BELLE — A new family-owned rock quarry has opened near Meta, with its owners aiming to serve the local community while building a long-term operation for future generations.

5M Rock Quarry, located on the Miller family’s century-old Wilson Farm, is operated by Chris and Kristina Miller. Kristina Miller said the venture has been years in the making.

“Starting a rock quarry has been a dream of my husband, Chris Miller, and mine for the last few years,” Kristina Miller said.

Miller describes the quarry as a small but growing operation, with plans to expand cautiously based on demand.

“We hope to stay smaller but big enough to serve our community. We hope to be around a long time as we have plenty of rock to blast,” Miller said.

While the business is still in its early stages, the owners intend to create local employment opportunities as operations increase.

“Once business picks up we want to hire a couple people locally,” Miller said.

Concerns about dust, noise and blasting are common with quarry operations, but Miller said the company is following federal safety regulations and expects limited disruption.

“We are following all of MSHA’s (Mine Safety and Health Administration) regulations to keep the dust and noise down. Vibrations will not be a problem, only every couple months for the few minutes it takes to blast,” she said.

Blasting will occur intermittently and will be handled by contracted professionals.

“We do not have to notify the public before blasting but we will probably be blasting every couple months, depending on how much rock we sell, this could be more often,” Miller said. “The blasting is out sourced and they are professionals that are able to keep the dust and vibrations down to a minimum. The blasts are not huge so they aren’t able to be felt from too far away.”

Looking ahead, Miller said they plan to restore the land once quarry operations are complete.

“We will be reclaiming the land back to pasture and will plant seed and trees once we have exhausted all of our natural resources out of the limestone,” Miller said.

Miller emphasized their commitment to the local community and expressed appreciation for those who helped bring the project to life.

“This is a family owned and operated business and was started on my family’s Century Old Wilson Farm. We pride ourselves on giving back to the community and on customer service,” Miller said.

Miller said the Maries County Bank financed the endeavor, and friends and family supported them through the process.