Published: April 10, 2009 09:53 pm      

Lack of quorum delays landfill action

CLINTON — For the second month in a row, the lack of a representative from Clinton hampered action on issues before the Clinton County Area Solid Waste Agency.

Among items on the agenda Thursday night was a proposal to charge a $25 fee for loads on vehicles that are presented at the scale house without being covered or secured in a manner to prevent blowing or loss of material.

There also was no Clinton representative present at last month’s meeting, when the issue of blowing trash along the street leading to the landfill was discussed at length.

The CCASWA’s board of directors is made up of one representative from each of the towns in the county, plus one from the board of supervisors, representing the rural areas.

Voting is on a weighted basis, according to the population represented by each member. Clinton has 28 votes, Clinton County has nine, DeWitt six, Camanche five and all other towns have one vote each — a total of 59 votes.

According to the agency’s bylaws, there must be 2/3 of the total vote present in order to constitute a quorum.

The rural area and all other cities have a total of 37 votes; 39 need to be present.

Thus, there cannot be a quorum without Clinton.

Attending the meeting Thursday evening were Clinton County, DeWitt, Camanche, Goose Lake, Delmar, Wheatland, Grand Mound and Andover, a total of 26 votes.

Also absent were Calamus, Charlotte, Lost Nation, Toronto, Welton and Low Moor.

Clinton Mayor Rodger told the Clinton Herald Friday in a telephone interview: “I think our representative just forgot about the meeting. I know some people drive a distance to get there. I don’t blame them for being upset.”

In response, Holm gave Brad Seward, operations director of the landfill, his cell phone number so that Holm can go out to the agency should it happen again.

As for the Clinton council’s appointed representative, Michael Kearney, missing the March meeting, Holm said, “Brad could understand because we were in budget meetings.”

Town representatives who were present Thursday night also heard the following reports, but no actions could be taken.

From Seward: Proposed wages for the coming fiscal year; legislative update; leachate discharge update; bio-reactor update; Cedar County refuse update; and mobile unit collection of household hazardous waste at ADM.

From engineer C.J. Lage: financial assurance for fiscal year 2010; semi-annual site inspections; and leachate pre-treatment study.