The Montgomery County Commission approved the construction of a ready-mixed concrete plant that will be located west of High Hill during a meeting on March 19.

Dan Bruns and Terry Birkemeier are in charge of the project. Both work for Kienstra Concrete in St. Louis. Bruns is a third-generation farmer and an operating daily manager, while Birkemeier is a resident engineer.

“We are developing our fourth generation,” Bruns said. “We’re a family business. We’re a privately held business. We’re going to remain a family business. We’re fortunate and blessed to come up 80 years in business. We’re excited about the fourth generation that’s coming on board.”

Bruns and Birkemeier proposed the project on March 17 at the Montgomery County Planning and Zoning public hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse. After a 15-minute presentation, the project was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board.

Bruns and Birkemeier returned to the courthouse for the commission meeting two days later. Bruns wanted to get approval from the commissioners so he could start on his project as early as March 23. Minutes later, the project was approved.

Bruns said he is thrilled to bring a concrete plant business to Montgomery County. The property will be located near 681 Booneslick Road, just two miles west of High Hill.

“We’re excited about the growth potential of Montgomery County,” Bruns said. “You don’t go into an area we’re talking about doing, which is a state-of-the art concrete manufacturing plant without having some future for growth. It takes some time.”

The plant will have up to 12 full-time employees. It will utilize recycled water and collect aggregate that is donated for road beds. It will take about 30 gallons of water for a yard of concrete mix.

“We think we do it very well,” Bruns said. “We put our names on the doors because we’re proud of what we do and we’re proud of the operations that we run. I think we can take it to any of our sites and show you how we operate. We re-invest and we’re proud of what we put on the road. It’s very safe.”

During the presentation, Bruns said the facility will run 365 days a year.

“At 10 degrees, we start telling people it’s not a good idea to be pulling concrete, but anything beyond that as long as the roads are safe, we feel that the concrete will be fine,” Bruns said. “We’ll make it and we’ll deliver it.”

Bruns said he and Birkemeier are working at a plant off Highway 70 in Foristell that has been successful.
“Part of what this plant would be gearing towards will be supporting some of that,” Bruns said. “Right now, there is a capacity in the area to support some of those projects. We were fortunate that we have the type of plant in Foristell that allows us to supply dump trucks along with ready mix trucks.”

The proposed project got a favorable response from Tony Schmidt at the public hearing. Planning and Zoning Administrator Donna Viehmann read a letter from Schmidt that included positive remarks.

“Mr. Schmidt stated that he spoke with Mr. Bruns about the project,” Viehmann said. “Mr. Bruns, along with his son and plant manager, came to his home to discuss the project in person. Mr. Schmidt indicated that he felt the representatives appeared genuine and were willing to work with the surrounding neighborhood.”