County Planning and Building Director Cory Lytle and Commissioner Adam Katschke met with lawyers representing both Coyote Springs Land and Western Elite Landfill Waste Management in Las Vegas Feb. 4.
The intent was to seek answers to questions both parties have about Lincoln County possibly issuing a special use permit to Western Elite for a Class 1 landfill at their present location.
A Class 1 permit allows for the acceptance of municipal wastes, but Western Elite is not currently receiving Class 1 materials, and has yet to construct a facility for that, as well as still work out some conditions with Lincoln County.
Western does, though, have a Class 3 permit issued by Lincoln County in 2003, which allows for construction and demolition debris, rubbish, automobile shredder residue, tires, asbestos, biosolids, grease traps and other industrial wastes.
The facility is located on 83 acres, about 33 miles south of Alamo on U.S. 93, and permitted by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection. It has a disposal capacity of 11.9 million cubic yards and an estimated lifespan of approximately 59 years.
Katschke said this was a, “preliminary meeting and each side is going to put in their own proposals and have each of the others of us review it and we’ll then see if we agree or not.” The groups decided to meet again Feb. 17 after having reviewed the proposals.
One item that needs to be overcome, Lytle mentioned, is that Lincoln County and Coyote Springs have had a provision in their 2004 development agreement that disallows a trash or transfer site within 10 miles of the Coyote Springs property.
He said, “An issue at hand right now is the definition of ‘trash or transfer site’, in the fact that Western Elite already had a Class 3 type of disposal going on.”
Western Elite’s property lies at the northwest edge, literally just across U.S. 93, from the Coyote Springs northern border, and they have expressed some strong opposition to the idea of having a Class 1 dump site located so close to their property.
Lytle said Coyote Springs has been questioning the validity of Lincoln County allowing such a permit.
Commenting on the Feb. 4 meeting, Lytle said, “The landowners are basically trying to be good neighbors to one another. That’s all it boils down to. They are trying to address their concerns with the potential of Western Elite having a Class 1 permit, and Coyote Springs someday, perhaps 15 or 20 years from now, developing to where it is a sizeable community. They are trying to figure out now a good middle ground to where they can be good neighbors.”
Emilia Cargill, representative for Coyote Springs, when contacted, said she had no comment at this time.
Lytle said he expected some type of compromise can be worked out in the upcoming meeting that will “mesh right in with, not only the special use permit to Western Elite, but also the proposed host fees that Western might be bringing into the County.
Lytle explained that host fees are what Western Elite would pay Lincoln County for hauling in Class 1 materials to the landfill. He said, “The negative externalities that go along with bringing in somebody else’s garbage to your County are something you tailor a host fee for.”
The possibility of increased truck traffic on U.S. 93 if Western Elite someday does start taking Class I materials is an additional matter of concern.
Lytle said he could not speak for either Coyote Springs or Western Elite, and the meeting Feb. 17 is “to help further move things along progressing forward in the right direction.”
