I-43 firm wants concrete plant, crusher in town

A company that will be working on the I-43 reconstruction project has asked the Town of Grafton for permission to operate a concrete plant and pavement crusher on 10 acres of farmland off Ulao Road west of Highway C for the next four years.

Hoffman Construction Co. would also stage equipment and stockpile material on the site known as the Tesker Property, according to a conditional-use permit application filed by the Black River Falls company.

Work at the site would begin next month and be done only at night through the rest of the year. The company estimates about 50 nights of work during that period.

From 2022 through 2025, work at the site would be done from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and occasionally at night and on Sundays. The site would be used heavily for two or three months per year during paving operations and daily or occasionally six or seven months a year. Winter work would be limited.

The Town Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on the company’s conditional-use permit request at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, at Town Hall.

Town Chairman Lester Bartel said he expects the commission will make a recommendation to the Town Board that night.

“I would think this will be recommended unless something comes up during the professional staff review,” Bartel said in an interview this week, adding that the town will undoubtedly consider putting conditions on operations at the site.

“I don’t see a reason why we wouldn’t recommend this.”

Sites like the one proposed by Hoffman Construction are needed to support the I-43 reconstruction and widening project, which will extend from Highway 60 in Grafton south into Milwaukee County, and the Tesker Property is attractive because of its proximity to the freeway, Bartel said, adding that it is not in a densely populated area of the town.

“There are always people who will say, ‘We wish they didn’t have to do this here,’ but from a common-sense standpoint, they need to be able to do this somewhere and this happens to be a pretty good site for it,” Bartel said. “We haven’t heard a lot from residents yet, but that doesn’t mean we won’t.”

A resident of a subdivision on the southeast corner of Highway C and Ulao Road not far from the Tesker property said he didn’t know about the proposal for the site and has concerns, especially about noise and dust generated by the proposed Hoffman Construction operation.

“I don’t like it,” said the man, who asked not to be identified.

Bartel said that before the permit is approved, the town will need assurances that Hoffman Construction would remediate the site after it’s done using it.

 According to its permit request, the company would strip topsoil from the farmland to create berms that are no taller than 4 feet around the 10-acre work site.

The company also plans to create gravel roads, which would be watered to control dust, on the site.

When it’s finished using the site, Hoffman Construction would restore it to a farm field.