Police officer escorts angry excavator from meeting hall

Planning board makes inquiry into mining at John Bienski Excavating Chester — Police escorted an enraged John Bienski Sr. out of Wednesday night’s meeting of the Town of Chester Planning Board, which reviewed possible code violations at the excavating business he operates with his son. It all started calmly enough. John Bienski Sr. and his son John Bienski Jr. have been storing heavy machinery on their three-acre property at 185 Glenmere Road. Town code allows up to four big pieces, under 20 tons each, on properties of three acres or more. The equipment must be stored in the rear yard and be concealed from neighbors’ view. Five large machines are now parked on the Glenmere Road property. The Bienskis said they’ve had to store equipment because business has been slow. Bienski Sr. said many of their friends have offered to store one or more pieces if necessary. Even when planning board Chair Don Serotta brought up four building permits for the Bienski property that had never been closed out, Bienski Sr. was agreeable. “Whatever it takes to make it right,” he said. But that was when the cordial negotiations ended. Their next-door neighbor, Andy Rodgers, has for months been complaining to local officials — not only about the equipment storage but about the noise and dust coming from excavation on the property. He has said he’s disturbed night and day by the noise and dust of rock-crushing operations, and the coming and going of dump trucks. He says he is furious at local officials for not enforcing the laws that regulate mining in Chester. A number of officials have visited the site in response to his complaints, including the town building inspector, supervisor, and planning board chair, and a mined land reclamation specialist from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The planning board on Wednesday asked the Bienskis how much dirt and stone was being moved on the property. Father and son said poor drainage on the town road forced them to move materials whenever it rains in order to protect their driveway. Bienski Sr. insisted he would continue repairing his driveway as necessary. He said Rodgers had never filed an official complaint. He then began hurling insult after insult at his neighbor, including some truly terrible epithets. The planning board members that had visited the site said stone was being cut there, and that an additional site visit was required. Bienski Sr. then turned his wrath on the planning board. “I’ve been here 35 years!” he yelled. “Get real!” After cautioning him twice, Serotta gave a final warning: “If you want us to cite you and bring you to court, then that’s the way we will go.” Bienski Sr. raised his voice again. “You’re finished with me tonight,” Serotta told him. Serotta then had a police officer, who had been standing by, escort the excavator out the door. Mining: What the law allows New York State allows mining operations to remove 750 cubic yards of rock, or 1,000 tons, whichever is less, from a site in 12 successive months without a permit. But Town of Chester’s more stringent code limiting excavation to 100 cubic yards supercedes state law. The town code was created in response to an extensive quarry that once operated at the present site of the new Rock Sports Park. That quarry threatened public safety because of the blasting that went on there, which sometimes sent stone rocketing into the road, according to the town planning board chair. The town limit ensures that such operations are monitored before they get too big.