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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBryan LandfillLandfill project worries Bryan Wendy Rodriguez unloads tree trimmings at the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency landfill Friday. The Rock Prairie site is near capacity, and a new landfill on Texas 30 is expected to open In 2010. Eagle photo Stuart Villanueva Some officials say plans for new site are not procee ldbL C;11 "u employees operate the agency. By APRIL AVISON 2010, officials said this week. l The Twin Oaks Landfill is Operating costs are primarily cov- by revenues from user fees, Eagle Staff Writer planned for a 610 -acre site about 12 Toe Brazos Valley Solid Waste eyed Caler said. Construction is set to begin this miles east of College Station on Texas 30 in Grimes County. More Management Agency was created in 1990 by the cities of Bryan and Getting full summer on a regional landfill, and say they're con- than half the property is deed ll Station College Station. College The Rock Prairie Road landfill Bryan officials that the project is proceed- restricted because of endangered employees operate a landfill on has been open since 1980 and cerned ing too slowly. wildflowers, so the footprint of the Roc k Prairie Road that accepts serves 19 counties. The facility The reason it's taking so long, landfill will be about 200 acres, more than double the size of the about 1,000 tons of solid waste day. A new landfill on Texas 30 accepts about 1,000 tons of solid day. according to College Station administrators who are spearhead- current regional facility on Rock per in Grimes County is scheduled to waste each It's going to reach capacity ing the plans, is that it requires Prairie Road. The Brazos Solid Waste open in January 2010. around August 2010, city officials complex land condemnation con- tracts and that there is no clear .Valley Management Agency, owned joint College Station officials have estimated. amount title for about 30 percent of the ly by Bryan and College Station, than $15 million on acquiring property e landfill was pe ent than the "It's a property in question. The however, is on has spent more land acquisition, permitt ing and in December. Both cities contribute financially year before, Caler said. project, and the new landfill will legal work for the new site, said to BVSWMA, but College Station See LANDFILL, Page A6 schedule, be open for business in January Pete Caler, the agency's director. 4-h ro rty with clear title Landfill From Al combination of population growth and the fact that other landfills on the edge of our base area have increased their rates, so it becomes more economical to haul to us." Almost 70 percent of the waste comes from Bryan, Col- lege Station and Texas A &M University, Caler said. If th Rock Prairie site were to reach capacity before the Texas 30 landfill opened, an expensive and tedious process could ensue in which BVSWMA would have to get clearance from the Texas Com- mission on Environmental Quality to add another layer of waste. "To go beyond capacity, we have to ask TCEQ for permit modification or amendment,' Caler said. "An amendment could take a couple of years but we don't foresee having tc do either of those. We are or schedule." Bryan Mayor Mark COnlee who sits on the BVSWMI board of directors, said he an other city officials hav become nervous about the pac at which the project is moviM "We just don't want the cu rent landfill to get filled U before the other one is open he said. "There are potential costs we could be dealing with. We're trying to protect the tax- payer dollars." The mayor acknowledged that the process is frustrating because College Station offi- cials are leading the project and Bryan officials often feel that they're in the dark about the details. „ xaro ne , " i to have a meeting A bulldozer moves trash Friday at the BVSWMA landfill. The site Is nearly full and Is expected to close in 2010. pretty quick and go over some of these things," he said. "It seems to be taking a little longer than we thought it would. I don't think there's a squabble between the cities. We just need more informa- tion. We have some questions, and we want some mor e details." e p par eeded for the landfill on Texas There were tracts, however, hose ownership couldn't be etermined. The history of one iece of property was unclear fter 1910. Of about 25 tracts in the iroperty, 10 did not have clear itles, Caler said. "When you can't get a clear itle, you have to file a petition n Grimes County and they lave to set up a condemnation - ourt," he said. "The petition basically states the public need, and they appoint a court that hears testimony on the petitions." The petitions were filed in January, and officials will be able to proceed within about 60 days from when the condemna- tion court is appointed, Caler said. The court date is up to the Grimes County judge, but Caler said he expects that to happen "any day now." BVSWMA is scheduled to solicit bids in May for a con- tractor to build the landfill, which will serve the region for more than 40 years, officials have estimated. Once the new landfill opens, the Rock Prairie property could be developed as park land. Mayor Coulee said Friday that he was glad the plans are proceeding but that the two cities ought to communicate a little better. "We're going to have anoth- er BVSWMA meeting very soon to get some of these details hammered out," he said. "It's just one of those things where one group's run Planning ahead ning it and the other group is Caler, who also serves as trying to get more details." College Station's assistant pub lic works director, said E April Avison's e-mail address is BVSWMA has purchased all april.avison@theeagle.com.