ADAMS COUNTY – Property owner Wayne Mueller has accepted the pitfalls of life next to a gravel mining operation.
    Specifically, he says a gravel mining operation that receives its oversight from Adams County.
    Mueller has pretty much given up hope on a lot of things he once demanded to county officials that gravel pit owner, Aggregate Industries, accomplish.
    For instance, Mueller no longer expects that Aggregate will build an attractive berm around its property and dot it with trees, shrubs and drip irrigation.

    He points out that would probably be too much to ask because he says Aggregate couldn’t even be bothered with building an adequate fence to keep the grandchildren of a neighboring property owner from wandering into a now partially water-filled hole. He says both are stipulations of Aggregate’s county-granted special use permit.
    So, Mueller’s grievances are mainly saved for an occasional visit to see county commissioners or the passers-by who have the time to hear his lengthy list of concerns.
    But there are some things regarding the gravel pit that can still raise Mueller’s hackles to the point where he refuses to just accept it as a foregone conclusion.
    He counts the poor condition of the section of eastbound Weld County Road 2 (168th Avenue) between U.S. Highway 85 and Tucson Street as one of those unacceptable side affects of being neighbors to an inattentive gravel mine owner.
    Gravel-hauling trucks leaving the plant have left the road uneven with large grooves where the heavy trucks have grounded the asphalt down. Mueller says if he goes down to the roadway and lays a 2-by-4 across it, the damage is obvious. A better sight example, he says, may be the multiple times that cars have skipped off the road into the backyard of his son, who lives off Weld County Road 2. Mueller adds the well-traveled road, where vehicles barrel through at high rate of speed, is even more treacherous when ice settles into those same grooves during the winter.
    “That is a very busy road,” Mueller said. “We’ve got school buses, we’ve got moms and kids. And I don’t care who it is. Nobody deserves to die because the county won’t do what they are supposed to do.”
    Mueller sees it as a pretty simple solution. The county should fix the road and send a bill to Aggregate Industries for the repairs. But, Mueller said, when he has confronted county officials with the condition of the road, he is met with disbelief.
    “It can’t be that bad,” he says he has been told.
    Mueller said it is that bad and the county’s inaction galls at him. He takes a not-too-subtle swipe at the county’s scandal-ridden recent history.
    “They can pay money to Quality Paving for not paving,” Mueller said. “They can give money to Aggregate for not complying. But they certainly can’t fix the road.
    Adams County Public Works Director Besharah Najjar disputes that the county is not interested in fixing the road or requiring Aggregate to pay their share of those repairs. Najjar said the county implemented a pavement management system in 2011 that inspected the conditions of county roads. He said that process identified this specific portion of Weld County Road 2 as scheduled for replacement in 2013.
    He added it’s not quite as easy as repairing the road and sending a bill because Weld County Road 2 crosses multiple jurisdictions.
    “Reconstructing this segment of the roadway will require some coordination effort since it is under the jurisdiction of Weld County, the city of Brighton, and Adams County,” Najjar said by email. “In addition, there is one development agreement that I am aware of between Adams County and Aggregate Industries requiring them to participate in the maintenance cost.”
    Najjar adds that some asphalt milling to alleviate the rutting problem could take place before the scheduled reconstruction.
    Mueller has learned to deal with the other frustrations of being next to a gravel pit, just not one that puts so many people at risk.
    “You’re not supposed to have a ditch in the middle of the road,” Mueller said. “Ditches are supposed to be alongside the road.

Contact Kevin Denke at 303-659-2522, ext. 225 or kdenke@metrowestnewspapers.com