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Tag: Coffin Butte Landfill

May 7, 2025 in News

Benton County extends public hearing on proposed landfill expansion

The Benton County Planning Commission has added a supplemental day to hear verbal public testimony on Republic Services’ application for the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill. The public hearing was continued — that is, postponed to a future date — at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, and will resume at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 in the County’s Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis.

The Public Hearing on LU-24-027 was originally scheduled for three days of presentations, reports and testimony in late April and early May, with a fourth meeting in June for Commissioners to discuss the application and come to a decision. After nearly three hours of verbal testimony on the third day, the Commission had heard from only half of the 78 community members who signed up to testify. After a brief discussion and motion, the Commissioners voted to add the additional meeting and resume two days later so all community voices can be heard.

Revised hearing schedule

Tuesday, April 29
The County Planning Division and consultants presented the staff report, then addressed questions from the Planning Commission. View the recording of Day 1.

Thursday, May 1
Republic Services presented the application, then addressed questions from the Planning Commission. View the recording of Day 2.

Tuesday, May 6
Members of the public delivered verbal testimony. Each person who signed up was allotted three minutes to speak; some opted to cede their time to another speaker to allow that person more time to deliver their prepared message. Testimony was delivered by or on behalf of 37 people. View the recording of Day 3.

Continuance, Thursday, May 8, 6 p.m. – complete
The Planning Commission will hear testimony by the remaining people on the verbal testimony roster. Registration for verbal testimony closed at 6 p.m. on May 6, so no additional attestants will be added. Following the conclusion of verbal testimony, representatives of Republic Services will have an opportunity to deliver a brief rebuttal. Register for virtual participation through Zoom.

Tuesday, June 17, 6 p.m. – complete
Deliberations and decision by the Planning Commission. Zoom registration

Attendees who need any physical or language accommodations should notify Benton County Community Development (permitcheck@bentoncountyor.gov) at least 72 hours in advance of the hearing.

Written testimony

Written testimony is still being accepted in four ways: online form, regular mail, email (publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov) and hand delivery. Benton County Planning Division staff are posting compiled written testimony to the online Munidocs platform soon after it is received. The latest batch of comments includes those received through 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6.

More information about the public hearing is available on the Coffin Butte Landfill webpage.

May 6, 2025 in News

Landfill Hearing recordings, dates and testimony deadlines

The Public Hearing on LU-24-027, Republic Services’ application for the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill, began on Tuesday, April 29. The Benton County Planning Commission scheduled four meetings for the hearing. It is open to the public in the Holmes & Shipley Meeting Room on the first floor of the County’s Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis, OR.

Tuesday, April 29
The County Planning Division and consultants presented the staff report, then addressed questions from the Planning Commission. View the recording of Day 1.

Thursday, May 1
Republic Services presented the application, then addressed questions from the Planning Commission. View the recording of Day 2.

Tuesday, May 6, 6 – 9 p.m.
The Planning Commission will hear public verbal testimony. The deadline to register for verbal testimony is 6 p.m. on May 6. Those who wish to participate remotely should register with Zoom.

Tuesday, June 17, 6 p.m. – complete
Deliberations and decision. Zoom registration

Attendees who need any physical or language accommodations should notify Benton County Community Development (permitcheck@bentoncountyor.gov) at least 72 hours in advance of the hearing.

Verbal and written testimony

Written testimony is still being accepted in four ways: online form, regular mail, email (publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov) and hand delivery. The deadline to submit written testimony has not been set. This date is determined by the Planning Commission, and the Chair is expected to announce the deadline in the May 6 meeting.

May 6 at 6 p.m. is the deadline to sign up to share verbal testimony during the hearing. Names are added to the verbal testimony roster in the order in which they are submitted. A testimony sign-up table is available in the lobby beginning one hour prior to meeting start times. Verbal testimony is limited to three (3) minutes per person.

More information about the public hearing is available on the Coffin Butte Landfill webpage.

April 30, 2025 in News

Landfill Hearing: Day 1 recording and recap; what to expect on Day 2

Day 1 recap

The Public Hearing on LU-24-027, Republic Services’ application for the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill, began on Tuesday, April 29. Benton County Planning Commission Chair Nicholas Fowler started the meeting at 6 p.m. The County’s Planning Division presented the staff report. Planning Commission members asked many follow-up questions that were addressed by the County’s Planning Official, consultants and representatives from Republic Services. The Hearing was recessed around 8:45 p.m.

View the recording of Day 1.

Day 2 expectations

Presentation and discussion of the staff report on Day 1 took more time than projected. Republic Services’ presentation, planned for the first meeting, will take place when the hearing resumes at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. The Planning Commission will then move on to public verbal testimony if time permits.

If the applicant presentation and subsequent discussion fills the scheduled meeting time, public testimony will likely begin on Tuesday, May 6.

The hearing is open to the public in the Holmes & Shipley Meeting Room on the first floor of the County’s Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis, OR. The room has a posted capacity of 133 people, although fewer can be accommodated during the staff and applicant presentation portion of the hearing while tables are in place for the presenters. A viewing/listening room is available on the second floor of the Kalapuya building. An additional overflow space, not utilized on Day 1, will be opened on the first floor.

Attendees who need any physical or language accommodations should notify Benton County Community Development (permitcheck@bentoncountyor.gov) at least 72 hours in advance of the hearing.

The hearing can also be viewed through Zoom.

