A first reading of ordinance changes regarding waste management districts in Bryan County was held Tuesday before a standing room-only crowd at the Dixie Harn Community Center in Pembroke at the Bryan County Commissioners’ regular meeting.
Though no decisions were made Tuesday by commissioners, they entertained a presentation from Burke Wall, president of the Pooler-based Atlantic Waste Services that is seeking the ordinance amendments.
The solid waste management company has proposed a 268-acre landfill in the Black Creek community of North Bryan County and is seeking changes to the ordinance the company says prohibits a landfill from being built in the county.
Commission Chairman Jimmy Burnsed told the audience that the opposition, a group of citizens represented by Don Stack and Mike Vaquer, would have the opportunity to speak at the board’s meeting Dec. 13 at the County Administrative Complex in South Bryan, when the second reading of the amendments and a public hearing is expected.
“We’re giving equal time to both sides throughout this process,” Burnsed said. “It’s a process that may seem lengthy to you, but it is a process that, as our attorney will tell you, is a due process – and that’s what we have to do.”
There was no new information given during Atlantic Waste’s presentation, but Wall said they were presenting in an effort to be open.
“We don’t’ have anything at all that we are trying to hide,” he said. “We’re trying to be very open with all the people, and we’d like to clear up as many issues as we possibly can.”
The ordinance changes would allow a landfill to be built on a county road, something that is currently prohibited in the current ordinance, and lessen the required setbacks between a landfill and a water source from 1,000 feet to 500 feet. At its meeting earlier this month, the County Planning and Zoning Commission denied a recommendation that the changes be approved
Read more in the Nov. 19 edition of the News.