Dear Editor:

As the owner of a local excavation business here in Alna, I am writing to speak out about the proposed gravel pit ordinance.  

The gravel pits within our town act for many residents as an additional source of income to help them cover the cost of their high Alna taxes. Closing off these gravel pits would hurt many residents who rely on people purchasing materials from their pits. It is also not taking into account the impact on the small businesses here in town who rely on this material for their income. I myself use these as well as many others in the town of Alna. These small pits have never been required to have a permit due to the small size and limited use that they have. They have been in existence for a very long time and I personally have used them for 35 years. There has never been any problems or issues and instead the town residents enjoyed having things coming to them locally as well as keeping costs lower for customers. Additionally, they are only accessed seasonally and trucks are only allowed on the roads when they are not posted. 

Implementing this new proposed ordinance would have direct negative impacts on town residents. One example, customers will have to pay a higher rate for each excavation job because material will have to be transported in from further away. With this additional cost any job could see increases of $4,000-plus dollars based on the cost of material transport, having to haul it in from an out of town location.  

It is quite clear that this proposed ordinance is not ready to go for a vote. It has not been made clear why this is such an issue to town residents and it is misunderstood as to what this town will be losing financially if this is implemented.  

I strongly urge all residents of Alna to attend the town meeting on March 23 at the Alna Fire Station. It is vital to our town that we keep the gravel pits functioning as they are and that we deny the passing of this proposed ordinance.

Jeffrey Verney

Alna