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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07261988 - 2.8 2. 8 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on July 26, 1988 by the following vote: AYES: NOES: (See below for vote) ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUBJECT: Landfill Issues Supervisor Torlakson, Vice Chairman, convened the meeting to discuss landfill issues. Supervisor Schroder absented himself from the discussion because of concern about a possible conflict of interest concerning a business relationship with one of his insurance clients. It .was noted that the Board received the certification of the . .. County Clerk that the Marsh Canyon Sanitary Landfill Initiative Petition and the East Contra Costa Landfill (Garaventa) Initiative Petition contained the required number of valid signatures to qualify as ballot measures. The Board also received reports from County Counsel setting forth options available in considering the two initiative petitions. Phil Batchelor, County Administrator, advised that staff is currently reviewing all available alternatives to resolve the garbage crises when the Acme Landfill facility closes in approximately six months. He spoke of visits to Alameda, Solano, and San Joaquin counties seeking acceptance of Contra Costa County' s garbage as a temporary measure until such a time when a permanent landfill is in place. Mr. Batchelor suggested that consideration be given to putting the landfill issue on the November ballot. Supervisor Powers moved that the Board authorize the placement of the two initiative petitions on the November 1988 ballot as well as an advisory measure pertinent to the proposed Bailey Road-Kirker Pass landfill site. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Fanden. David I . Tam, Chair, Sierra Club Solid Waste Subcommittee, advised that the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass landfill proposal should be before the voters on the same ballot as the Garaventa and Marsh Creek proposals. Mr. Tam reiterated the opposition of the Sierra Club to the proposed Garaventa Landfill. Kathleen Nimr, (no address given) , expressed support for a publically owned landfill as well as for the development of standards governing the operation of landfills. Ms. Nimr urged the Board to put on the November ballot as an advisory measure the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass landfill site. In addition to the advisory measure, Ms. Nimr requested that voters have the opportunity to express their support for the type of recycling program needed. A. B. McNabney, Vice President-Conservation, Mt. Diablo Audubon Society, P. O. Box 53 , Walnut Creek, expressed opposition to any extension or expansion of the use of the landfill presently operated by the Acme Fill Corporation and potential destruction to the wetlands. He suggested that consideration be given to the work of the Solid Waste Task Force in identifying and ranking potential sites. Mr. McNabney recommended that all the landfill sites be placed on the November Ballot in the priority order suggested by the Solid Waste Task Force. 1 Fred Caploe, Attorney representing the City of Pittsburg, expressed objections with the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass site. Nancy Parent, Delta Diablo Sanitation District, 2020 Railroad Avenue, Pittsburg, expressed concerns with the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass landfill site. She advised that she did not favor a mountain of garbage looking down on the City of Pittsburg as would be a possibility with the Kirker Pass site. She spoke in support of the Marsh Canyon site and of the preliminary work authorized by Delta Diablo in developing the site for consideration. Ms. Parent also spoke on the need to provide the electorate with adequate information on the proposed ballot measures. Susan Stutz-McDonald, Consultant for the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, 450 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek, spoke about the Marsh Canyon site. Jim Voss, Technical Manager, Golder Associates, gave an overview of engineering studies conducted at the Marsh Canyon site. Harold Gershowitz, Senior Vice President, Waste Management, Inc. , noted that his firm is the largest company in the United States and abroad engaged in the management of all types of waste. He spoke of the programs operated by his company which include recycling activities and a ground water monitoring laboratory. John Rowden, Waste Management, Inc. , 1801 Oakland Boulevard, #250 , Walnut Creek, advised that he anticipates applying for a land use permit in September for development of the Marsh Canyon site into a landfill. Barbara Price, City of Antioch, P. O. Box 130, Antioch, advised of her support for the position of the City of Pittsburg and their position relative to the Tri-Agency concept. She commented on her desire to find alternative sites and requested that the East County sites not be submitted to the electorate this November. She expressed support for the Marsh Canyon site but expressed concern with the access road to the landfill. Linda A. Callon, attorney representing the City of Antioch, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the Contra Costa Water District, (Law firm