A proposal to allow a second waste transfer station in McLean County — the middle step between trash collection and the landfill — moved forward Thursday at the county board’s monthly meeting.
The board’s 11-6 vote doesn’t mean the 12,000-square-foot facility planned for south Bloomington will be built for certain. Next, Lakeshore Recycling Systems [LSR] needs the Illinois Pollution Control Board’s approval, and then locally granted building permits.
Thursday’s vote specifically approved the board's pollution control committee’s January recommendationto send Lakeshore’s application to the state for further consideration.
Also Thursday, the board OK’d a $600,000 grant agreement with the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO] to extend the Route 66 bike trail near Lexington; and it allocated the first of its national opioid settlement funds — for a new youth-focused drug prevention program.
Waste site faced opposition last fall
No public comment was permitted at Thursday's meeting regarding the waste transfer site proposal. Board chair Catherine Metsker [R-District 1] told those in the crowded room that a public comment period was offered while the committee considered whether LSR’s application met all required criteria to establish the site.
“It’s all about the findings of fact. So that’s all [the board] could consider,” county administrator Cassy Taylor said after the meeting.
LSR's proposed site would be built on a corner of the 42-acres campus of its subsidiary Henson Disposal's recycling facility located off Bunn Street.
The only other waste transfer station serving McLean County is Republic Services site, off Washington Road. LSR contends that site isn't able to handle the county's growing waste-disposal needs.
The contentious issue drew criticism from a variety of county residents throughout the process, but support from others. The proposal drew backlash in written public comment from some residents who live near the proposed site, who said they did not want to live near such a facility due to increased traffic in the area and possible pollution from the waste.
“It’s an affordability issue for those who are in support of it. They believe it will bring competition and then drive costs down. For those that oppose it, there’s a lot of concerns with location, with traffic patterns, with safety protocols,” Taylor said after the meeting.
In discussion before the vote, both District 9 representatives cited several of those concerns. Board members Susan Schafer [R ] and Natalie Roseman-Mendoza [D] said they believed nearly half the criteria measures hadn’t been adequately met.
Both took issue with LSR’s methods for counting population near the future facility, contending the company should have used DCEO data rather than U.S. Census data. The District 9 representatives argued the LSR method didn’t properly take into account Hilltop Mobile Home Park population.
“There are numerous homes not counted as residencies because they are in that mobile home park,” said Roseman-Mendoza.
Both women also said they disagreed with the committee’s assessment that the heavy trucks wouldn’t prove a traffic problem.
The four members who joined the pair in opposing the recommendation were: George Wendt [R, District 3]; Beverly Bell [D, District 6], Geoff Tompkins [R, District 7]; and Chuck Erickson, [R, District 10].
Board members Randall Knapp and Lyndsay Bloomfield were absent Thursday.
K.J. Loerop, Lakeshore vice president, said after the meeting the next step generally is a 90-day process. But, Loerop said he won't be surprised if this doesn't get resolved for a year — saying he believes Arizona-based Republic Services opposition to the project likely will continue.
He said Lakeshore has about a dozen similar transfer sites in Illinois, and others across the Midwest.
Grant to help Lexington stretch of Route 66 bike trail
Also Thursday, the board voted to accept a $600,000 DCEO transportation grant to extend the Historic Route 66 Trail one mile south of Lexington, and one mile north of that community.
The Historic Route 66 Trail is part of the larger Constitution Trail.
Taylor said eventually, the county would like the Bloomington-Normal based trail to reach north to Chenoa and south to McLean.
“So, we’re getting closer bit by bit to having our ultimate goal of extending it for the length of McLean County,” said Taylor.
County to use opioid settlement funds for youth program
Over the next two decades, McLean County is expected to receive more than $2 million in funding — its portion of a multibillion-dollar national settlement related to opioid-related lawsuits, and the national opioid epidemic.
On Thursday, the county board OK'd its first allocation of those funds — about $33,000. That'll be used for a youth-focused drug prevention program administered by Project Oz and the McLean County Health Department.
The program will focus on three areas, prevention education and a pair of suspension alternative pilots.
This year, the county expects to receive about $180,000of its settlement funds.
