MIFFLINBURG — The issues surrounding a Mifflinburg area farmer’s pursuit of a biosolids treatment facility on his property have turned from zoning to something a little more green: money, about $9 for every man, woman and child in Buffalo Township.
Buffalo Township in Union County, location of the proposed facility, paid approximately $30,000 in attorneys’ fees this year for representation in the latest appeal from Daryl Beiler, who wants to build the plant on land off Furnace Road. Secretary Bob Beck said Tuesday the township ended up short in its budget between $13,000 and $15,000. The municipality has 3,300 residents.
Beck said Buffalo Township finished out last year by carrying over roughly $88,000 in general fund money, the account from which bills, such as attorneys’ fees, are paid. “If we didn’t have the expense of the attorneys, we’d be in the black this year,” he said.
Beiler’s next appeal will go before the Union County Court of Common Pleas next summer.
Last year, the Buffalo Township Zoning Hearing Board turned down Beiler’s request for a permit to build the biosolids plant, stating it would be a commercial business on land zoned for agricultural use. The plan called for about 52 trucks hauling about 600 tons each per day of treated municipal waste from various locations in the mid-Atlantic area. The trucks would run on Furnace Road from Route 15, although some people were concerned about the use of Route 45 as well. The plant would combine the biosolids with lime and other materials to make a fertilizer farmers could use on crops.
Residents have myriad worries, from pollution to biosolids monitoring to the trucks beating up roads, according to Carol Crago, president of the Buffalo Valley Neighbors Association. But the primary concern, she said, is the plant’s commercial nature. “This isn’t an agricultural use of the land. It’s zoned agricultural, and this plant would be an industrial use,” she said.
The Daily Item was unable to reach Beiler for comment by press time Tuesday.
Beck said the attorneys’ fees are a detriment to the township, but any expense like the fees would come from the general fund.
The issue is likely to come up again Monday. The neighbors association has asked to speak at the supervisors’ meeting that evening.
Crago said that at recent meetings, the township supervisors have said the next appeals hearing will be the last because of the cost to the township. They have said they do not intend to raise taxes over the issue.
“The supervisors don’t want to raise taxes to cover it, we understand that,” Crago said, but appeals mean the township needs representation.
Keith Dunlap, a member of the neighbors association, said the group’s main concern is that the township take a proactive stance regarding its zoning laws.
“They wrote the laws. We just want to them to be enforced,” Dunlap said.
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