of Berliner, Cohen, and Biagini) , alleged certain legal and factual defects in the East Contra Costa Landfill Initiative Petition and requested the Board to neither adopt the initiative petition nor allow it to be placed on the ballot. John Stremel, President, Stremel Enterprises, advised of his intention to apply for a land use permit in October for the Bay Pointe Landfill project. He requested the Board through his letter dated July 20, 1988, to request staff of the Community Development Department to review the General Plan for the proposed 700-acre Bay Pointe Landfill project. He further requested the Board to place the Bay Pointe Landfill on the November ballot. Henry L. Clarke, General manager, Contra Costa County Employees Association, Local I, urged the Board to approve a landfill site. If the Board is unable to do that, Mr. Clarke suggested that a moratorium be imposed on all development in the County. Tom Steward, Land Waste management, 560 Railroad Avenue, Suite 204, Hercules, expressed reservations with the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass site and the combining of the two sites into a super landfill facility. He advised that he did not believe a landfill plan should be decided through the initiative or advisory vote process. Rosemary Corbin, City of Richmond and West County, 114 Crest, Richmond, urged the Board to designate a landfill site today. She referred to the position taken by Alameda County that will not accept any garbage from Contra Costa County without a commitment for a landfill. 2 Johathan A. Cohen, Land Waste Management, 1646 N. California Boulevard, Suite 220, Walnut Creek Creek, expressed concern that there may have been irregularities in acquiring signatures for the initiative petitions and recommended postponing placement of the petition on the ballot. He spoke on the need to provide the public with correct information from which a decision can be made. Carol Heymeyer, East Contra Costa Sanitary Landfill, 4080 Concord, Concord, commented on public support for the petition and urged the Board to designate a site. Supervisor Fanden spoke on the feasibility of the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass site as a potential landfill facility. She proposed consideration of acquiring the Keller property which does not appear suitable for housing because of its proximity to the Naval Weapons Station. Supervisor Fanden estimated that the scope of the proposal would provide approximately 7,000 acres of open space and a landfill with a capacity to accept refuse for 100 years. She also proposed that truck traffic be restricted on Railroad Avenue and that until a better solution is obtained access to this landfill would be on Bailey Road. She noted that an environmental impact report had been prepared for the Bailey site but had not been presented to the Board since the developer had withdrawn his application. However, Supervisor Fanden called attention to the fact that there would probably have to be another Environmental Impact Report (EIR) completed if another parcel is included with the Bailey site. She commented on the need to use the Highway 4 entrance pending location of another entrance to this landfill. Supervisor Torlakson commented on the need to present the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass proposal to the cities of Pittsburg and Concord. He referred to the motion on the floor which provides for the two initiative petitions and the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass sites to be presented to the electorate in November. He advised that he could support only that part of the motion pertaining to the initiative petitions and not the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass site because of the need to have it subjected to a full CEQA review process. Supervisor Powers spoke of the need to select a landfill site and of the need for the Board to act in the spirit of harmony to approve the ordinances for the East Contra Costa Landfill Facility (Garaventa site) and the Marsh Canyon site. He advised of his conversation with officials of the Alameda County Solid Waste Authority who indicated that they do not want to get into a position to accept on a temporary basis refuse from Contra Costa County without Contra Costa County first designating a permanent landfill site. Noting that he did not have the three votes necessary to adopt the ordinances, he spoke of his support in placing the measures on the ballot. Supervisor Powers spoke of his willingness to consider other sites and referred to the Bay Pointe site as another possible site for consideration. Supervisor Powers expressed his belief that designation of a landfill site should be by decision of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor McPeak advised that she would support that portion of the motion that places the initiatives on the ballot. She requested that the motion be bifurcated to allow further discussion on other proposals that have been brought forward. Supervisor Torlakson noted that an advantage of the Marsh Creek landfill site is its potential to serve as a landfill for 70 years. He called attention to the fact that over a half million dollars in studies have been completed. He advised that the cities of Antioch and Pittsburg have indicated support for it while the cities of Brentwood and Clayton have not expressed any opposition to it. Supervisor McPeak offered a substitute motion to bifurcate and address the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass issue after voting on the main motion pertinent to the Garaventa and Marsh Canyon initiatives. 