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Commissioners reject effort to move Waterford waste-transfer proposal off consent agenda amid resident concern
Summary
A bid to pull the proposal for a solid-waste processing and transfer facility at 5351 Williams Lake Road in Waterford from the consent agenda failed after two roll-call attempts. Residents and Commissioner Nelson raised wellhead-protection and community-health concerns; material-management chair defended the project as properly zoned and needed to減
Commissioners on the Oakland County Board voted down attempts to remove from the consent agenda a proposal for a solid-waste processing and transfer facility at 5351 Williams Lake Road in Waterford.
Commissioner David Nelson sought to move the item so the board could postpone and further evaluate the project's environmental and public-health risks, saying the site "would sit directly atop a 10-year wellhead protection zone" and that the county still has a duty to evaluate environmental impacts despite a consent judgment referenced in local proceedings. "Given these wellhead protection concerns," Nelson said, "it's very disappointing that the majority of this board did not support the postponement." The clerk's roll call on Nelson's motion to move just item 10C resulted in 5 yays and 13 nays, and the motion failed.
Robin McGregor, a Waterford resident who said she has lived in the area more than 60 years, told commissioners she and neighbors oppose the project because they fear contamination of private wells and damage to local habitat. "My wellhead, my 10-year protected wellhead can get infected," McGregor said, adding that the township did not approve the facility and that the community had repeatedly objected.
Commissioner Mark Hoffman, chair of the material management committee, defended the project and the committee's prior approval. Hoffman said the property is properly zoned, nearby industrial uses already exist and the facility is consistent with state and county goals to divert materials from landfills and increase recycling. He also said the township had settled litigation over the project and the township paid "120 some thousand dollars" in attorney fees as part of that settlement.
The board first considered a motion to move multiple consent items (10C, 11A and 11F) to the regular agenda; that motion also failed on roll call (8 yeas, 10 nays). The consent agenda ultimately passed as presented.
With the item left on the consent calendar, the board did not take further substantive action at the meeting on the Williams Lake Road proposal. Commissioners and members of the public urged continued oversight and recommended the relevant committee consider convening additional review, but no formal postponement or referral was adopted during the session.
