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$9,500,000 was the settlement in the Hickory Hills lawsuit Bill. The Hickory Hills Landfill project was not a boondoggle....the county would have been better served if the WASTE board had not breached the contract. The county would have had a disposal facility that provided guaranteed capacity, pricing and taxes & fees for its residential waste disposal instead of shipping it down to Newton County as it does now.
".....what will the waste board do next? It is charged with putting into place a countywide waste disposal system that will prove efficient and save local communities money."
Bill, quit shilling for Langbehn and his bureaucratic hacks Duggan, White & Romano. The WASTE board & district is not charged with putting a countywide waste disposal system in place. Never was, never will be unless they change Indiana state law based on 1991 House Bill 1240. My goodness Bill just read the Waste districts Facebook page....
"LCSWMD was established on February 5, 1991 when the Indiana State Legislature enacted House Bill 1240 requiring counties to form solid waste management districts.
Mission
Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle!
Description
The Lake County Solid Waste Management District was established on February 5, 1991 when the Indiana State Legislature enacted House Bill 1240 requiring counties to form solid waste management districts. Lake County as a single-county district has developed a comprehensive plan of education, recycling assistance and technical assistance for both industry and the public to reduce waste.
The District developed a comprehensive solid waste management plan that will protect the environment and fulfill the statewide waste reduction goals. To accomplish these objectives, the district has identified and designed programs to educate and promote the importance of the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Such programs are Environmental Education for Schools, the Enviromobile, Household Hazardous Waste Program and Drop-Off Recycling Centers and Appliance and Tire Program. In addition to education and recycling programs, the District provides each municipality in Lake County with recycling grants"
It doesn't say a darn thing about putting a countywide waste disposal system in place, now does it Bill.
Board members do the right thing and shut down this WASTE district....Save Lake County.
Shut down the Lake County solid WASTE district now!
Good luck Porter County
“effectively and efficiently manage solid waste to meet the municipalities’ and the county’s needs in an environmentally sound manner and at a reasonable cost ... and to find a better solution for the disposal of solid waste … and to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills.”
The district does not manage solid waste...they have no control over the management of the waste generated by the citizens, businesses and industries of the county. Why does the Times keep shoveling the lies that the district continues to push with their press releases.
The district basically does 6 things. 1-they have one contract with Waste Management to run empty the recycling dumpsters at the drop off centers. 2-They have a contract with Pauls Auto to empty the roll-off boxes for whitegoods. 3-They pay the Great Lakes Household Hazardous Waste district $100,000/year to have the HHW district conduct <20 collections in Lake county during the year. 4-They conduct environmental education programs. 5-They write checks which they call recycling grants to each city and town twice a year.(in other words they collect tax dollars and distribute the money back to the towns and cities). 6-they pay over $500,000/year for the salaries of the four head knuckleheads: Langbehn, Duggan, Romano & White. And another$400,000/year in salaries for the other 6 staff members.
Dear board members please reduce the size of the district staff or eliminate the district all together. Stop the insanity…Save Lake County….Close the district down now!
If you want real oversight stop your citizen’s advisory committee from recommending 10 % pay raises and second pensions for your buddy's Langbehn, Duggan, White & Romano.
You want real transparency demand that the WASTE board post on line the monthly board packages that are now only given out as hard copies during meetings. Think of all the trees you would save not to mention all the information that would be readily available. The taxpayers would love to see those credit card statements with all those meals and gas charges.
Mr. Ross your editorial should have requested the downsizing or elimination of the WASTE district!
Oh and that concern about Hickory Hills being the largest landfill in the US at 6,000 tons/day...."Forget about it". Mr. Chase in his article failed to mention that the Newton County landfill is not only the region's largest landfill it's the largest landfill in the US with a permitted capacity in excess of 12,000 tons/day…having reached those levels for several years. Just check the IDEM annual waste reports...these same reports will shed a different light on the % of ILL waste being dumped in Newton County.
Oh and Mr. Chase one last point. Do you think the readers might find it interesting that the same Mayor James Metros who killed the Hickory Hills project in Lake County is the same James Metros who started working for the Newton County Landfill(Allied Waste Services & Republic Waste Services) after he decided he didn't want to be mayor of Crown Point any more.
And Diligence you wonder why Hickory Hills wasn't built in Lake County.
Here's an idea for the 27 board members. After you cancel the ethanol contract, save the taxpayers $500,000/year by reducing the staff of 10. Remove Langbehn, Duggan, Romano & White. Keep the remaining 6:
1-Household Hazardous Waste Coordinator
2-Secretary
3-Environmental Education Specialist/Enviromobile - Enviroroom
4-Environmental Education Specialist/Enviromobile Douglas Environmental Education Center
5-Environmental Education Specialist/Enviromobile - Hammond Enviromental Education Center
6-Education Assistant - Hammond Environmental Education Center.
The Household Hazardous Waste Coordinator will act as an administrator of the district. The district keeps their educational programs, even though I feel they are covered by our K-12 schools & municipal public works can outreach to their own citizens. The district still supports the Great Lakes Household Hazardous Waste programs with LaPorte & Porter Counties. And you can still pay out the $3,000,000/yr tax funded recycling grants back to the municipalities.(you could save a few more dollars just by having the money sent directly to the municipal's general fund instead of cutting checks) And you still contract out the public recycling, whitegoods & tire programs. Plus the salaries are in line with the other solid waste districts in Indiana. Plus you reduce the budget by close to half a million dollars per year!
This WASTE has got to stop. Board members after terminating the ethanol contract make a motion to reduce the staff. Do the right thing for the taxpayers of Lake County. Vote them out of their jobs. April 18th at the Lake County complex auditorium in Crown Point at 7:00pm, district board members do the right thing...vote Langbehn and his cronies out! Stop the WASTE in Lake County government. Reduce the WASTE district. Cancel the ethanol contract and reduce the staff. Vote them out of their jobs! Save Lake County!
This region will never prosper as it should, sitting in the 3rd largest MSA in the country, because of its pervasive culture of corruption and cronyism.