3 Supervisor Torlakson seconded the motion. The Board then discussed the substitute motion. Supervisor Powers expressed an interest in voting to approve the ordinances for the Garaventa and Marsh Canyon sites as a means of shortening the process and allowing negotiations to proceed particularly with Alameda County on use of its landfill facility. Supervisor Fanden advised that she had some concerns that this action might precipitate litigation. Supervisor Torlakson expressed an interest in developing a public private partnership approach to resolving the landfill issue and suggested that the County Administrator be requested to work with the private sector on this proposal. He advised that East County has enough capacity at the Antioch dump to accept some garbage when Acme closes. He recommended that the Board work with East County to solve the interim crises. Supervisor Powers referred to the number of signatures col- lected on the two initiative petitions. He expressed the belief that if the Board adopted the two ordinances for the General Plan Amendment designating the Garaventa and Marsh Canyon sites, the process would be advanced four months with negotiations proceeding with neighboring counties to accept Contra Costa County' s garbage pending development of these landfills. He then offered a substi- tute motion to adopt the ordinances of the two initiative petitions today. Supervisor Fanden in seconding the substitute motion advised that she is compromising her position by agreeing to put the Marsh Canyon site on the ballot. She pointed out that the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, the applicant for the Marsh Canyon site, had not gone through the process as had the developers for the Garaventa or Kirker Pass sites . who spent three years in preparation of EIR' s, acquiring the necessary documentation, and appearing at Planning Commission hearings . In response to Supervisor Powers suggestion to also consider the Bay Pointe landfill site, Supervisor Fanden offered a substi- tute motion to put on the November ballot the Garaventa initiative, the Marsh Creek initiative, and advisory measures on the Bay Pointe and Bailey Road-Kirker Pass landfill sites. This substitute motion was seconded by Supervisor Powers. Concerning the advisory ballot measure for the Bailey Road-Kirker Pass site, Supervisor McPeak requested the motion to be amended to preclude the option of traffic on Railroad Avenue to the combined Bailey Road-Keller-Kirker Pass site or approaching from the west over Kirker Pass and to eliminate Kirker Pass as a working face for the proposed combined site measure. Supervisors Powers and Fanden agreed to amend their motion as requested by Supervisor McPeak. The Board then agreed to split the motion and proceed to vote on the issues. The Chairman then called for the vote. The vote on that part of the motion to put Bay Pointe and Bailey Road-Kirker Pass as .amended on the November ballot as an advisory measure was as follows: AYES: Supervisors Powers, Fanden, McPeak NOES: Supervisor Torlakson ABSENT: Supervisor Schroder 4 The vote on that part of the motion to call an election and submit the Marsh Canyon and Garaventa initiatives to the vote of the County electorate on the November ballot was as follows: AYES: Supervisors Powers, Fanden, McPeak, Torlakson NOES: None ABSENT: Supervisor Schroder Supervisor Torlakson moved that direction be given to the County Administrator to explore with the Central Sanitary District and other agencies who have entered into joint exercise of powers agreements with Contra Costa County .the possibility of public involvement in expediting and/or being partners in landfills. Supervisor McPeak seconded the motion. In discussing the intent of this motion, the Board agreed to modify it to direct the County Administrator to pursue the concept of a public-private partnership to convene meetings as necessary with the private sector to consider any of these sites with the understanding that the public partnership would be limited to County participation at this time. The vote on the motion was as follows: AYES: Supervisors Powers, Fanden, McPeak, Torlakson NOES: None ABSENT: Supervisor Schroder The Board asked County Counsel to have the draft text for the advisory measures listed on the August 2, 1988, agenda for Board consideration. The Board also discussed the feasibility of in- cluding the aforementioned landfill sites into the solid waste plan. The Director of the Community Development Department was requested to review and report to the Board in the next few weeks on legal and planning issues related to the solid waste plan designation. hereby certify that this!,s n trim and c orr-;=^`1-ory of an action taken and entered on i?ic rnlnute4 61 thea Board of Supervisors on the dale Shown. ATTESTKED: PHIL B CHEL R, Cierl. of 4he Hoard of Supervisors and County Adr.Anisfrator cc: County Administrator 8y — Deputy County Counsel Director of Community Development 5