The Minutes of Settlement consist of 29 pages of dense "legalese", which record the exact agreement between the neighbourhood group and the Murray Group. The settlement determines how the Shoemaker Extension of the Bowman pit will be run and also places new controls on the operation of the asphalt plant.

This settlement is quite important to the neighbourhood, because it determines how much noise we will hear (this was our foremost concern during the lengthy negotiations leading to this agreement), how much traffic can occur, how safe is our water, how the pit will eventually be returned mostly to farmland, how we can ensure that the Murray Group will listen to our concerns, and so on. One way of thinking of these points is they tell us what we should expect from the Murray Group as it operates the Shoemaker extension.

Given below is a brief summary, listing key points of the settlement. Anyone wanting more detail is welcome to see the actual Minutes of Settlement. See also the web site http://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~holt/pit, or telephone 846-2298. (The operation of the existing Bowman pit complex is indirectly affected by this settlement, because there will be new controls on the asphalt plant, and because there will now be a Community Liaison Committee whose job it is to try to settle difficulties the neighours have with the pits.)

1. Neighbourhood Group

The neighbourhood group is the Middlebrook Chapter of the Pilkington West Ratepayers Association and the neighbours legally represented in the negotiations were Ann Collier, Gordon Collier, Joanne Coyle, Geoff Guy, Marie Holt, Ric Holt, Randall Howard, Karen MacLeod, Bernice Marshall, Harvie Marshall, JoAnn Martin, Judy McMullen, Harry Panjer, Cecilia Piotrowski, and Piotr Piotrowski, who all live around the Shoemaker Pit.

2. Noise

We made a very strong effort to see that pit noise was minimized. We think with this settlement, the Provincial noise limits will actually be obeyed (at least for the Shoemaker Extension) . This means the noise heard at any home from this extension should be at most as loud as already existing, non-pit noise.

1. Limited equipment. Only one crusher will be allowed on Shoemaker Extension.
2. Testing of crusher for noise. A noise engineer must test the crusher at the Shoemaker Extension to make sure it meets Provincial noise limits.
3. Berms. A large L-shaped berm (mound) will shield nearby homes from the noise of the crusher. The closest homes are those of Holts and H. Shoemakers. The shape and height of the berm have been specially designed by a noise engineer.
4. High noise limit. One strip of the Shoemaker Extension, near Holt's, will cause noise over the legal limit. The Murray Group will be allowed only 40 days to complete any excavation in that area.
5. Hours of operation. The Shoemaker Extension can operate on weekdays from 7am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 7am to 6pm (although truck loading can start at 6am).
6. Days of operation. The extension can operate on at most 12 Saturdays each year, with at most 6 Saturdays during May 15 through September 15.
7. Crushing of Shoemaker gravel. All crushing of Shoemaker gravel will be on the Shoemaker site, or else will be done next to the asphalt plant with berms to protect homes from noise.
8. Construction noise. Noise due to stripping land (and other noise which is not technically gravel excavation) will be done in the period from October 15 through April 15, when windows are more often closed.

We were delighted that our efforts will lead to a much quieter asphalt plant. The plant should be so quiet that it will probably not be heard at most homes, even when it is starting up (when it used to roar like a jet engine).

1. Shroud. The asphalt plant burner (its loudest part) will be covered by a contoured metal muffler called a shroud.
2. Silencer. Another muffler called a silencer will make the stack (the highest part of plant) quieter.
3. Berm. A large, specially designed berm will help shield Bosomworth and Collier homes from asphalt plant noise.
4. Smell. The asphalt plant must pass engineering tests to show that Provincial odour limits are satisfied. (Some of these tests have been failed so far)

We tried to minimize traffic and had some luck. Unfortunately, we were not able to eliminate traffic from Middlebrook Road south of 8th line road.

1. Drop in maximum traffic from all pits. The trucks from the Bowman pit complex (called Bowman, Bosomworth and Darrington pits) currently carry about 170,000 tonnes per year. However, the Murray Group could have increased this up to their old limit of 570,000 tonnes per year, if they had been able to sell more gravel. We were happy to negotiate a new limit of only 300,000 tonnes per year for the Bowman pit complex including the Shoemaker Extension (with some listed exceptions, such as single large contracts.) This means that traffic can get a little worse, but not hugely worse.
2. School house exit. We succeeded in eliminating usage of the dangerous pit exit next to the historic Middlebrook school house, except for unexpected circumstances, such as flooding of the current Watson exit. The main pit exit will continue to be the Watson exit.

It became clear to us that with the current political climate, we could not actually stop the Shoemaker Extension. As a result, this extension will destroy many acres of prime farm land, and a woods that has existed since pre-settlement times. One of our key concerns was the water that feeds the two surrounding creeks and neighbourhood wells, so we worked to keep excavation as far above the watertable as we could.

1. Depth of excavation. The settlement requires all excavation to remain 0.6 m above the watertable. Eventually the pit floor must be filled 1.0m above the water table.
2. Continued watertable testing. There are monitoring wells that keep track of the watertable level, and this monitoring should warn us if there is a serious threat of damage to creeks and wells.
3. Creek-to-creek corridor. There will eventually be a new 60m wide treed corridor from Carroll Creek to Middlebrook creek. This should be a great thing for wildlife.
4. Rehabilitation. At most 10 acres of the Shoemaker Extension can be mined (about 1/3 of the extension) before rehabilitation (soil replacement, planting, etc.) begins. This should avoid the "indefinite" delays on rehabilitation which we have seen in the Bowman pit.
5. Visible limit markers. Markers that are 1.2m high should make it easy to see if digging stays in bounds in the new pit.
6. Dust. Sprinkling is required in dusty conditions in the pit. (This is a standard government pit requirement.)

In the settlement, we were able to set up a Community Liaison Committee. Our hope is that this committee, which will have access to the essential information about the Shoemaker Extension, will lead to a better situation in which the operator actually obeys the Provincial laws controlling pits and noise.

1. Purpose. The purpose of this committee is to air suggestions and complaints regarding the pit(s).
2. Access to information. The Murray Group is required to send key information to the Community Liaison Committee. In the past, this information has been difficult to uncover. This will include reports on watertable monitoring, noise measurements on crushers, yearly site conformance, proposed site plan changes, etc.
3. Committee membership. The committee will consist of three neighbours (initially Harry Panjer as chairman, Ric Holt and JoAnn Martin), along with two members from the Murray Group (Richard Seibel, VP, and David Townsend, Bowman pit complex).
4. Meetings. There is required attendance at meetings, which can be called by either neighbours or operator.
5. Required noise audits. If the neighbours believe noise is excessive, a noise audit can be required, paid for by operator, neighbours and (we hope) the township.