Asphalt plant proposed in Kingston

WALLACE - Next week the Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Commission will determine whether or not to allow a Sandpoint company to bring an asphalt batch plant to Kingston.

Woods Crushing and Hauling is seeking to capitalize on a $55 million joint project between the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Environmental Quality that focusses on re-paving roads throughout communities in Idaho, including Shoshone County.

"They want to be the asphalt supplier," said Dan Martinsen, Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Department administrator. "And they want it local because keeping the asphalt close is supposed to build better roads."

Martinsen estimated the project would last a decade.

"Once that (the project) goes away and most of the roads are fixed, they may very well pull the plug and leave," Martinsen said.

The proposed site of the asphalt batch plant is on approximately 19 acres of land owned by Woods Crushing and Hauling, located at 1411 Coeur d'Alene River Road, in a natural resource zone.

Martinsen added that what Woods Crushing and Hauling is specifically asking permission for is the ability to bring machinery to their land in order to produce asphalt.