Neighbors and elected officials gathered on Oct. 29 to once more discuss the proposed project to fill the Ruprecht Quarry. District 6 Councilman Mike Archer attended the meeting to answer questions and take notes on resident concerns as the project soon faces an approval or denial decision by the St. Louis County Planning Commission.
“I represent you, and you know what is good for your street, your community,” Archer said. “That is what I have to respect. I’m going to make a decision that is consistent, I think, with what the citizens are concerned about.”
The project, if approved, would fill the inactive 30-acre Lemay quarry with “clean fill.” Initial estimates said this project would take over a decade to complete, with construction crews at work six days a week. Approximately 100 to 150 trucks per day would be coming in and out of the site, which is surrounded by residential neighborhoods and cemeteries.
The proposal — made by Fillworks LLC — is currently expected to appear before the Planning Commission in the first half of November. If the Planning Commission denies the proposal, Archer says that will be the end of it; if the Planning Commission approves the proposal, it will go before the St. Louis County Council for the councilmembers’ final decision.
At the Oct. 29 town hall meeting, neighbors who have researched and spoke out against the project gathered to present their findings and worries to Archer. District 92 State Representative Michael Burton was also at the meeting, voicing his own concerns about the quarry project.
“We see the negative ramifications of the traffic, water runoff and contamination,” Burton said. “We have a long list of things that are negatives for the community. When I try to think of, ‘What are the pros for the community?’ I don’t see any. That’s one of the really tough parts. It’s not like, ‘You’re all going to deal with this, but at the end, you’re going to have a beautiful green space.’ (…) When it’s finished, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Fillworks recently amended its application to include an operations plan. For more information on the operations plan, check out prior reporting by The Call.
Burton responded to the plan amendments, saying they were not that much of a change from the original application. One of the changes was the addition of employees — hired by Fillworks — who will be charged with regularly inspecting the truckloads to ensure that only approved, uncontaminated materials are being used to fill the quarry. This has been a major concern of several local residents, who believe there’s a lack of third-party oversight when it comes to materials.
According to Burton, because it would be a clean fill site, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources would not make any scheduled inspections of the site unless there was strong evidence, like a photo, of malpractice. Regarding Fillworks’ internal inspection plan, Burton said, “This is like the fox guarding the hen house.”
If the Planning Commission approves the proposal, Archer says that he will ask to call a Public Improvements Committee meeting where interested parties could come before the council and voice their opinions. He expects that there would be a 30 to 90 day gap between the Planning Commission’s theoretical approval and when the proposal will appear on a County Council agenda. Once it appears on the agenda, it will have to proceed through three stages: introduction, perfection and final passage. The county council will approve or deny; if approved, it will go to the county executive for final say.
Though there is still time before Archer would need to cast his vote for or against the project, and a chance that the Planning Commission will turn it down before it reaches him, he has not shared his stance. He told residents he was there “to get everybody’s input.” He also said that he has, so far, not been able to get in touch with Fillworks to hear its side of the story.
