A proposed asphalt plant on County Road 2, next to Ottawa-based Tomlinson Group’s Quarry in Greater Napanee, is being met with opposition from many residents of the area.
With a final council decision on the project’s rezoning application quickly approaching, the community is making a final plea to council to deny the application.
Casey Wells is the founder of Greater Napanee Residents Against the Asphalt Plant, and says the plant would operate 160 days per year with the option to work 24 hours per day if approved.
He says the more research community members do on what the asphalt plant means, the more worried people become.
“People are taking this personally because it personally affects them and their families,” said Wells.
“Going to seven hours of town meetings is not something my family wanted to do, or that I want to do or become involved in, but you are talking about our future and the future of our kids and our community,” he added.
More than 200 people attended a special council meeting, online and in-person, on Wednesday night to hear deputations regarding the proposed plant.
“We’re hitting minimums on air quality,” said Napanee resident Felix O’donnell.
“Has anyone looked at the long-term effect of 20, 30, 40 years down the road when these children become us and take care of our town? Are they all going to be dying off of something we didn’t see coming?” he asked council.
Napanee resident Charlotte Wallace told council she doesn’t know how the proposal was able to get passed on to public consultation.
“I seriously don’t see how this couldn’t have been a hard no right off the bat,” said Wallace.
“The hospital, five schools in Napanee are all in the danger zone, why are we doing this?” says another resident.
Napanee council was also presented with a petition containing more than 3,000 signatures from residents against the project.
In an email to Global News, Greater Napanee Mayor Marg Isbester said council was very pleased to be able to host even the unofficial public meeting in person for residents.
She said there will be more communicated to the public in the next few days to address the additional questions put forth by those in attendance.
In a statement, Tomlinson Group says that their rezoning application has been thoroughly reviewed by municipal and government authorities and that “no technical issues were identified as a result of the extensive review.”
City staff are working to have a recommendation report ready for council by April 5, at which point council will make a final decision on the plant’s application.