‘The river is a huge draw’: Cascade weighing concrete plant proposal near North Fork

A plan to build a concrete plant near the North Fork Payette River in Cascade could be approved next week by the Cascade City Council. 

The council will continue its deliberations on the application by Granite Excavation next Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m., after tabling a decision last month to further consider conditions of approval. 

Granite Owner Josh Davis said the plant would make dry batch concrete using crushed rock, sand, and cement powder, all of which would be delivered to the site at 23 Warm Lake Road. 

The plant would be roughly 1,000 feet away from the North Fork, which many public comments said would be too close and would disrupt scenic views from The Strand, a popular riverfront pathway in Cascade.  

“The river is a huge draw to the area,” council member Rachel Huckaby said. “I play on the river once a week myself, so I’m worried about the impacts to the animals and the people on the river, without knowing what it’s gonna do to us.”

While Huckaby acknowledged she is “highly unlikely” to vote in favor of the proposal, fellow council members Ron Brown and Denise Tangen said it meets city codes and fits with industrial zoning on the 40-acre property. 

“They’re following everything to the letter,” Tangen said. 

Council member Jason Speer was absent from last month’s meeting, while Cascade Mayor Judith Nissula only casts votes to break ties among the council.

Concrete plant details murky

Specific plans for the cement plant are still being developed, but Davis said a similar plant the company operates in Emmett stands 46 feet tall. A silo for storing the cement powder is expected to be the tallest part of the facility. 

“I’m not going to say with certainty that you wouldn’t see it from the south side of the Payette River,” he said. “I think there’s a good chance you would see the silo.” 

Concrete plants operate under permits administered by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, which also requires routine monitoring for compliance with air quality standards. Davis would still need a permit from DEQ even if the plant is approved by the city. The DEQ permitting process, he told council members, took 13 months for the Emmett plant. 

Currently, Granite hauls 40-plus trucks of concrete mix per day from its Emmett plant to Valley County. Those trips would be significantly shortened with a plant on Warm Lake Road, Davis said.

Economic benefits

Davis told council members that permitting a new concrete plant could lower the costs of construction in Valley County, ultimately bringing down housing prices. 

Two other concrete plants currently operate in Valley County, but Davis said their prices reflect a lack of competition. 

“They can set the prices as they see fit,” he said. “We make concrete, we know what the true prices are, and it’s above and beyond what it should be.”

The potential economic benefits of the project resonated with Tangen. 

“I do believe we need another concrete plant in this area,” she said. “As someone whose bought concrete lately, it’s a little crazy.” 

Public opposition

The council received more than a dozen public comments in opposition to the proposal. Many of them agreed a new concrete plant could benefit the county, but said this location is too close to the river and residential parts of Cascade. 

Karen and Olin Balch, residents of the Leisure Time RV Park, which is across the river from the proposed concrete plant, called it a “direct threat” to nearby wildlife and people, citing the danger concrete dust poses to humans. 

“Authorizing the construction and operation of a concrete batch plant, literally on the north shore of the North Fork, immediately adjacent to Cascade, is simply inconsistent with the long-term future of Valley County, but especially imperils the future of Cascade,” Karen Balch said. 

While some suggested the need for environmental studies to quantify potential harm to public health and wildlife, others worried how the plant might change the aesthetics of The Strand. 

“The plant would ruin the scenic beauty of the Payette River scenic strand,” Leisure Time residents Jeffrey and Valentina Allen wrote in a letter to the council. “No studies are needed to prove this point.”

Another letter from Gary and Nancy Leahy, also Leisure Time residents, framed the decision as an inflection point for what Cascade wants to be. 

“Cascade’s future lies in sustainable development, outdoor recreation and preservation of natural resources, not industrial expansion that places these assets at risk,” the couple wrote. “Protecting Cascade’s riverfront environment and community well-being should remain the top priority.”