A viewshed study and noise analysis must be completed before a decision can be made on a proposal to build a concrete plant near the North Fork Payette River, according to the Cascade City Council.
Council members agreed on Tuesday night to re-open a public hearing on the proposal by Granite Excavation to allow the company to provide the studies. No date was set for the next public hearing, but Cascade Mayor Judith Nissula said it will likely be in 2026.
“Whatever you’re going to ask the applicant to study, they need time to do that,” Nissula told council members.
The concrete plant, proposed at Granite’s current headquarters at 23 Warm Lake Rd., would be roughly 1,000 feet away from the river at its closest point. Crushed rock, sand, and cement powder would be stored at the site and loaded into mixing trucks for delivery to job sites.
Exact plans for the plant have not yet been finalized, but Granite owner Josh Davis told council members last month that a storage silo for cement powder could be about 46 feet tall and potentially visible from across the river.
Davis expects the new concrete plant could benefit Cascade by increasing competition among two other concrete providers in Valley County, ultimately lowering construction costs. Granite currently trucks concrete into the county from the company’s concrete plant in Emmett.
Visual impact unclear
The proposal has drawn significant public opposition, especially from property owners in Leisure Time RV Park and residential parts of Cascade across the river to the south.
“I think a viewshed (study) would be very beneficial, because I think that’s a lot of the interest,” council member Denise Tangen said.
Nissula took time during the meeting to dispel rumors she had heard about the proposal since the council first took up the application in September.
“The information that The Strand is going to be ripped out is incorrect,” she said, referencing a pedestrian pathway along the riverfront in Cascade.
Tangen and fellow council member Ron Brown also said a noise study should be completed to determine if the council should consider requiring noise mitigation.
Environmental health concerns
Many public comments submitted last month to the council centered on potential human health risk posed by concrete dust from the plant, as well as potential environmental harm to the river and nearby wildlife.
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The concrete plant is required to comply with pollution standards set by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Granite must obtain a permit from the agency to operate the plant, even if the land use is approved by the city council.
The council, however, said it still wants to review the pollution standards and permit requirements before making a decision.
Organized opposition
The city received a petition with nearly 200 signatures in opposition to the concrete plant proposal ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Nissula said.
Present at the meeting was McCall attorney Amy Holm, who is representing Friends of Kelly’s Whitewater Park.
The popular whitewater park on the North Fork is about a mile downriver of where the concrete plant is proposed, according to Valley County GIS.
Council member Rachel Huckaby, a vocal critic of the proposal during the council’s September hearing, recused herself from Wednesday’s discussion, citing work she does with Kelly’s Whitewater Park.
