The Van Buren County Commission has denied a request from the state to do a pit strip reclamation project around the old landfill.
Land used for strip mining is repurposed for things like wildlife habitat and agriculture. Van Buren County Mayor David Sullivan said the county is two years away from finally finishing a 30-year process of monitoring the old landfill. The landfill shut down in 1996. Sullivan said the county still has to continue water well testing around the old landfill and believes a reclamation project could interfere.
“They are gonna cut that down where all of our wells are at it could cause problems there, you know what I’m saying,” Sullivan said. “There’s a possibility, not saying it will, but it’s a possibility, so I told the state that unless they would sign something in blood, you know, that they would be responsible for it if the ground was cut down, I said we don’t need to do it now.”
Commissioner Tabitha Denney said she felt like the county should deny the request and revisit the idea a couple of years down the road. She said she did not want to risk having to sign another 30-year monitor extension.
Sullivan said the reclamation project is too risky for the county at this time.
“They are not gonna assume responsibility,” Sullivan said. “I want them to sign us a paper that they would. If they had, it would have been fine, but since it was gonna fall back on us, we are too close to put it in danger.”
Sullivan said he also questioned the locations the state was proposing to work on around the landfill.
“The road where you go in, I don’t know how many are familiar with where you go in, they are gonna cut it down there too,” Sullivan said. “I said, well, are you gonna make a new road to go in? You know, I was assuming that they were gonna leave all of that there, but it’s gonna be cut down to.”
In other business, the commission approved to solicit bids for mowing services. The bids will be to mow county properties. The commission approved to continue a seven percent TCRS rate for the 2025-2026 fiscal year budget.
The commission approved to move an estimated $88,500 in funds for the skylights at the county jail. The commission approved moving $2,800 to purchase two portable radios for the EMS Department.
The commission approved to add elected officials to the county’s workers comp policy. The county will pay an estimated $93,300 with elected officials added to the policy compared to last year’s $87,440.
