Witches and Goblins and Landfills, Oh My!

When you open the door this Halloween night, the scariest thing you might see is:  Landfill Expansion!

Waste Management will bring its expansion plans a step closer to reality (and to your bedroom window) when it stages a "Community Meeting" Tuesday, November 11, in McMinnville.

The Community Meeting is required by the rezoning ordinance adopted last winter by the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners.  According to County Planning Director Mike Brandt, this meeting is supposed to be a place where the community can get its questions about the proposed expansion answered.

This is an important step in the expansion process; it's still possible to stop expansion in its tracks!  Attend this meeting to find out what Waste Management proposes; go to the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioner hearings to tell your decision-makers what you think of those plans.  

The meeting will be run by a facilitator, Melanie Chase of Change Solutions in Portland.  Chase is not connected to Waste Management, according to Brandt, who approved her selection.

Waste Management has yet to submit an expansion plan to the County.  Brandt hopes the landfill's owner will take comments made at the meeting into consideration when drafting its expansion proposal.  One key area Brandt will be looking for is how Waste Management will incorporate the "green technology" it promised the County into its overall plan.

Comments made at the meeting are supposed to be considered part of the record before the County Planning Commission, which will review and vote on the proposal once it's been formally submitted.  Unless community members submit their comments in writing at the November 11 meeting, however, it's probably best to resubmit them to the Planning Commission directly.  A date for Planning Commission review will not be set until after Waste Management's proposal is complete.

According to Waste Management's website, the November 11 meeting will begin with sandwiches and "informal Q & A" at 6:15 pm; the company will make its presentation between 7:00 and 9:00.  The meeting will be held at the McMinnville Ballroom, upstairs at 325 NE Third Street in Mac.  An elevator is available at the rear of the building.