Aluminum Castings gets green signal for rezoning

Aluminum Castings will be allowed to increase production in its current location, which until now has been slated for light industrial use only.

The Galesburg City Council on Monday approved a rezoning ordinance to allow for heavy industrial work blocks from the downtown district, but not before a large contingent of community members and company representatives debated the merits of allowing such work near day care centers and residences.

After an impassioned and at times accusatory public debate, the council approved the measure by a 5-2 vote, with Aldermen Peter Schwartzman, Ward 5, and Corine Anderson, Ward 4, voting against the rezoning. Mayor Sal Garza abstained from the vote.

President of Aluminum Castings Bret Markum said part of his company’s planned expansion is to add a second shift, which would consequently add 25 jobs but double emissions. The types of emissions Aluminum Castings produces was a controversial topic of discussion at Monday’s council meeting.

On hand to explain further to extent of the company’s emissions was Geoffrey Bacci, a representative for Aries Consulting Group which ensures Aluminum Castings meets state and federal pollution guidelines. Bacci said Aluminum Castings is a minor polluter, and so it is not as heavily regulated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. He said up to 70 percent of the company’s emissions stay inside their facility rather then get pumped into the air via a smoke stack. He says the EPA does not require documentation of these emissions.

Aluminum Castings does emit hazardous materials into the atmosphere, some of which can damage internal organs. Bacci said the amounts of those materials are minimal and would not register as unusually high during any random testing of the local environment. Many present said the company’s proximity to cay care centers means any instance of hazardous emissions is too much when it comes to growing bodies.

Representatives from local day care centers, including children who frequent them, were at the meeting. Some suggested the city help foster a move for the company, while others said the company was responsible enough to increase production safely. Garza said it should be the city’s job to partner with the company and work to see that emissions are as minimal as they can be. He said the city would help incur some of the costs of that undertaking.

“To me the issue isn’t about moving this location elsewhere, its about addressing these emissions. I would be interested in looking at (lowering emissions),” Garza said. “We’re trying to get to a better place here.”

Markum said his company, located at 340 S. Kellogg St., would work with the city to cap emissions.

Concerns were also raised about the process in which the city handled this rezoning request.

Galesburg businessman Mike Kroll said the city was improperly using zoning ordinances, and instead should use them for long term planning that requires a long term goal of what the administration wants the city to look like.

Schwartzman said he had concerns over a lack of transparency involving talks between the company and the city over the proposed expansion. He said a decision on the zoning problem was reached without consent of the council, and that the elected officials rather were asked to rubber stamp the issue.

Schwartzman said he check records of zoning and planning commissions, which he said recommended approval of the rezoning without any discussion or debate at their meeting. Markum said his company did not conduct back door meetings with the city, nor do they have an ulterior motive for refusing to relocate within Galesburg, as one citizen suggested.