HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-11 Brenda Blitman
Meridian City Council
November 11, 2024
Re: Timber Creek Recycling
Opposition to Amending the Development Agreement
Dear Meridian City Council Members
Thank you for your thoughtful questions at the City Council meeting on September 17,
2024.
As I stated in my testimony previously, I was raised on a farm and support agriculture. I
have lived in my home located 1/3-mile South of the Timber Creek site for 23 years, 11
years before Timber Creek started recycling.
I urge the City Council members to follow the advice of the Planning Sta? and deny this
amended development agreement or modify it significantly for the following reasons:
1. Timber Creek Recycling’s representative confirmed that they were receiving and
th
“recycling” biosolids in the public hearing on September 17. The biosolids are
seemingly a byproduct of the Nampa Sewer Treatment Plant. See this clip from an
article from Waste Advantage:
Canyon County, ID Plans New More Central Waste Dropo? Site - Waste Advantage
Magazine
Many evenings there is a repulsive smell like human waste or rotting flesh, that makes it
uncomfortable to use my back yard. That smell is di?erent from the smell of rotting wood or
manure.
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To me, a non-attorney, this industrial waste composting is not within the scope of the
current development agreement and needs to cease immediately. I do not know how long
the waste needs to compost, at a minimum the receiving of the waste needs to stop
immediately (I had hoped that it would stop after the last City Council meeting). The City
Council might want to consider providing the applicant until the end of Q1 2025 to remove
the biosolids.
2. Based on the pictures that I submitted for the prior hearing, it is obvious that the
applicant is accepting non-agricultural products such as concrete, asphalt, brick,
porcelain, and rock.
To me, a non-attorney, receiving, crushing and grinding these non-agricultural products is a
typical mining-like activity that occurs at a gravel pit that has a conditional use permit and
not in a residential neighborhood. Calling the grinding of lava rocks recycling is a stretch in
my opinion. This activity seems to me to be beyond the intended development agreement
and a public hazard from the white dust that I notice from my house. Other medical
professionals have commented on the heath concerns relating to the silica from these
activities.
The piles of crushed white rocks seems to be growing, and the applicant’s website shows
that they are receiving these materials.
https://www.timbercreekrecycling.com/recycling
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I ask that the crushing activities cease immediately and that the piles of material be
removed by Q1 2025.
3- The applicant is processing Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) at the site. The WAS is
produced from a non-municipal wastewater treatment or disposal facility. This is likely the
source of the sour smell which is also o?ensive. It is unclear if this recycling activity is an
agricultural use. The City Council can seek legal advice about whether or not this activity is
an allowed activity under the existing development agreement. In the public hearings that I
attended relating to the 2019 agreement, the waste discussed was food waste and not
WAS which feels like an industrial waste to me.
I ask that the applicant stop receiving WAS by Dec 2024 so that the existing WAS can be
removed by the time that the houses will be built within 1000 feet of the recycling facility,
likely April 2025.
4- The recycling of wood products into compost that can be used as a soil amendment or
cattle bedding is less o?ensive to me as a neighbor. I can also see the greater good of
diverting waste from the landfill. I can support the applicant be given additional time to
wind down these activities, I would suggest 2 years. Because composting takes time, it
would be reasonable to me that the applicant agree to reduce the inflow of truck loads to
the site by 10% a quarter after the houses are built within 1000 feet of the recycling site. I
am assuming that this will occur in Q2 2025. Currently the agreement allows 56 truckloads
per day. The applicants Phased Transition Plan does not address any stepdown in volume
for the compost/recycling materials. In my opinion, any time extension that the City
Council provides is a gift to Timber Creek Recycling since the development agreement
clearly provides that the operations would cease. I ask that the City Council consider a step
down in the number of trucks with operations ceasing within 2 years. A step-down
schedule could look like this:
2025 Q2 – 50
2025 Q3 – 45
2025 Q4 – 40
2026 Q1 – 36
2026 Q2 – 32
2026 Q3 – 29
2027 Q1 – 26
2027 Q2 – 24
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I would expect to see the volume of the materials on site be smaller starting Q2 2025, in
anticipation of closing the operations.
The applicant is running a sophisticated recycling facility which seems like a high-volume
operation, I ask that the City Council not agree to removing the requirement at the
applicant keep track of the trucks entering the site. There should be a log of trucks entering
the site with date, time and materials to provide accountability for the applicant and the
City.
5-I suggest that the City Council ask that the applicant update their website and install 2
high visibility signs letting customers know about the date that operations will cease. It’s
important the customers know that the business will cease according to the terms of the
development agreement with the City of Meridian.
6- Provide a phone number or email so that neighbors can easily log complaints about the
odor and noncompliant operations at Timber Creek Recycling and provide a way that the
City of Meridian can investigate and resolve these complaints. The existing situation where
the City of Meridian lets Timber Creek Recycling engage in activities that are beyond the
agreement is not fair to competing businesses and the neighborhood.
In reading the package today, I learned that the applicant met with some of the neighbors
and presented their transition plan. I live 1/3 mile south of the site and have not been
invited to any meetings. This is really disappointing to me because I believe that I am being
reasonable in asking that Timber Creek Recycling follow their agreement and not engage in
activities that are outside the agreement and have an achievable plan for winding down the
operations. I would have been glad to provide my input to the applicant prior to the public
hearing. Because I was not invited, I feel like the applicant’s comment that they reached
out to neighbors was not accurate.
Thank you for considering my opinion.
Brenda Blitman
8460 S Locust Grove Rd
Meridian, ID 83642
208-846-8495
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