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COUNTY LINE, Alabama — A calm crowd of about 50 people gathered at County Line Town Hall tonight, at times tearfully pleading with town council members to stop a proposed landfill.

Less than 10 people officially requested to speak during the public hearing, but council members allowed several more audience members to take the podium. Some people even addressed the council more than once, while others submitted their comments in writing.

No one spoke in favor of the proposed 219-acre landfill, that could accept up to 2,000 tons of household garbage and medical waste each day.

“You just can’t put a dump where the people don’t want it,” said Gloria Kennedy, who moved to a nearby community a few years ago. “You are supposed to be representing the people.”

Kennedy said she lived in a city for years before she finally convinced her husband to move to the country. They decided to build a home and retire on property near County Line, in part, due to the rural natural surroundings. The couple convinced their children to move near them as well, never suspecting that a landfill could be built a few miles from their homes.

Most of the people who addressed the council on Monday night said they were concerned about what the landfill would mean to the environment, traffic, property values and the quality of life in County Line and surrounding communities.

County Line only has a population of 270 people and would never need a “nasty dump,” said Annette Atchley, resident.

For the most part, council members only discussed procedural issues of the meeting, such as how many people were allowed in the meeting room because of the fire code.

The exception was Mayor Larry Calvert, first cousin to the landowner proposing the landfill. “We all make garbage, don’t we?” Calvert said. “We sure do. But nobody wants it in their back yard, do they?”

He did not elaborate and did not speak to media after the meeting.

Opponents of the landfill have questioned the family connection between landowner John David Calvert and members of the town council. Four of the five council members are connected to the Calvert family, and three of them have been appointed by Mayor Calvert after elected members resigned.

The council has already passed a new Solid Waste Management plan that would allow a household garbage landfill, despite opposition from the Blount County Commission, nearby towns, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham and numerous concerned residents.

Monday’s public hearing was the next step toward local approval of the specific landfill proposal submitted by Thornhill Marion Properties, the company that would own and operate the landfill on John David Calvert’s land.

The council can now vote on the proposed landfill, or do nothing, said Matthew Weathers, an attorney representing Thornhill Marion Properties. If the council takes no action within 90 days of receiving the permit application, the landfill automatically has local approval and will go to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for a permit, he said.

Since Alabama has a two-year moratorium on new landfill permits, the application would probably not be processed by ADEM until that moratorium is lifted, Weathers said.

Thornhill Marion Properties wanted to go through with local approval at this point, because a number of scenarios could play out in the Alabama Legislature, Weathers said. If no changes are made to state landfill regulations, then the County Line landfill would be on track to get a permit when the moratorium is lifted, he said.

The council is considering a number of options and will probably consult with legal counsel concerning the moratorium, said Dennis Finch, council member. He has previously said that revenue from the landfill would help pay for much needed services in County Line, a town that is located in both Jefferson and Blount counties.

Council members could discuss the landfill as early as tonight, Finch said, during County Line’s normally scheduled council meeting.

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