Council To Decide On Composting Plant
The company that manages the north Spokane regional composting plant says it is up to the challenge of keeping the facility odor-free.
“We’ve made tremendous strides, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it,” Mark Jones, O.M. Scott’s manager, recently told Spokane City Council members. “What’s past is past. What’s coming is a whole other thing.”
The council will decide tonight whether to give O.M. Scott another chance to run the composting site without being a nuisance to its neighbors.
No public testimony will be taken.
Last week, council members voted down a plan to have taxpayers pay the bill for a $25,000 odorcontrol study.
Several council members said O.M. Scott should pay for its own study. “If I had a business worth $2 million, don’t you think I’d spend $25,000 to keep it?” asked Councilman Orville Barnes.
Hundreds of complaints from nearby residents had forced the council to close the plant temporarily last fall.
Despite O.M. Scott’s assurances, neighbors remain skeptical that the smells are under control.
One woman told the council last week that springlike temperatures already have sent noxious smells drifting her way.
Neil Membrey, who lives near the plant with his wife and two children, urged the council to shut the operation down. “I don’t think it can ever be run properly.”
Council members have discussed setting a date by which the plant must prove it has remained odorfree. If it hasn’t, the council may vote again to close it.
Also tonight, the council may delay deciding the fate of a review board that looks into complaints of police misconduct.
Police unions still are reviewing the proposal.
The council held a public hearing last week on plans to replace the Citizens Review Panel with a Citizens Review Commission, a smaller board that would have greater access to police records.
Council members also met Sunday afternoon at councilwoman Bev Numbers’ home to discuss priorities set at the council’s recent retreat.
Today’s council briefing will start at 4:30 p.m. in the fifth-floor conference room of City Hall, W808 Spokane Falls Blvd. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in council chambers.
xxxx MEETING City Council will meet at 6 p.m. today in City Hall.