For the fourth time in recent months, a Windham Town Council meeting was dominated by discussion of the proposed quarry for Windham-based Busque Construction.

Critics of the proposed Nash Road quarry at the Tuesday, Nov. 14 meeting said the rock-excavating operation would disturb the surrounding homes in the area and create potential hazards.

Questions and comments by residents have been so time-consuming in past meetings that Town Council Chairman John MacKinnon set limits on how long and how often each member of the public could speak at Tuesday’s meeting.

MacKinnon characterized the lengthy discussions in the previous meetings as “a burden on the town, and to the applicant, but most importantly the town.”

Each member of the public was limited to one opportunity to ask questions or make comments for each ordinance requirement. They were not allowed to speak more than three minutes at a time.

“This is unfair, unjust and basically wrong,” said Nash Road resident James O’Gorman at the start of the meeting in regard to the speaking limitations.

Scott McDonald of Inland Farm Road disagreed, saying the limitations were reasonable.

Councilor Lloyd Bennett asked to be excused from the hearings because he owns land near the site of the proposed quarry. The council agreed to excuse him because of the potential conflict of interest.

Margaret Pinchbeck, of Nash Road, accused an unspecified council member of being “influenced” by Peter Busque, the owner of Busque Construction, after both the Lakes Region Suburban Weekly and the Windham Independent printed a letter to the editor from the councilor that was critical of a proposed referendum in the recent election.

The referendum, drafted by a citizens group headed by Pinchbeck, intended to prevent Busque from establishing his quarry by changing Windham’s mining and extracting ordinances. The referendum would have taken effect retroactively, thereby nullifying permits that had already been approved by the town council if they did not comply with the new ordinances.

MacKinnon warned Pinchbeck of the serious nature of suggesting a council member has ulterior motives concerning a town issue. He pointed out that the councilor, later identified as Carol Waig, frequently writes to local newspapers and did not identify herself as a council member in the letter as she normally does.

Pinchbeck said that was not what she was trying to say, but was silenced by MacKinnon who felt that this was not the time for a discussion.

When asked later, Pinchbeck declined to comment on what her intended meaning was.

Waig was not present for Pinchbeck’s comments and said she would respond to them at the next meeting after she has reviewed the videotape of the evening.

A number of citizens spoke about concerns surrounding the noise the quarry would create during operation.

“I don’t see why this place has to be open while I’m at supper, Leon Pride of Nash Road said. Pride suggested that the quarry hours be limited to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“The construction world starts early,” Busque responded. He explained that daylight is needed for his business and defended his proposed hours of 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pinchbeck read aloud from a Web site about the dangers of “flyrock,” a projectile shard caused by an explosion. Houses, cars and people have been hurt by flyrock around blasting sites, she said.

“There isn’t a company that could stand up here and say they don’t have flyrock,” said Shawn McGoldrick, of McGoldrick Brothers Blasting Services. McGoldrick has a business relationship with Busque and would be hired to drill and blast in the quarry if it were approved.

McGoldrick said his company has had one instance of flyrock this year and none the previous year.

Dianne Loring of Hawkes Farm Road accused Busque of cutting down trees on his property without the proper permits and receiving a Stop Work order.

“I believe we’re getting a little off-topic here,” Busque responded.

John Merrill, of Gray Road, said he drove to the meeting after watching the beginning on live television and suggested that the sound problems the quarry will create are being exaggerated. He said that a quarry on Methodist Road in Westbrook has 150 new houses being built around it and the developer has had no trouble selling them.

“If it’s so bad, why are 150 houses being built?” Merrill said. He added that the Westbrook City Council approved a proposal for a second quarry near residents by the same company in only one night.

Gail Shaw, of Pope Road, said that while most people were concerned about the noise of the explosions from the blasting company, they were forgetting about the drilling required before each blast. Shaw, who lived with the blasting noices during the Windham High School’s renovation, described the sound created by the drilling.

“It’s like taking a sledgehammer and a big steel plank and just wailing on it,” Shaw said.

When asked by the council, McGoldrick said that four days of drilling would be required for each detonation. He declined council member Elizabeth Wisecup’s request to do an impression of the sound the drill makes.

At 10:30 p.m. the hearing was suspended until the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Windham town office.

Margaret Pinchbeck speaks to the Windham town council at Tuesday