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Residents urge county action on solid-waste franchise and assess mineral potential on county properties
Summary
Speakers at the Josephine County meeting urged the board to amend solid-waste franchise rules to allow licensed junk-removal services to operate locally and proposed the county examine mineral values on public lands before selling timber properties.
Several residents used public comment to press the board on county revenue and asset management, raising two distinct proposals: (1) an amendment to the county solid-waste franchise to regulate and license junk-removal businesses and (2) a call to assess mineral resources on county-owned and federal property before selling timberland.
Connor Kirkpatrick, who said he is a licensed contractor, told commissioners he had drafted an amendment to the solid-waste franchise agreement that would require junk-removal operators to pay a fee and to perform community service: specifically, he proposed that any company wanting to operate a junk-removal service must clean 10 cubic yards of trash from public land every month. Kirkpatrick said the change would keep more revenue in Josephine County by discouraging hauling to neighboring counties and would increase cleanup of public lands. He said he had shared his draft amendment with Commissioner Barnett and asked how to advance it through county processes.
Jay Meredith, representing American Mineral Research, told the board the county has properties with potential mineral value and urged the board not to sell or convey timber properties without at least a high-level mineral assessment. Meredith said the county’s mining advisory committee had recommended that mineral assessments be done before sales and that the draft county ordinance produced earlier by the county government was inadequate. He urged that the board consider a mining ordinance drafted with input from the advisory committee.
Other commenters suggested using solid-waste funds that the speaker said total $155,000 to support enforcement or sheriff needs. Commissioners acknowledged the comments: Commissioner Black said a meeting about solid-waste topics was scheduled later that day and offered to review any amendment materials submitted by Mr. Kirkpatrick; no vote was taken at the session.
The board did not adopt any ordinance or change the solid-waste franchise at the meeting. Staff and commissioners indicated they would review submitted proposals and consider advisory committee recommendations in future workshops or formal agenda items.
