The County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a vote on whether Riverbend Landfill can expand for this Thursday, February 18. The meeting will be held in Room 32 of the Courthouse basement. The Courthouse is located on the corner of 5th and Evans in McMinnville; enter off 5th.
In January the Commissioners (BOC) asked the community and Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC) for new argument (and some select new evidence) regarding ways the expansion might impact area farming. The expansion issue was back before the BOC after the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) rejected the BOC's spring 2015 approval of RLC's expansion request. Initial comments were submitted February 4, and then both sides were given one week for rebuttal.
Ilsa Perse, President of the Stop the Dump Coalition, describes the process this way:
"We all went to the remand hearing on the 4th. True to the BOC's word, there was no public testimony, but our lawyer, their lawyer, and many others put in written testimony that addressed the issues that were listed in the remand hearing procedure notice that we all received in in January. We all got copies of what the other side put in and then had one week (til 11 Feb) to submit rebuttals, which could be made only to points raised by the other side. [Community members] Susan, Sid, Ramsey, and our [STDC] attorney [Jeff Kleinman] put in very specific rebuttals to points made by RLC. Local farmers put in rebuttal letters as well.
"The Commissioners may vote as early as next Thursday, the 18th, on whether or not the applicant (RLC) has made the case that LUBA told them they needed to make: that the dump does not impact farming per ORS 215.296.
"Not sure if the vote will actually happen this week. But the "record" is tiny compared to what it was like last year, so the Commissioners shouldn't need more time to read anything."
There are some procedural rulings the BOC will have to make before they vote. When STDC tried to submit video of birds flying from the dump onto nearby farmland, County land use attorney Todd Sadlo told attorney Kleinman that the County had requested only material that could be reduced to print and was not inclined to accept "physical objects" like DVDs with bird videos on them. Also, RLC asked that certain documents be stricken from the record. And STDC renewed its motion from earlier proceedings to have Commissioner Springer recuse himself on conflict of interest grounds. Once those, and possibly additional, motions are decided, the BOC can vote.
What are the issues? An important one is whether nuisance birds attracted to the landfill to feed cause "significant impacts" to farming practices or costs. Several large grass seed farms near the dump submitted letters documenting that seagulls coming from the dump are attracted to their lands just as new grass is poking up. The gulls uproot the grass while grubbing for their dinner in the dirt below. Fecal matter deposited by birds on fruit and vegetables near the dump is also a problem.
Litter is another big issue, especially for hay farms near the dump, which must spend time and money both picking up as much litter as possible before haying and also repairing equipment clogged by plastic waste.
Several other issues remain for the BOC to decide. Stay tuned!
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