Council's enthusiasm for landfill issue unclear
It's still not clear how much appetite Greensboro City Council has to open up what could be a contentious debate about possibly reopening the White Street Landfill to garbage.
Councilman Mike Barber has raised the idea of reopening the facility, noting the expense of the current system of hauling the trash more than 70 miles away. Councilwoman Trudy Wade said she'd at least be interested in seeing the numbers, though, and on Friday, Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw said she would be as well.
"I would be willing to look at ... the numbers. That's all I'm willing to commit to at this point," Rakestraw said. "I think we at least owe it to the taxpayers to look at this issue."
Councilman Zack Matheny said Friday that he's always willing to look at any numbers dealing with the city's finances, but said he is not inclined to reverse the previous decision to stop sending garbage to the landfill.
"We don't need to divide our city any more than it's already divided," he said.
Mayor Yvonne Johnson and council members Robbie Perkins and Goldie Wells had previously said they are not interested in revisiting the decision.
Council members T. Dianne Bellamy-Small and Sandra Anderson Groat could not be reached for comment Friday.
Comments (5)
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As a 50+ year resident of east Greensboro who lives less than a mile from the landfill I have no concerns with reopening it.
The smell that everyone complained about was the City's sewage treatment plant and discharges from Cone Mills.
Speaking of water issues: http://damscam.blogspot.com/
Posted on March 21, 2008 7:06 PM
Will the N&R run any stories about Mr Barons claims? He acusses the COG of outright lying about our water shortages. After reading all of his blogs, it sure looks suspicious. Most of us don't know what to believe about this.
Posted on March 22, 2008 8:13 AM
At a minimum the City Council should review its own engineering reports and economic data about the landfill. If Greensboro spends several times more than is necessary to transfer household trash to another county, when years of capacity and disposal technology remain at White Street, it is irresponsible management.
The newspaper photo of the site was dated: it included the sewage treatment plant which is no longer in use. In addition, technology is available to control or eliminate smell emissions. Mike Barber is correct: the city should re-open the White Street landfill.
Posted on March 25, 2008 12:18 AM
The landfill has been where it is for 60 years or
more and we have wisely purchased additional
land to provide for the City's growth and keep our
landfill viable. When the landill was created, there
was NO houses anywhere near the landfill but as
people realized that they could buy land nearby
cheaper ( because of the proximity to the landfill )
they built and bought homes in that area. Now
those same people who CHOSE to live near the
landfill have decided that it is some type of
devious plan that we want to keep using our own
landfill that was here years before the residents
moved into the area. Minority leaders and
elected reps representing this area have been
screaming that the existence of the landfill on the
east side of town is some geographic and
economic racist PLOT to put unwanted City
infrastructure on the east side. HOGWASH !
The landfill was there LONG BEFORE the
residents and we have closed a perfectly good,
well-managed landfill that will ECOMONICALLY
handle our needs for years to come.
Only political pandering by the City Council
closed the landfill in the first place .
What is next : close the airport because residents
decide that they don't like the sound of
airplanes ?????
Can you believe our City government ?
Posted on March 28, 2008 11:07 AM
My husband and I bought a new home in O'Henry Oaks in 1959 and during the summer months the smell from Cone Mills was so bad it took your breath away. When the residents complained to the city, we were told in no uncertain terms that Cone Mills was here first and you came later so deal with it! There were no discussions of closing Cone Mills and certainly no discussions of buying our homes so we could change our minds about living close to smells from Cone Mills. Incidently, we were not given breaks on purchasing our homes at a reduced price because of the location near Cone Mills and the smells.
Most of the homeowners were white and no one ever claimed environmental racism against white people and we just dealt with it the only way we knew how, deal with the smells.
What would be the difference in our situation and the homeowners living near the landfill? The city council made a costly mistake in closing the landfill and now it is time to correct that mistake and save the taxpayers some money. You will always have homeowners complaining about situations near their homes such as The Cardinal/airport and the loop around Greensboro/homeowners living close to the loop.
When the City of Greensboro offered to buy the homes or supplement the sales price owners living near landfill received, that was more than a fair deal and one that most of us never received. We also didn't have newspaper reporters writing articles favorable to our situation.
Posted on March 31, 2008 3:24 PM