The meeting was called to order by Bill Squires at 7:01 pm on July 22, 2010 at the Varick Town Hall. Members present were Bill Squires, Tom Bjorkman, Bill Larselere, Phil Knapp, and Barry Somerville.
A motion was made by Phil Knapp, seconded by Bill Squires to approve the minutes of the May 27, 2010 meeting. The motion passed.
There was no Old Business. However, Bill S. mentioned that he had not heard back from the Sherlock family about a Bed and Breakfast in the town of Varick.
New business:
It was determined that the board should delay work on zoning compliance permits to devise a definition of a “dump” as recorded in the 1969 Dumping Ordinance of the Town of Varick. The need for such definition was brought to ahead in the recent proposal by Scepter Co. to place a monofill in the town.
Some issues to consider were proposed by Bill S. Should a definition include earth covered and open dump sites? Do we need to consider size, what goes into a dump, residential property, etc.?
It was mentioned that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has regulations concerning landfills that could be considered in our definition.
Tom B. read a portion of the DEC definition for landfills. Briefly, a landfill is land where waste is intentionally placed. There was a discussion as to what solid waste includes. Solid waste is defined in DEC code part 360-1.2, definitions.
The question of whether or not to include residential dumping was raised. Since there is a property maintenance code in Section 309.2B in the current Zoning Code for Varick it was determined that residential dumping does not need to be in our definition.
It was then agreed that we should use the DEC definition as a starting point. It was decided that any decision the board makes will be conveyed to the members not present so they can give their assessment of the definition we arrive at.
The following DEC condensed definition was our starting point – a landfill is land where solid waste is intentionally placed. Solid waste will be defined as found in the DEC code mentioned above.
Discussion followed as to whether liquid waste should be included. A question was raised about hydro-fracking, but this was determined to be a separate issue. It was considered to be a mining procedure that may or may not be within a town’s jurisdiction.
There was brief discussion about monofills or the dumping of monolithic material. It seemed that a broader definition would include these more specific items. Some qualifying statements from the DEC code were read and briefly discussed such as, “a disposal facility or part of one,” and “residue after treatment.” An example of the latter is salt cakes produced by Scepter Co. It was decided that we should include “residue after treatment” in our definition.
The DEC also included exclusions in its code such as land application facilities, surface impoundment, injection wells, and waste piles. The issue of incinerators was also raised but deferred to the Town Board for future decisions. It was decided that we should include land application facilities and surface impoundment as exclusions to a landfill. This brought us to the following definition:
A landfill, also known as a dump, means land where solid waste or its residue after treatment is intentionally placed, and which is not a land application facility or surface impoundment. Solid waste is defined by DEC code part 360-1.2, definitions.
It was determined that this definition will be included in the town of Varick Zoning Code, Article III, Section 308, under the Commercial heading between Laboratory/R & D Facility and Light Manufacturing. It will also be included in Article I, Section 107, as both dump and landfill. This is subject to approval by the Town Board.
Tom Bjorkman moved that the board forward this language to the Town Board for their input and comments pending input from the absent members of the Planning Board.
Bill Squires seconded the motion which was unanimously passed.
Motion for adjournment was made by Bill Squires, seconded by Tom B. Meeting was adjourned at 8:22 pm.
The next meeting will be held in August as determined by the chairman.
Respectfully submitted,
Barry Somerville, Secretary