The City of Waco announced Monday evening they would be considering other sites for a new landfill after received backlash from the community.
Bradford Holland, lives near the Highway 84 landfill. Holland heads the Citizens Against Highway 84 Landfill. He opposes the plan in the area saying it's not viable long term because of how the area is expanding.
"The current site is not a 40 year site - it's on the avenue of growth. It's the busiest intersection that's not on I-35," Holland said.
Many believe that placing the landfill in the area will deter that growth. Councilman Jim Holmes, agreed not only that landfill shouldn't be in their neighborhood, but would be weary of placing it in any residential area.
"I would say this isn't a NIMBY, Not -In-My-Backyard, this isn't a NIMBY type argument .I don't want this to be in anybody's backyard. It doesn't have to be in anybody's backyard," Holmes said.
Councilman Holmes said when the plan was drafted, McGregor looked different.
"There was farm land ranch land and two small residential developments it made sense to put it there," Holmes said.
In 2017 with more families and a larger community, there are several issues Holmes wants fully explored before a decision is made.
In a work session Monday afternoon, the City Attorney and Head of the Sanitation Department outlined their landfill proposal. They agreed to look at other potential sites but did warn the process needed to start as soon as possible. According to the City the current landfill is expected to reach capacity in 6-8 years, the permit process for a new landfill will take 4-6 years.
Councilman Holmes hopes moving forward the process will include more public participation.
"It seems like the process thus far has not been transparent. It has been tracked to this one site and without taking the extra time without looking at other sites," Holmes said.
Councilman Holmes said it would be "disastrous" to skip over the public process as demonstrated in the city's attempt this time.
Holland said tonight showed some progress.
"I am impressed that they are going to look at other sites I wish they would have done that in the first place," he said.
City Council asked moving forward that the plan come with specific timetables and deadlines for the project.
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