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Planning Conuivssion Minutes Page 5 June 9, 2009 --------------------------- answered. He reviewed questions provided in a letter form and distributed to staff and the Planning Conrrlussion. Mr. Shardlow stated that the City of Burnsville has a market value of $6.7 billion. He noted that Burnsville Center is only 3 miles from a landfill and 2 miles from the heart of the city. He stated he has never heard any adverse comments about the landfills from a developer. Mr. Shardlow stated that Mr. Scheib does not identifythe studies he used in mal~ng his assumptions and is anxious to hear answers to his questions. He asked how HKGi can predict the level of revenue loss, given the information from Tiller on their plans. He stated that they have fundamentally different views that Mr. Scheib on the impacts of the expansion, and questioned if his assumptions are accurate. Mr. Shardlow stated that there are various waste-to-energyprojects happening around the world. He stated that it may not be unreasonable to imagine there could be a wayto convert waste to clean energy by the year 2080. Chair Scott opened the public hearing. Chair Scott encouraged members of the Commission to utilize the expertise of the City Attorney and City Administrator in helping them through the process. He asked that comments be focused on the land use and financial impacts, and the city as a whole. Stephen Rohlf, 11282 188 Avenue, Elk River -stated he was in favor of the expansion. He stated he had 22 years experience working for the City of Elk River, and worked closely with the land fill for 20 years and Waste Management for 10 years. He stated that not all garbage can or should be burned and it needs to go somewhere. He stated that Elk River Landfill voluntarily subjectedthemwlves to be regulated bythe city in 1998. He explained that the city understood the capacity of the current landfill was 30 - 50 years. Mr. Rohlf stated that Waste Management was a tremendous corporate citizen and has contributed to charitable local organizations in including the Boys & Girls Club. He stated that business is environmentallysound and uses state-of-the-art technology. He noted that the landfill gas- to-energyproject was awarded the 1998 LIS. Environmental Protection Agency Project of the Year. Mr. Rohlf stated that the soils in this area are extremely stratified and porous. He explained that apre-existing landfill contamination problem took over a decade to figure out the hydrology of the area, and it was found the contamination was moving toward Rice Lake. He stated that Management has been doing the clean up, even though they were not responsible for the contamination. He stated that he would be more confident that Waste Management will complete the cleanup if they are allowed to continue operations, than if they were closed. Mr. Rohlf stated that he did not want to see his garbage going to an inferior landfill. He also did not agree with statements made bythe City's Economic Development Director in her memo dated June 4, 200, stating that he did not foresee any push for commercial development in this area for at least 20 - 30 years. He stated that as a taxpayer, he would not want to see a loss of $.5 million year in revenue to the cirythrough surcharge fees. He stated that the city would have to cut services or personnel. Gary Sauer, Tiller Corporation -stated that Tiller has operated in Elk River for over 30 years. He questioned the process used to make the assumptions stated in the HKGi report, and felt theywere highly unrealistic. He stated that he is very aware of end use planning. He stated that Tiller began mining in the Maple Grove area in 1940 and they began planning the Arbor Lakes area in the 1980's. He stated that development began in the 1990's and that less than one-third of the property has been developed. Mr. Sauer stated mining and