Commissioners discuss flow control for draft solid waste management plan

MEDINA — Brunswick continues to seek a waiver from the flow control requirement in Medina County's solid waste management plan, which requires city waste to go to the county's processing facility in Seville. The county's draft solid waste management plan was discussed at the commissioner's meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Steve Hambley said the technical advisory committee evaluated and looked at the options in the draft plan, and Brunswick disapproved the plan. "(The draft plan) provides for an option for a waiver for the city of Brunswick that would be reviewed annually, and to allow Brunswick, with a waiver fee, to be able to have their waste go to a different facility than our transfer facility," he said. "That has some economic consequences, that's why there's a waiver fee." The technical advisory committee identified downsides to letting Brunswick opt out of flow control, Hambley said. "You're setting a precedent, loss of income, which we've offset with the waiver fee," he said. "We think, for some of the members, it showed favoritism because there's other communities that are also served that would want this waiver fee." Brunswick has stated that it will veto the plan unless they are guaranteed the waiver from flow control for the duration of the plan, which is five years, Hambley said. "Unfortunately, I cannot agree with Brunswick's position on this," he said. "It puts us in a very bad position because they've essentially said they will not vote unless we give basically a required waiver to them." If an agreement cannot be reached at the local level, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency would hire a consultant and develop a plan, Hambley said. He believes the EPA probably would be for flow control because the county has debt on its waste processing facility, and guaranteed revenue is needed to pay off the debt. "I would argue that the tendency would be to maintain the status quo because our plan meets and exceeds, actually, the state requirements," he said. "There's no reason to basically change the status quo other than what Brunswick was demanding." The commissioners had the option to submit the draft plan as is to the EPA and see if Brunswick vetoes it, or redraft the plan and eliminate the waiver entirely. Commissioner Colleen Swedyk said she is comfortable submitting the current draft plan. "I also respect Brunswick's right to make a decision for their own community, but I really feel when I look at the debt and the improvements that we have put into the whole plan, to the whole facility, that the county commissioners have the responsibility to make sure we're protecting the revenue streams for the debt," she said. Commissioner Aaron Harrison said he believes having a path for a waiver from flow control is a better version of the agreement than a version of the plan that does not have that option for future flexibility. "I also think our hands are a little bit tied by decisions that have been made in the past because this debt is out there," he said. "We don't really have a light at the end of the tunnel for flow control right now, but we're working through that. Go back to when some of those decisions were made, maybe this group would have done things a little bit differently, but this is what we're dealing with right now." The next step is for the policy committee to meet and take commentary into consideration, Hambley said. The plan is scheduled to be released for public comment later this year, and there would be a ratification process after. "At this point, we'll stay with the version that the policy committee (approved), submit it to the EPA, complying with their comments for some of the refinement of the data and information," he said. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.