College Township Council Discusses Concerns About Aspen Heights Construction Site

Loud noises at inconvenient hours and dust drifting over from the nearby Aspen Heights construction site on Squirrel Drive are disrupting the lives of residents in Centre Hills Village, College Township Council member Paul Takac said during a meeting on Jan. 3.

Before these issues had been brought to council, Alpha Fire Crew responded to a construction trailer fire at the location on Dec. 29, adding to the concern, Takac said.

The site is the former home of the Hill Top Mobile Home Park, which closed in 2012. After years of sitting fallow, Texas-based developer Aspen Heights Partners broke ground in September on Aspen East Penn, a two four-story building project which will include 262 apartments ranging from one- to five-bedroom units with a total of 651 beds.

Concerning the fire, Takac asked, “What precautions are being taken to make sure to ensure that something similar to that doesn’t happen adjacent to that tree line?”

Township Zoning Officer Mark Gabrovsek said that from what he has heard about the fire, “there was nothing careless with what went on … it was just one of those things.”

Township manager Adam Brumbaugh said that he has yet to see the report about the fire from the fire marshal, but it will be made available to the public when the township receives it.

“This falls under the domain of Centre Region Code, Fire Inspection,” Brumbaugh said.

He added if there were any violations, they would be in the report. Takac and Brumbaugh agreed that if there were any issues reported in the fire inspector’s report, the township would follow up on the matter.

As for the loud noises coming from the construction site, Takac said the problem extends beyond a reasonable time frame.

He asked that the township consider limiting the hours for loud work, especially for long-term projects.

“I understand that if it is going to be a week, but if it stretches into months, or potentially a year, it really becomes a significant burden with the noise and with some of the operations,” Takac said.

“Bear in mind that reduction of hours could change that one-year project into a year-and-a-half or a two-year project. So, do you want to take it all at once or drag it out,” Gabrovsek said.

Brumbaugh said the issue has come up before in the township.

“A number of years ago, as some of you may recall, we had conversations with respect to the start of the operations of the Oak Hall Court. So, we had had extensive conversations about start and stop times in the past,” Brumbaugh said. He said he would gather the information about the ordinance for council to discuss in the future.

Takac said council should consider duration and season when considering potential changes to the ordinance and also take into consideration light, along with noise pollution.

“I think it is worth reviewing, especially considering that we don’t really have these types of projects adjacent to residential areas very often,” he added.

The dust issue is the result of stone crushing that is occurring at the site, which is within the township’s code.

“We allow certain things to occur on construction sites,” Brumbaugh said. “Granted, I think that what has been occurring up there as far as crushing operations far exceeded anybody’s anticipation of the volume of that type of work. It is permitted, at the moment, based on our own definitions, rules and regulation, but I think that is something we can bring back to council and review and perhaps make adjustments.”

Township Engineer Don Franson said that crushing the rock at the site is good for the environment, because they are utilizing the rock that is already there, instead of hauling it away and then transporting other crushed rock to the site.

“It is good because it has reduced the number of trucks,” Franson said. But he added, “as far as the dust and the dust trespass, if there are some issues there, maybe we need to look at something in our ordinance that would specify better dust control.”

The environmental benefit make sense, Takac said, “but day after day, six days a week, it has become a significant issue that we need to address.”

Council will review the ordinances in the coming months.

This story appears in the Jan. 13-19 edition of the Centre County Gazette.