Today’s Gazette reports:
Signaling an end to further action on landfill expansion, the City Council on Thursday advised the Board of Public Works to begin figuring out what the city will do with its trash when the dump closes in two years…
In the end, one amendment was approved. Instead of advising the BPW to “suspend” action on the landfill, the council agreed to substitute the word “terminate.”
[Ward 4 City Councilor Pamela] Schwartz said the resolution is about moving forward with a process that is stuck and had nothing to do with some “master strategy to get approval of a special permit.”
“This is intended not to bypass rules but to move forward,” she said, later adding that “there’s no subplot. No back-room drama.”
…Seven councilors voted for the resolution on first reading, while Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge abstained. Ward 5 City Councilor David A. Murphy was absent.
Read the complete article
See also:
On 3/4 City Council Agenda: “A Resolution of the City Council on the Direction of Solid Waste Management Policy in Northampton”
Bessette: Ban Landfills from Water Supply Protection Districts; Video and Transcript (2/25/10)
Northampton Media: “BPW Votes to Hold Off on Landfill Expansion Application” (1/27/10)