VBT Board to consider fifth amendment to landfill agreement

After almost three hours of discussion at its regular meeting Dec. 5, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees agreed to put the fifth amendment to the Waste Management Landfill Agreement on its Dec. 18 work/study session and its regular meeting of Dec. 19.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara wants to vote on the agreement at the Dec. 19 meeting. He invites anyone wanting to know more about the amendment or anyone with questions to meet with him at his office. He also offered to come to residents’ homes to discuss the agreement.
But, he does not intend to put off the Dec. 19 vote, he said, although several board members had asked for more time for the public to get the information.
The fifth amendment to the 1990 host agreement with Waste Management for Woodlands Meadows Landfill is to facilitate expansion of the landfill into the present Woodlands golf course owned by Waste Management.
Otherwise, the present landfill will be full in 2025 and will have to close, said Waste Management Operations Director John Myers in twin presentations at the township’s work/study session on Dec. 4 and it’s regular, televised meeting of Dec. 5. This means tipping fees and all the other grants to the township from WM would cease.
The expansion would allow WM to continue landfill operations until 2056. Myers said talks with the township on the expansion have been under way for four years.
The current size of the landfill is 269 acres, with 206 acres of waste. The expanded landfill would add another 200 acres, with 137 acres of waste.
Myers outlined all the money WM will be giving the township with the new agreement, including a one-time $8 million grant. It will be $250 million over the next 40 years, he said.
But WM refuses to continue the free curbside pickup of trash, recyclables, and yard waste as of 2025, although it had been promised for the life of the landfill in the original agreement This means residents will have to pay for pickup. There currently are 8,315 households getting free pick up.
Matthew Best, deputy director of planning and economic development, put together lots of facts and figures on the proposed agreement. He estimated that residents could pay just $12.90 per month for pickup, since WM will continue to offer free disposal at the landfill for VBT residents.
Best said if the landfill closes, the residents would have to pay 4.5 mills more in taxes to keep the same services it has now.
“The wetlands permit takes 2-5 years,” said Supervisor McNamara at the Dec. 4 work/study session. “That’s why they’d like to get started.”
There are wetlands in the golf course area that will take remediation.
Trustee Reggie Miller suggested the $1.5 million yearly cost of pick up could be covered by the $8 million grant.
Supervisor McNamara said if it was invested in a 2.35% CD it would make funds available, but that would have to be decided by the township board at a later date.
Trustee Kevin Martin said he works at Ecorse and I-275 and, “We can smell it a half mile away.” He said he smells the landfill as he drives to and from work, as well.
Myers said the landfill takes biosolids and will continue to take biosolids.
“I have golfed there since 1995 and I haven’t noticed an odor,” said Clerk Leon Wright. “You’re gonna have some odors. We golf there and we don’t notice it.”
Trustee Miller said her husband golfs there and he said there is an odor.
Clerk Wright said maybe that could be in the morning.
Trustee Martin asked what WM will do to take care of the odor.
Myers said they will be putting a final cover on the existing landfill so there should be fewer odors.
“I travel past it six to seven days a week and when I smell it, it’s pretty ripe,” Trustee Martin said.
“We shouldn’t have off-site odors,” Myers said.
Jack Rowe from WM said first they check the wind to make sure it’s their odor.
“We do have odors from time to time,” Rowe said. “We have troubles in the summertime, after picking up rotten waste… or drilling into old waste to fix something.”
Best said odor is regulated by Wayne County.
“In the past, there were more complaints,” Best said. “There’s less now.”
When Trustees Miller, Sherry Frazier, and Paul White asked for more time for the public to get the information on the landfill amendments, Clerk Wright interjected, “Our residents are not stupid. They know what’s going on. We televise live, put the budget on the website. How open can we be?”
“Everyone has garbage to be picked up and you’re voting in the busiest time of the year,” said Trustee Miller. “One more meeting. What is the hurry?”
“We’re going beyond what they usually do,” Supervisor McNamara said. “We kick it down the road… We’ve been doing this for four years.”
At the Dec. 5 regular meeting, the board held a public hearing on the landfill agreement although a public hearing had not been advertised in advance in the newspaper of record.
Ernie Tozer of Hannan Road pointed out that the original host agreement had a provision that no landfill would ever be in the golf course and deed restrictions were put in place for that. “It runs with the land, forever,” Tozer said. “It’s never supposed to go away.”
