Landfill expansion vote days away

The hearing officer started by discussing the different role the board members are playing in this process as oppose to their normal duties, and how they must now proceed.

He then outlined why he felt the applicant filing for the expansion, Rock River Environmental Services, gave sufficient evidence to overcome all of the public's comments and concerns.

He then fielded questions from board members that mainly focused on the procedure and on how they should interpret his report.

A process that both landfill operators and board members feel has been transparent.

"Very pleased that they went through this process," said Rock River Environment Services president & CEO John Lichty.  "I'm glad that the county brought in a hearing officer to explain the proceedings to them, explain his findings.  I think it's better than them just having to read through the testimony and then read through his findings, it gives credence to it."

"The hearing officer did a great job just now," said 14th District Winnebago County board member John F. Sweeney.  "Kind of laying out the guidelines of how were suppose to base our vote on a topic that's been relatively emotional for people that live in the area."

In addition to his report, the hearing officer says he recommends that landfill operators be required to take advantage of advances in technology to enhance their environmental impact.

Outside of the parties named in the hearing, there were only four members of the public that attended Monday night's meeting.  All declined to comment on camera.  The county board members will meet on Thursday to vote on the expansion.