Landfill controversy festers

Opposition to even the prospect of a new landfill being located in Marshall County was evident Tuesday in the Courthouse Annex where there was standing room only during this month's meeting of the County Planning Commission.

"Are we expecting an application for a landfill?" Planning Commission Chairman Matt Collins asked Don Nelson, the County's zoning administrator who replied, "It wouldn't surprise me. [Regional leadership of] Waste Management [the company that operates Cedar Ridge Landfill] was in my office today."

Despite that prospective development, perhaps sometime this year, the reason planning commissioners considered landfills on Tuesday was what is routinely called "housekeeping;" the reorganization of rules and regulations. Standards for landfill operations are in one part of the County's zoning resolution. Meanwhile, the designation of a land-use classification, or zone, for landfills is in another part of the document. Planning commissioners voted Tuesday to have both in the same section of the resolution.

See Friday's Tribune for the complete story.