Fox Run planning expansion
By Suzanne Werre, BHG News Service
Demolition and construction are ongoing at the Fox Run Transport station in Underwood (the former Benson-Quinn elevator building), but there shouldn’t be any more complaints about noise in the middle of the night. Scott Mele, manager of the Underwood station, was at a recent city commission meeting to update commissioners on what’s going on at the station, assuring the commissioners that the “blow-offs,” which have prompted complaints to the commission about the noise, will only be conducted between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm, well within the city’s noise ordinance hours of 7 am to 11 pm. “We’ll have to load at night, but it’s definitely not as loud as the blow-offs,” said Mele. Some of the grain silos are being removed, as are the concrete slabs that housed them. Mele told the commission about a conveyor system that is being constructed, and he also told the commission that Fox Run is looking at upping its 70-car switch to making it about a 100-car switch, and Fox Run is looking at actually adding another rail line “right in between, so it would actually go straight, then extend the track north,” said Mele. “That would be quite a big project, so I would definitely keep you informed on that,” he added. Mele, who was at the meeting just to update the commission on what is going on at the facility, added that he also is in the process of hiring 30 to 40 new drivers to haul the fracking sand, and that several of the employees have already moved RVs into town. “You’ll be seeing a lot of new faces around,” added Mele.
