Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to accurately name resident Curtis Cockrum and the comments made by Trisha Oakland.

A proposed gravel crushing operation across from the Whispering Pines subdivision between Ouray and Ridgway was quashed last week after Ouray County leaders heard fervent opposition from more than 20 neighbors.

County commissioners held a community meeting — which started on site at Corbett Creek and ended at the county courthouse — on Oct. 30 after Road and Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger proposed a gravel crushing operation on-site at the same time as construction of the federally funded Corbett Creek bridge project. Barger invited the community to the discussion via a letter sent Oct. 21.

During the meeting Barger reiterated the idea behind the proposal: repurposing the estimated 20,000 tons of material that must be removed from Corbett Creek for the bridge project to build up nearby county roads. More debris material accumulated in the area since original project planning in 2022, said Corbett Creek bridge project engineer Jason Reimer.

The operation would have spanned four weeks concurrent with bridge construction and distributed 650 truckloads of gravel onto the county’s roads, including all of County Road 17.

“So I saw an opportunity, if we’re going to have to do additional excavation above and beyond what we had initially planned, then let’s make some good of this,” Barger told the group.

He said it would already be stretching the budget to pull off the operation — part of the Corbett Creek funds pays for removal of rock and debris material but not for crushing — but he believed it was worth it if it garnered support. But he also emphasized the plan would not be forced on the community without their consent.

By the end of the nearly three-hour long discussion, all but one resident emphatically disapproved of the plan, citing concerns about health, noise, wildlife and legality.

The options

Commissioner Lynn Padgett challenged the idea that the county was deciding between only two options of either running an on-site crushing operation or running no operation at all.

“I really appreciate the spirit and intent of your proposal, but I don’t think it’s all lost,” she said to Barger after hearing residents’ dissent.

Barger said the only economically feasible way to make use of the removed material would be to crush it on site.

“There’s just not enough meat on the bone in our budget,” he said about pursuing a crushing operation elsewhere.

At Padgett’s request, Barger provided a cost analysis in October that calculated an $80,000 added cost of transportation to the nearest off-site processing operation, Sako Excavation, on County Road 23.

Padgett advocated for looking into the possibility of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to pay for transporting material deposited in the wake of monsoonal events this August that contributed to the washing out of the Corbett Creek crossing.

She also cited a 2017 agreement with Sako Excavation where the county was able to store gravel and gravel material for free. She asked whether the material could be removed, stored there and crushed over time in a way compatible with the county budget.

Barger countered that the purpose of the operation in the first place was to build up roads within the vicinity of Corbett Creek — all of County Road 17, Whispering Pines Drive, Suzanne Lane, Marys Road, Pine Ridge Drive, Marshall Court and Alysias Aly — so moving the material to Sako would defeat that purpose. Padgett suggested that roads near Sako, such as County Road 23 and the north end of County Road 17, be built up instead.

Barger said since the county’s last discussion on the topic, he learned his team can keep the cleared material on site, rather than needing to truck it away. Because of this he advocated for not spending the extra money to truck it away somewhere like Sako without plans to make use of it.

Public comment

After more than 20 members of the public shared comments that overwhelmingly opposed the proposal and pressed for answers about unknowns, commissioners directed Barger against moving it forward.

Ultimately, Commissioner Jake Niece said asking Barger to research answers in response to community questions was not likely to yield a different response.

During the on-site portion of the visit Barger addressed some questions posed in the 13 written public comments submitted ahead of the meeting and discussed both “ideals and reality” for the county road system.

He referenced a request to commissioners during a budget workshop about hiring a consultant to gauge public support for raising the county sales tax dedicated solely to the Road and Bridge Department from 1% to 1.5% sales tax to bolster his department’s budget. That funding increase would only allow for applying new gravel to each graveled road every 25 years versus the current 35-year cycle, he said, highlighting the challenge of finding money to improve gravel roads.

Some community members expressed confusion about why last year’s large increase in property taxes wouldn’t have contributed to a larger budget. Barger said on average less than 3% of county residents’ property taxes are allocated to the Road and Bridge Fund. So though he said he was grateful for every penny, when it comes to building up roads it doesn’t meaningfully change their capacity, he said.

Regarding concerns over dust, he said, “I don’t think it will be a concern — full stop.”

Concerning noise, he said, “You’re going to hear what sounds like a coffee grinder in the distance.” He encouraged those at the meeting to listen to the video he uploaded earlier that morning of a gravel crusher running from the same distance — 376 feet — as the closest house would be.

Resident Bill Coughlin challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ bridge design and the gravel crushing project, claiming flood debris would keep coming and both projects would do nothing to solve the problem permanently. He said his company, Western Stream Works, performs this work and could redesign the project.

County Manager Connie Hunt and Niece said the bridge and gravel project aimed to mitigate repeat flooding and debris events, not solve them.

Barger said the noise from equipment needed to build the bridge would be louder, and so doing the two projects concurrently would not make a huge difference.

Reimer also told the group that access to the Dallas Creek Trailhead would remain open during construction.

A handful of community members also expressed concerns over precedent, saying they worried if they approved gravel crushing near Whispering Pines now it would open the door to a continued gravel operation. Barger affirmed he was only proposing a trial fourweek operation that, if successful, could be repeated with more material.

Some residents also expressed frustration that some of the roads on Barger’s list are far away from them and the disruption they would be subject to.

Back at the courthouse, Laszlo Kubinyi, who is a resident of Mill Valley subdivision northwest of Whispering Pines, said because much of the construction of the Corbett Creek bridge would take place on private property, and therefore would require permission, a gravel crushing operation would require the same.

Ouray County Attorney Leo Caselli said getting permission for use from the Mill Valley subdivision is more challenging in this situation as there is not an official homeowners association, which makes getting permission to encroach on the subdivision’s common areas more complicated.

Trish Oakland, who attended on behalf of Curtis Cockrum, who she lives with closest to the proposed operation, said Cockrum would not approve use of Mill Valley subdivision common area property for the gravel-crushing operation.

Resident Christina Dennison asked if Barger knew the composition of the rock and asked for a report on rock and dust composition, citing concerns that the material could be carcinogenic. Resident Kayla Karsh of Whispering Pines said she understood the concept but wanted to know more about the rock composition as well.

Only one resident, Matt Scott, expressed unreserved approval of the plan, saying it was smart to repurpose the rock that was there.

Lucas Carrion, who owns a property adjacent to the operation, said he saw value in it but didn’t think it was worth the risk.

“Could we do it? Yes. Should we do it? Probably not,” he said.