Adams County dump
Cindy Bulinski
Last Thursday I got a call from a concerned neighbor who had just learned that Adams County Commissioners had approved a permit change that would allow for a household garbage dump at 80th and Schumaker. By Saturday there were already earthmovers kicking up loads of dust onto neighboring properties. At our earliest opportunity – this past Wednesday – we attended an Adams County Commissioners meeting to ask them how they could have approved such a monster without holding any public hearings, or at least visiting with the property owners with adjacent land. The commissioners explained to us that there had been a permit in place since 1993 for a “fly ash” dump (apparently the residue from coal fire processing for power plants). Of course – there is no mechanism in place to let new buyers and builders in the area KNOW of the existence of a 14 year old permit that has never been acted upon. Apparently this permit never expires, nor does the validation of impact studies done 14 years ago. But those are other matters of policy change that need to be addressed at a later date. At any rate, apparently in 2005, an application was made to change the permit to allow household waste, and related garbage. The commissioners made what they deem a “minor” - “administrative” decision – without taking any public input to allow that change. At the meeting on Wednesday, commissioner Alice Nichol was the acting chairperson. In answer to our question of why we were not consulted, Alice stated repeatedly that the commissioners had acted “within the letter of the law”, that they had done all that they were “required” to do. While those statements are up for debate given the preliminary legal work that some of our neighbors have done, I wonder this. While they MAY have done the minimum that they were REQUIRED to do…did they do the BEST that they could have done, for our community, for the PEOPLE who ELECTED them? Would it have been outside of the letter of the law for them to take a drive out to this area, and see for themselves how many homes and people would be affected by this change? Would it have been outside the letter of the law for them to hold public hearings and ASK for public input? I sent an email to the commissioners on Thursday asking those questions, as of noon Friday, I have not heard back – if anyone else can find those answers, I think the community might be interested in the answers.
This letter has not been edited.
just dont want it in your back yard do you
Posted by on September 30, 2007 06:47 AMwould you?
Posted by on September 30, 2007 07:37 AMAdams county NEEDS adump. It's sooooo ugly.
Posted by Rick on September 30, 2007 02:49 PM