ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JULIE ANDERSON
Marion County commissioners voted 3-0 Monday not to approve an
application for a landfill from MSW, Inc.
The decision was made after gathering comments from the public and
adjourning for a 15-minute executive session with their attorneys.
?My understanding is that our solid waste plan is for a transfer
station to take it to another county,? said Keith Collett, Marion, who
spoke during the session for public comments. ?Any solid waste
proposal inconsistent with that way is also inconsistent with our
plan.?
?In our discussions and some of the findings that we have made, we
have looked at the most conservative use of the plans,? said
Commissioner Jack Bruner. ?We have looked at a conservative approach
at comparing the 1996 solid waste plan and the resolution passed in
1998 before that plan was finalized.?
The commissioners had reviewed the application for consistency with
the county?s solid waste management plan.
?Our findings are such that it is not consistent with the plan,?
Bruner said. ?It is not a plan that is intended to be disposing of
trash from other sources.?
The county plan favors a transfer station because it uses less land
than a landfill and is easier to site. It also does not have the
adverse limitations of a landfill.
Bruner said the current transfer station has not had any problems such
as smell.
?It has the advantage of some environmental protections over a
disposal area in that it is dumped on a concrete floor and it doesn?t
require 30 years of monitoring if it is shut down,? he said.
The transfer station also offers a way to reduce the amount of
material going into the landfill through recycling.
Bruner made the motion that the commission state the application was
inconsistent and does not conform to the 1996 solid waste plan with
the 1998 resolution 98-07 and that it is inconsistent with the 1996
plan by itself.
Commissioner Bob Hein seconded the motion.
Jim Kaup, the commission?s attorney, will notify MSW of the
commission?s findings.
Litigation is still pending on the land MSW incorporated, but the
action taken by the commission will not affect it, according to Kaup.
No one at the meeting spoke on behalf of the applicant.
In other business:
— The county will have its district court, register of deeds and
county clerk?s records put on microfilm by the state historical
society. This will be done at no cost to the county and the records
will be available for purchase by the county.
— The commission selected Carol Maggard, county clerk, as the
freedom of information officer and will send her to a training
session.
— Commissioners approved purchasing a camera and accessories for
emergency preparedness badges from USI Laminating from Connecticut.
— Commissioners reviewed permits for fireworks, then approved 45 of
the permits. A letter will be sent to the applicants July 2 if dry
weather forces commissioners to ban fireworks after all.
— Commissioners approved resolutions changing several properties from
agricultural to rural residential and conditional use permits for a
miniature horse trail and a hunting and fishing lodge. A resolution
changing Marion Sanders? land from agricultural to rural residential
was tabled until a survey is completed.
— Sheriff Lee Becker hired Jeff Sawyer as a new deputy. He currently
works part-time with the Marion Police Department.
— JoAnn Knak, director of Emergency Medical Services, and Steve Tonn,
county extension agent, presented their 2001 budget requests to the
commission. Both departments requested an increase. Commissioners will
temporarily incorporate those requests into the budget, but if funds
are not a
Commissioners reject MSW landfill application
