By By RANDI K. PICKLEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - On Monday, March 21 at 7:00 pm, the Milton Township Board will meet to discuss a biodegradable landfill which would be located at 3178 Follmer Road in Niles.
A large number of residents packed the township hall during a meeting of the planning commision this past Monday to voice their opinions. After hearing all sides of the issue, the commision voted 6-0 to deny the request. Their recommendation will be presented at the board meeting on this coming Monday.
According to Carrie Jenkins, a resident of Niles who lives near the landfill, Chris Rose, president of Jebus, Inc. of South Bend, Ind. had requested approval of a variance allowing the Follmer location to become a biodegradable landfill. Rose plans to purchase the property if the variance is approved.
The present owner of the property, Chris Merrill, had been using the property which is the former site of a gravel pit, to dump tree trunks and leaves on the property, which would be considered dumping without a permit.
Jenkins also said it was reported that someone may be living on the property, which is not zoned for residential use.
Until Rose presented his request for variance, no one in the area had been aware that the site was already in use for dumping.
Local residents aired their concerns that contamination of the water could occur, that trucks dumping the wastes would cause noise, pollution, and traffic problems for people in the neighborhood, and that approval could pave the way for future additions to the nature of wastes being dumped.
Dean Brazo, former supervisor of the township, expressed his concern about the dump site. "I don't like it," he said, referring to the current dumping. "I think the planning commission is doing the right thing. Merrill has no permits, state or otherwise."
Brazo suggests that the current site be cleaned up and said that during the time he was supervisor from 1996 to 2004, "I never heard a word" about the use to which the property had been put.
The final decision will be made Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the township hall, 2576 E. Bertrand Road, Niles.