Waste Management asks VBT to vote on expansion of landfill

Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara said Waste Management contacted him recently and asked for a township board vote on the expansion of the Woodland Meadows landfill on the northeastern corner of the township.
Supervisor McNamara said on Friday that Waste Management told him they needed an answer because they had to make plans for the future.
After the landfill presented its fifth amendment to the host agreement for Woodland Meadows last year, McNamara said the township hired Plante Moran to go over the financial records of Waste Management so VBT could compare this township’s host agreement with other host agreements across the state.
He said they found that VBT had the best host agreement of all and nobody else had free trash pickup as a part of its host agreement.
McNamara said he told Waste Management that the board was not in favor of the proposed host agreement amendment change the way it is now, but Waste Management refused to negotiate on the free trash pickup.
McNamara said Waste Management refuses to offer free pick up “for the next 38 years.”
McNamara said he told Waste Management that the board was concerned about the elimination of the golf course as a township amenity and feels it should be replaced.
McNamara said Waste Management told him a new agreement was coming for the board to consider, but he does not know when it will be on the VBT board agenda.