DUMMERSTON — The numbers are in: the Renaud Gravel Pit contains about 794,000 cubic yards of material available for future use.
At the Oct. 24 regular Selectboard meeting, Board Vice-Chair Hugh Worden shared the results of the engineering study of the pit completed by Stevens & Associates.
The rough measure is that the Renaud pit has about 100,000 cubic yards of gravel, 200,000 cubic yards of sand, and 400,000 cubic yards of ledge. That's just in the southern side of the pit.
The northern side contains about 200,000 cubic yards of ledge for possible future blasting and crushing, and there is about 90,000 cubic yards of “currently stockpiled material."
Worden noted a plus-or-minus 15 percent margin of error in these figures.
“That's a lot of material,” he said.
Town officials in Dummerston and Putney are considering a joint purchase of the gravel pit, located off Route 5 in Dummerston, as a way to ensure a local source of sand, gravel, and riprap, or loose chunks of rock, for at least the next 40 years.
In September, board members in both towns began discussing the matter, and all parties agreed to split the cost of engineering and feasibility studies, conducted by Stevens & Associates.
Town attorneys from Dummerston and Putney are working on an inter-municipality agreement, which Worden said “looks positive.” He noted the process is easier because there's no profit included in the deal between the two towns.
The public will have many opportunities to weigh in during the two towns' Selectboard meetings.
Once the agreements are finalized - including a purchase contract with the gravel pit's owner, Mike Renaud - the ultimate decision rests with residents on whether the two towns should jointly buy the pit.
Town officials estimate the earliest time for voters to make a decision will be at Annual Town Meeting in March.