Lehigh Cement Co. officials said this week it will be at least a year before they can submit a reviewable plan to the county for the company's proposed 4.5-mile conveyor belt or rail spur — designed to transport 3.86 million tons of limestone per year.

Union Bridge plant manager Kent Martin and environmental engineer Kurt Deery presented a briefing Feb. 15 at the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission, updating county officials on the company's progress and next steps for limestone transportation.

Martin estimated the Union Bridge plant has about 10 years of life, which includes expansion of the quarry into Frederick County.

Lehigh wants to begin blending limestone from its New Windsor quarry with the Union Bridge rocks in five years, he said.

In August 2009, Lehigh officials unveiled details of its proposed conveyor belt route and appearance, as well as a back-up railway plan. Lehigh will pursue rail at the same time as the conveyor so time will not be lost in the approval process, Deery said.

If both fail, there's always trucking, but, "We feel that trucking is not a very good option for that fall back position," he said.

Deery said several issues need resolved before the company can formally submit the plan.

Lehigh proposed to navigate the conveyor belt underneath stream and creek beds and roadways. That requires approval from both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

Another issue with the plan deals with agriculture preservation rights.

About 1,800 feet of the conveyor length would pass through both state- and county-held ag preservation easements on land owned by the Hoff family.

That concerns Dan Strickler, a member of an activist group New Windsor Community Action Project. Strickler told The Eagle that the county's ag board will have to decide whether the agricultural easement and Lehigh conveyor would be a conflict of the easements. Ag preservation guidelines stipulate industrial enterprises cannot operate on preserved easements.

The conveyor would be placed deep enough underground so when covered, the land will be farmable, Deery said. Construction easements would be needed to build the conveyor in that stretch, he said.

Lehigh officials said the company would be willing to add ag easement land in exchange for the conveyor path.

The county recently formed a board to examine a related issue in Marston, in which a farmer is operating a business venture using waste and sludge, causing what neighbors say is a foul odor.

"The Marston issue could be viewed as a precursor of how land could be used for the conveyor," Strickler said.

Carroll County also has to have zoning in place for a conveyor, Deery said.

"Carroll County and anywhere on the East Coast has not planned for a 4.5-mile conveyor zone, so we're working on a proposal for a text amendment in county government," Deery said.

Lehigh submitted an amendment as part of the county's comprehensive master plan that would define a conveyor as a utility.

"Them defining it as a utility is a funny play on words," Strickler said. "Because a utility is for the public good, and this is a private enterprise."

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