A Grand Forks City Council committee is recommending the city focus its efforts to build a new landfill in four locations southwest of town.
But, in an effort to be fair to the south and north ends, the committee also asked city staff to look at two sections northwest of town, even though all of that area is within five miles of the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration frowns on bird-attracting landfills being so close to low-flying aircraft.
The recommendation came out of the Public Safety and Service Committee, which met Tuesday afternoon.
The four southwest sections are Section 36 in Brenna Township and Sections 6, 7 and 18 in Walle Township, just west of Interstate 29. The two northwest sections are Section 18 in Falconer Township and Section 12 in Rye Township.
All are within the city's zoning jurisdiction - meaning the city gets to decide if a landfill is allowed to be there - even though they are outside of city limits.
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Public works director Todd Feland said the plan is to pick four sections and begin the landfill permit process in August.
This would be done even though a group of developers are seeking to build a landfill in the western half of Section 34 in Strabane Township. They've offered to work with the city and, almost as important, have not faced significant opposition from neighboring landowners.
Council members, however, worry about how much the developers would demand for the use of their landfill, Feland said, so the city still will need to pursue its own landfill in case neither side can agree on a deal.