He said when that original agreement was being put together, “We did get it in writing, and now that doesn’t work.”
David Brownlee, chairman of the VBT Environmental Commission, said in 1990 he served on the negotiating team. He said Wayne County had an emergency siting regulation and, to avoid the emergency siting by the county, “We negotiated the best agreement we could.” He said Supervisor David Jacokes got calls from around the country concerning the good agreement.
“The residents of the township got free pickup for the lifetime of the landfill,” Brownlee said. Because of the odors, seagulls, and traffic, this was given to the people of the township for shouldering the burden of the landfill.
Brownlee said there are changes, but it is still the same landfill.
“We told our residents as long as the landfill is open, they will get free pick up,” Brownlee said. “It’s kind of a betrayal of our citizens. A violation of our original commitment.”
John Delaney said VBT is trying to be a premiere community and the expansion of the landfill will affect the Grace Lake complex across Ecorse Road. He said the residents across Hannan Road from the landfill have had odor problems and the party store at the corner of Haggerty Road and Van Born was closed for three days because of the odors.
Myers said they will install an active gas collection system in the new landfill to suck the gas out.
“We do not want to have an impact outside of the landfill,” he said. He explained that every morning an individual drives the perimeter of the landfill trying to detect offsite odors.
Pam Ruff asked if the guy with the good nose works on weekends and Myers said he doesn’t. Ruff suggested they pay someone to work on weekends because the smell could “gag a maggot.”
Trustee Frazier said the township attorney should look into the violation of the deed.
Supervisor McNamara said that was put into the agreement so if they want to expand they would have to come back to the township.
“If we do the deal, the deed restriction will be crossed off,” Supervisor McNamara said.
“This is one of the biggest decisions we have to make as a board,” Trustee Miller said. “We have to take this in small steps. They won’t storm off if it’s a Jan. 9 vote.”
“We don’t know if we want the clubhouse,” said Supervisor McNamara of WM’s offer to lease the golf clubhouse to the township for $1 a year. He said it could be used for a “teen thing, senior thing, or banquet facility. There’s a million things you could do.”
“I’m strongly against taking money out of the residents’ pockets,” said Trustee White. “If Waste Management refuses, we should pay for pickup with tipping fees.”
“This was going to be voted on tonight,” Trustee Miller said. “I don’t want to be voting on Dec. 19. We could wait until Jan. 9. What is the hurry on this?”
“I’m done kicking things down the road,” Supervisor McNamara said, adding it has been discussed for four years.
Trustee Miller said the new, revised agreement was first discussed the day before this meeting.
Trustee Miller made a motion to postpone a vote on the landfill agreement until Jan. 9 and the motion was seconded by Trustee White. But, Supervisor McNamara ignored the motion.
“Once I slip down this slippery slope, I can’t get back up,” Supervisor McNamara said.
Myers said the decision was up to the board and Supervisor McNamara said, “I’ll take it under consideration.”
“You said you would take as many meetings as needed,” Trustee Miller said to Supervisor McNamara and he agreed, “I did.”
“Give me a day or two to think this over,” Supervisor McNamara said. “If they push it to January, they could push it to February. I’ve seen it 100 times.”
Later, he informed board members he will be sticking with the final vote on Dec. 19.
In other business at the three-hour-and-seven-minute meeting, the board:
• Removed from the agenda the first amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement between VBT and the City of Belleville for Emergency Dispatch and Lockup Services and also removed a second, new agreement with Belleville for Fire Protection and Medical Response Services;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of four ordinance amendments on blight prevention, trailers and vehicles, fire prevention, and trespassing (printed in today’s Independent);
• Approved the second and final readings of an amendment to the zoning ordinance, repealing the zoning ordinance text governing medical marijuana cultivation facilities;
• Approved the second and final reading of an amendment to the General Code of Ordinances to provide for repeal of regulations covering medical marijuana cultivation facilities;
• Approved the second and final reading of an amendment to the zoning ordinance on detention pond location and setbacks for off-street parking and loading areas, access drives and paved surfaces accessory to a distribution center;
• Approved annual Wayne County permits for maintenance, special events, and pavement restoration; and
• Heard complaints from Rachel Gray and others of Cobblestone Ridge, saying the township has some responsibility for the problems there. McNamara said the township will look into this.