Little Falls Requires Sand Mine to Protect Property Values

Little Falls Sand Mine Meeting, June 13

Sand mining is going through an evolution in Monroe County as townships learn lessons from their neighbors.

The Town of Little Falls sand mine ordinance and agreement with Mathy Construction, which is building a 100-acre sand mine in the town, offers residents of Little Falls and neighboring New Lyme more protections than other sand mine agreements in the county. 

It spent a year developing its license and can offer residents protection on water and property values, hot button issues for sand mines' neighbors. It is requiring Mathy Construction to not only protect the water of residents of the town of Little Falls, but the residents in the town of New Lyme, which abuts the sand mine, as well.


And, it limits sand mine operations to Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no operations on legal holidays. It also requires the sand mine to pay the town $25,000 per year. The town of Greenfield is receiving $250,000 annually from Unimin, an international mining company that will mine nearly 1,000 acres there. However, it did not get any property value guarantees. 

Coming next week: an interview with Wayne Tuchalski, chairman of the planning commission for the town of Little Falls. Tuchalski explains the ordinance and the negotiating process the town went through in designing its ordinance and its agreement with Mathy.

Later this month: comparisons between the concessions, compensation and protection negotiated by the city of Sparta, the town of Greenfield and the town of Little Falls, and the reasons behind them.