Erie trustees feel “disrespected” by Boulder County’s handling of the proposed composting facility south of Longmont and want the project scrapped.
The trustees’ objections are the latest to the plan to use the abandoned 40-acre Rainbow Nursery as a site for a composting plant, a plan over which three property owners are suing Boulder County. Their suit alleges the county used sales and use taxes to create a conservation easement at the site, then changed gears in 2018 to announce the parcel would support an industrial-type structure to receive and process human and animal waste for use as compost.
Erie trustees detailed their concerns with the facility in a Feb. 18 letter to county commissioners and chastised the county for not sending anyone to answer residents’ concerns at a regularly scheduled board meeting on Feb. 9.
County staff members declined to participate in the meeting because the review of the facility’s designs have been put on hold.
A project team is working to refine the proposal “to mitigate concerns of the neighbors and area residents,’” the trustees’ letter states. “It is ironic County staff would not want to hear from the public if they want to mitigate concerns.”
Boulder County spokesperson Barb Halpin in an email said the composting facility — the proposed site for which is on U.S. 287 between Colo. 52 and Lookout Road — is in the conceptual phase and the original special review application filed by the county’s Public Works Department in October has been on hold since before the Christmas holidays.
The county is asking that the landowners’ lawsuit be dismissed by a district judge since the composting project is inactive, she said.
“... Much less one that has not even had its first public hearing by multiple public advisory boards and the Board of County Commissioners,” Halpin said. “... When/if the planning process is begun, there will be ample opportunities for members of the public to voice their opinions, be heard before multiple public hearings, and even consider litigation if a decision is made to move forward with the facility.”
In a Feb. 5 letter to Erie trustees, the county apologized for not sending someone to the meeting and said the project is on hold.
“Currently, the project team is working to analyze and refine designs to meet the original scope of the work and mitigate concerns of neighbors and residents including groundwater penetration, air/odor control, and traffic safety,” the county’s letter states.
The county says the plant is key to achieving its zero-waste goal by 2025. Compost from the facility will help boost local and sustainable food production, and residents will be able to drop off compostable material and pick up finished compost at the facility to use on their lawns and gardens, according to the county.
Erie trustees, in their letter, target the county for using open space funding to acquire agricultural land but then changing to a large-scale industrial use. They also ask commissioners how they plan to reduce odors, water contamination and traffic on an already busy US 287.
Trustees praise the commissioners for their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic including weekly coordination meetings among relevant staff and economic support for businesses.
“In contrast, we are disappointed and feel disrespected by the county’s approach on the compost facility proposal and the watershed evaluation,” the letter states.
