GRAVEL-MINE PLAN READY, TMC SAYS.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Transit Mixed Concrete asked the Board of Supervisors on Monday to proceed with next week's scheduled vote on the company's Soledad Canyon mine and to reject the city of Santa Clarita's plea to delay the vote.

There is not much new information that needs to be reviewed before the hearing scheduled for Nov. 27, according to Kerry Shapiro, a lawyer for Azusa-based TMC. Los Angeles County supervisors will vote today on whether to delay any action until Jan. 22.

``Much of the information issued by the county staff has either been directly prepared months ago by the city or other members of the public, or provided to the city months or weeks prior,'' Shapiro wrote in a letter sent Monday to the supervisors.

City officials have said they expect the board to approve plans for the sand and gravel mine - planned for south of the Antelope Valley Freeway between Agua Dulce Canyon and Soledad Canyon roads - but they need the continuance to make sure Santa Clarita Valley residents are well-informed.

``It's not just the city with its full-time staff that needs to evaluate the report, but the volunteer Acton/Agua Dulce Town Council,'' said city spokesman Jason Smisko.

For more than a year, city leaders have been trying to convince the supervisors that the planned 56.1 million-ton mine should be rejected because it would have a devastating effect on the Santa Clarita Valley's environment.

``It's not our goal to stall the process,'' Smisko said. ``Our goal is to communicate an intelligent response to the board.''

The project has been delayed by the Board of Supervisors four times, once at the request of Santa Clarita city officials.

TMC representatives maintain the mine will not harm the valley and that most residents will not even know the mine is operating.

The 2-inch-thick county staff report found that mitigation measures proposed by the city would make the mine unprofitable for TMC and the federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the mineral rights to the 460-acre land parcel.

It also found that those measures, which include rail haul, imported water and preservation of the ridgeline, have the potential to increase the impact on the valley's environment rather than lessen the effect.