of oncoming traffic.

“They have failed to meet some of the conditions,” said Alex Strawn, development services manager for the Mat-Su Borough. “Our code compliance officer saw them occur.”

That would be Pamela Ness, who filled out seven reports for incidents she witnessed Aug. 9 and 12. On Aug. 9, she observed Robert Baxter, son of Northern Gravel and Trucking owner James Baxter, driving a truck and navigating that Mike’s Lane/Buffalo Mine intersection without a flagger and not come to a complete stop. On Aug. 12, she took video of a Northern Gravel truck, again driven by Robert Baxter, come to the intersection without a flagger and cross into the oncoming traffic lane on Buffalo Mine-Moose Creek Road. A few minutes later, she saw another truck cross into the oncoming traffic lane.

Neighbors of the gravel mine have been vocal about Northern Gravel allegedly operating trucks in an unsafe manner, something borough staff and the BOAA tried to address in putting safety conditions like following traffic laws and having a flagger at the intersection when trucks are present, Strawn said. Although there have been some violations observed since the permit was granted, he said the borough is confident Baxter is working to come into compliance.

“We’re going to try to gain compliance, try to get him to a point where he can operate within compliance,” Strawn said. “If he can get there, that’s great. If he continues to operate out of compliance with his permit, there are steps we could take.”

Those include revoking Northern Gravel’s permit, Strawn said, adding the situation hasn’t escalated to that point yet.

“We’re not there,” he said. “That’s a big decision right there. We have to show a good pattern of noncompliance for that.”

The issue of Northern Gravel and Trucking’s permit came up late in 2012, when it was discovered the company was operating without a valid permit. Northern had operated from 2010 to September 2012 on a borough administrative permit, and the borough was a customer. While the borough received numerous reports from neighbors that Baxter was continuing to operate the pit throughout the winter in violation of borough rules, officials had “not been able to catch him in the act,” Strawn said before the planning commission met in May to discuss Northern’s permit application.

While the Aug. 9 and 12 citations show there is still an issue with having flaggers at the intersection of Mike’s Lane and Buffalo Mine-Moose Creek Road, James Baxter is working to fix the other safety issues with that stretch of road, Strawn said. Northern Gravel and Trucking is currently working to upgrade Mike’s Lane at its own expense, he said.

A call to James Baxter for comment was not returned by press time.

“He appears to be trying to fix things,” Strawn said. “He’s upgrading the road there and he’s doing that all on his own dime. Our feeling is he’s trying to come into compliance. … Overall, has the situation improved out there? Considering we’ve written 10 citation in the past month or so … well, I think he’s working toward getting into compliance and I think fixing the road is going to meet a lot of our concerns.”

Since the Board of Adjustment and Appeals granted Northern Gravel’s permit, the borough has made an effort to be more visible in the area, something residents wanted, Strawn said.

“We have had a pretty significant presence up there,” he said. “Our code compliance officer has been up there a couple times a week. … His site is actually a really good site for a gravel pit. We want people to be able to operate and do it right.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.