Panel approves permit for excavating company

The Village of Belgium Plan Commission on Monday unanimously approved a conditional use permit for Jentges Excavating & Pumps, Inc., to recycle, crush and screen materials such as concrete and asphalt at its parcels on Main Street and North Royal Avenue.

During a public hearing before the meeting and during the meeting, neighbors said dust that would blow onto their properties from the process could cause cancer.

Dawn Esaman provided a handout of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s 2017 standards that require limiting exposure to crystalline silica dust. According to OSHA’s website, she said, the dust can cause an incurable lung disease called silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease.

“This is very serious to me,” Esaman said.

Commission Chairman Pete Anzia said the dangers of exposure apply to enclosed areas and that he worked in pottery for 28 years at Kohler Co. and didn’t get sick.

Randy Jentges of the excavating company said the piles of materials to be crushed that have built up over the last several months only represents about five days of crushing.

“This is not a huge operation,” he said.

“For what they do there, they’re not going to create that much dust,” commission member Dan Birenbaum said.

Hours of operation was another point of contention. Neighbors were hoping to limit the time crushing is allowed.

Dorinna Prahl suggested starting at 8 a.m. at the earliest.

“It’s extremely noisy,” she said.

Birenbaum suggested 7 a.m. because those are construction hours.

The commission approved the permit, 6-0, specifying hours of recycling, crushing and screening to run between 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and not on Sunday. Materials are to be dumped on the northern end of the property with processing to be done on the south end. The business agreed to install security cameras and to plant trees on the berm owned by neighbors on Park Street if they allow it, which could limit the dust and noise. Member Sarah Hunter was absent.

In spring, the village sent Jentges Excavating and Pumps a letter telling it to stop its operation since a portion of its property on North Royal Avenue was not properly zoned.

The company requested the property be rezoned. After a public hearing, the Village Board approved the rezoning in summer.