The Common Council held off giving final approval to a plan to expand a Lake County Solid Waste District composting facility in Gary, saying there were concerns about fire safety at the facility.
An ordinance that would have approved a rezoning to permit expansion of a vegetative material composting facility at 3499 Chase St. was on the agenda for the council’s Wednesday meeting, but Councilwoman Ragen Hatcher, D-at large, asked that action be delayed.
She said Fire Department officials had indicated to her that safety issues remained at the facility, although she could not say what those issues were.
The council accepted her reasoning, and voted 9-0 to postpone approval. They scheduled another hearing of the council’s Planning Committee for 5 p.m. Aug. 9 at City Hall for further discussion of the matter.
The facility has been in existence since 2013.
Executive Director John Minear said that Wednesday’s lack of action caught him off-guard.
“We don’t know, we haven’t been told,” said Minear when asked what still needs to be done before approval for rezoning to permit the expansion is provided by the council.
Fire Department officials previously had indicated concerns about the storage of some materials in ways that would make them more combustible and more difficult to extinguish with water should they catch fire.
“We met with the Fire Department, but we’re not sure if there are more concerns,” Minear said, “We want to find out, and we will work to fix the issues.”
The facility has been operating at the site, and disposes of leaves and frozen food waste, including fruits such as strawberries and vegetables such as corn.
But it seems the Chase Street site had never been properly zoned to permit such a facility, and district officials say they did not realize this fact until they began planning for the expansion that they say will permit them to potentially accept waste from areas beyond unincorporated Lake County and Gary.
Minear, however, has said there are no set plans as of yet for such an expansion.
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
