Thursday July 23, 1953 - Montgomery Township Municipal Hall. 8:20 p.m.
The Municipal Hall is packed to overflowing, with residents outside on the porch and all around the building, listening intently at every window. They have all gathered to hear the Montgomery Township Committee read the recommendation of the Planning Board regarding the recent application by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing to build a plant and quarry for crushing stone and making granules for roofing tiles.
Opposition to the plan had been growing that spring and summer, with many experts coming forward to declare the dangers of the "rock dust" that would be created in the crushing process. There had also been allegations of political corruption in Montgomery and Hillsborough - and citizens of both towns were nearly ready to revolt over the 3M plan.
The original proposal by 3M called for a change in Montgomery zoning to allow "quarrying and other nuisance industry" - but that proposal was changed when it was determined that siting the plant on the border between the two towns would allow the entire quarry to be in Hillsborough. Therefore zoning would only need to be changed from "residential and agricultural" to allow for manufacturing.
As the crowd grew restless, Mayor Ficken explained that he was required - by pre-arrangement with Hillsborough - to wait until exactly 8:30 p.m., when both Townships would announce the results of their planning board votes.
Tick, tick, tick...
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