By Patrick Baron
BLOOMINGTON – The McLean County Board voted 10-8 to approve a 20 year waste management plan, provided by the Ecology Action Center, reversing a county committee recommendation.
Some board members were concerned the plan, without a proposed amendment by the McLean County Land Use Committee that retooled some of the plan’s language, would essentially act as an ordinance. Board members like Josh Barnett and Erik Rankin believed due to the level of public input, the number of local institutions and organizations involved in the consultation process, and the time put into drafting the plan, it was good enough to pass as it stood.
“This plan was arrived at after, approximately, 1500 hours worth of work and research,” Rankin explained. “Consensus building – all the meetings with staff and other stakeholders, over 100 stakeholders.”
Advocates of the plan said the plan will save the county money in the long run, as any waste collected by the county won’t have to be hauled to Livingston County. Those in opposition of the plan said the it would force residents to recycle with an ordinance, which was taken out of the plan by the proposed amendment. The amendment was eventually shut down by a 10-8 majority vote.
Board President John McIntyre says even though the plan says a recycling ordinance could be implemented, there’s no guarantee that will happen.
“Every municipality and incorporated area has a different situation, so I’m sure the possibility of an ordinance is there,” said McIntyre. “That’s what the plan actually suggested, that possibility. But it doesn’t mean that would happen, necessarily.”
McIntyre said the plan is reviewed every few years, which allows the plan to adapt to the needs of the county.
The board also passed a proclamation declaring April 2018 as a month to recognize those who served in World War I and approved a memorandum of understanding with the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council.
Patrick Baron can be reached at patrick.baron@cumulus.com.
