EMMETT, Idaho — Nearly 400 acres in Emmett have been at the center of development plans — and community debate — for years. Now, a proposal by Granite Excavation is on the table, and it is dividing neighbors once again.
The property sits on Star Lane and Sales Yard Road. The land was originally purchased by the Merrill family in the mid-1990s for an egg farm, which was later shut down.
WATCH: Learn more about Granite Excavations' proposal
After the farm closed, a subdivision proposal went through Gem County in 2006 — a project called "Water's Edge" that would have brought approximately 1,200 homes and commercial space to the site. That project was ultimately called off after the 2008 economic crash.
Today, Granite Excavation is looking at purchasing the property with plans to open a gravel pit.
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The company's proposal is different from the 2006 plan: mining the land first, then permanently leaving nearly 40 homes and reclaimed ponds.
Granite Excavation has been in business for 25 years and has 36 employees who live in Gem County, with nearly 60 employees total. Hibbard said the company is deeply involved in the community — supporting 4-H sales, local sports, fundraising, Idaho Youth Ranch, YMCA, Camp Rainbow Gold, and other foundations across the state.
Dusty Hibbard, vice president of Granite Excavation, said the company's plan for the 393-acre site is designed to balance industry needs with community impact.
"[What's] really important for us is that we want to be good neighbors. We wanna work with our neighbors," Hibbard said. "We don't want them displeased with us."
The site has further history beyond the egg farm and the failed subdivision.
In 2012 and 2013, Gem County designated the area as a gravel extraction zone under ordinance 23-001, signed in spring 2013.
Hibbard said the gravel at this site is high quality. He noted that the current lease of the property has stated at county commissioner meetings that he no longer wants the land.
"We're essentially going to mine about 45% of the property. The rest of the property is going to be left as is for future home sites," Hibbard said.
The estimated duration of mining operations is 10 to 20 years, though Hibbard noted that based on the current economy, the property could be mined out in 6 to 7 years.
Unlike Granite's existing Sawyer Pit operation nearby — which has 20 to 30 people working daily and 40 to 50 trucks — the proposed Merrill's Pit facility would be a gravel pit only.
To help address concerns about noise, Granite invited me to tour their current Sawyer Pit operation, which covers approximately 292 acres and has been in operation for decades.
The company has proposed 20-foot berms around the new site — and says smaller berms used elsewhere have already proven to limit what neighbors see and hear.
"At the new proposed site, we've proposed 20 ft tall berms around it," Hibbard said. "Why we want to do that is it's a sound barrier for adjacent landowners, and they work."
Mining operations at the proposed pit would be limited to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with no weekend operations — even though Granite's existing Sawyer Pit is not required to follow those same rules.
Granite has also asked for a condition of approval to reduce the speed limit for trucks on Star Lane from 45 mph to 35 mph. Road improvements — including reconstructing and repaving Star Lane — would be Granite's responsibility, not taxpayers'. Trucks operating out of the pit would be required to either be tarped or have 6 inches of freeboard to prevent gravel from spilling on the road.
Pam Fike, an Emmett neighbor and member of the Southwest Gem Community Association — a group that formed to oppose the project — said the community understands the need for gravel but wants the process to be thoughtful.
"Everyone knows that we need gravel, but there has to be a balance in locating and where and how we can work together," Fike said.
One of the biggest concerns from neighbors is the project's potential effect on wells and open water. Hibbard said those questions prompted a study at Granite's existing Sawyer Pit to measure how dewatering — the process of pumping water out during mining — actually impacts natural ponds nearby.
Through the study, Hibbard found that even at maximum mining depth — 25 feet, the limit set by the Idaho Department of Lands — the study showed only minimal fluctuations in nearby pond levels. He added that well depths in the area are much deeper and unlikely to be affected. Mining at the Sawyer Pit typically runs about 20 to 22 feet deep, and border logs show the same conditions at the proposed Merrill's Pit site.
Granite is also heavily regulated by MSHA, DEQ, and EPA. Dewatering water must pass through sediment ponds and meet DEQ standards, with daily testing logs required. If standards are not met, operations must cease until the issue is corrected.
Hibbard noted that over approximately 7 years of inspections at the Sawyer Pit, there was only one warning issue. This warning was because a neighboring cow got through the fence and drank from the dewatering pond.
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After meeting with Idaho Fish and Game, Granite says its dewatering process could actually benefit the nearby Star Lane Ponds, which are publicly accessible for fishing, hunting, and trapping. Hibbard said the ponds no longer have live water running through them, causing them to moss over and reducing their use.
Granite's process could provide clean, fresh water to those ponds as part of what Idaho Fish and Game described as an adaptive management program.
"That's going to increase the habitat for, you know, ducks and geese and fishing and things like that for the wildlife," Hibbard said.
Hibbard said the valley was built on natural resources — logging, cattle, farming, and gravel — and pushed back on the idea that those industries should be shut down.
"For people to have moved here just in the last few years and want to shut all that down, they need to have a little history and to look at what this valley, where it came from, and how it started," Hibbard said.
He said the best way to address concerns is to come directly to the company.
"Come knock on our door. We want to be good neighbors. We're not a company that has moved here from out of state that just wants to do things our way. We are from here. We are natives," Hibbard said.
"We live here, we work here, we are good neighbors, and we want to, you know, we wanna help where we can help," Hibbard said.
Granite is hosting a voluntary community meeting on March 25 at 6 p.m. on the property — an opportunity Hibbard said is about education, not obligation.
"We wanna get local neighbors, local citizens out here on this property, and we wanna start answering questions for them," Hibbard said.
Neighbors can bring questions and concerns to the community meeting on March 25 at 6 p.m. on the property. A public hearing on Merrill's Pit is also scheduled for April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Gem County Annex.