Verbal and written testimony

A new batch of compiled written testimony was posted to Munidocs on April 29. This includes comments received through noon on April 28.

Written testimony is still being accepted in four ways: online form, regular mail, email (publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov) and hand delivery. Details are available on the Coffin Butte Landfill webpage.

Members of the public can sign up to share verbal testimony during the hearing. Names will be added to the verbal testimony roster in the order in which they are submitted, either through the webform or in person at the public hearings. A testimony sign-up table is available in the lobby beginning one hour prior to meeting start times. Verbal testimony is limited to three (3) minutes per person.

Registration for verbal testimony will be open as long as the Public Hearing is in session or until 6 p.m. on May 6, whichever comes first.

April 25, 2025 in News

Benton County statement about LU-24-027 public written testimony

The staff report for LU-24-027 was published by the Benton County Planning Division on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Public written testimony is one of the addenda/exhibits included with this report. The large amount of content submitted as written testimony was more than the Munidocs platform could support. When the County realized that the initial compilation of comments uploaded on April 22 was truncated, staff began recompiling written testimony, ending up with six separate files to contain all the material for the addendum.

All written testimony submitted before 5 p.m. on April 21 is now published to the Munidocs platform. Benton County assures the public that all comments currently found on Munidocs will be seen by the Planning Commission prior to the start of the Public Hearing on April 29, not just those comments initially uploaded on April 22.

The next batch – including comments submitted between 5:01 p.m. on April 21 and 5:00 p.m. on April 29 – will be delivered in hardcopy to Planning Commission members prior to the start of the Public Hearing at 6 p.m. on April 29, but will not be uploaded to Munidocs until the digital compilation is available in May.

The final batch of written testimony will include all written comments submitted from 5:01 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29 through one week after the close of public testimony – a date that will be determined by the Planning Commission Chair during the Public Hearing. This written testimony will be available to Planning Commission members prior to the deliberation and decision meeting of the Public Hearing on June 17, 2025. It will be uploaded to Munidocs as soon as it is compiled, which will likely be after the Public Hearing ends on June 17.

Members of the public who submitted written testimony prior to 5 p.m. on April 21 and do not find their comment included in any of the six written testimony files on Munidocs* should contact publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 28. Any comments inadvertently omitted from the compiled written testimony will be delivered to Planning Commission members at least 24 hours prior to the start of the Public Hearing to ensure they can be read and considered ahead of the hearing.

County staff are reaching out to everyone who submitted written testimony prior to 5 p.m. on April 21 through the publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov email address and the online comment form on the County website, providing instructions for verifying the presence of their comment.

*County staff recommend using Ctrl+F (PC) or Command+F (Mac) keyboard shortcuts in your web browser to keyword search the compiled written testimony documents, as the search feature in Munidocs is ineffective.

March 27, 2025 in News

Four ways to submit written comments about the proposed landfill expansion application

Members of the public are invited to submit written testimony about Republic Services’ Conditional Use Permit application (LU-24-027). Planning Commissioners will receive the full text of all written comment submitted. It will not be edited or summarized.

There are four ways to submit written testimony:

Submit testimony online

Regular Mail (USPS)
Benton County Community Development
4500 SW Research Way
Corvallis, OR 97333-1139

Email
publiccomment@bentoncountyor.gov

Hand Delivery
Community Development is located on the second floor of the Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis, OR. The office is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Timeline for Written Testimony

The deadline to submit written testimony will be determined by the length of the Public Hearing. As long as it is open, written public comments will be accepted into the record. Once all verbal testimony is received, the Planning Commission chair will determine when the Public Hearing should be closed. The schedule provided above is planned and expected, but those dates are not guaranteed as less time might be required for verbal testimony.

After the public hearing, all written comments that were not in the original staff report will be added to the record and posted to the County website in one action. 

Expected Hearing Schedule

Tuesday, April 29, 6 – 9 p.m.              Day 1: Staff report, applicant presentation and start public testimony if time permits
Thursday, May 1, 6 – 9 p.m.Day 2: Start or continue public testimony
Tuesday, May 6, 6 – 9 p.m.Day 3: Continue public testimony as necessary
Tuesday, June 17, 6 p.m. – completeDay 4: Deliberations and decision

Find more information about the landfill and the application for proposed expansion on the Coffin Butte Landfill page.

March 19, 2025 in News

Hearing dates set for landfill expansion application, public comment period now open

The Benton County Planning Division has announced the schedule for the public hearing on Republic Services’ Conditional Use Permit application for the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte landfill.

The public comment period is now open. The following dates have been set for the hearing before the Benton County Planning Commission.

Tuesday, April 29, 6 – 9 p.m.              Day 1: Staff report, applicant presentation and start public testimony if time permits
Thursday, May 1, 6 – 9 p.m.Day 2: Start or continue public testimony
Tuesday, May 6, 6 – 9 p.m.Day 3: Continue public testimony as necessary
Tuesday, June 17, 6 p.m. – completeDay 4: Deliberations and decision

The hearing will be held at the County’s Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis. Anyone can sign up as an Interested Party to receive updates about the status of the CUP application and changes or additions to the schedule.

County invites comment from public

Members of the public can now submit written testimony about the CUP application.

After the public hearing, all written comments that were not in the original staff report will be added to the record and posted to the County website in one action. 

Members of the public can also sign up to share verbal testimony during the hearing. An online sign-up system will be released about a week before the hearing begins. Although this option will be available, the community is encouraged to provide written comments in advance so Planning Commission members, County staff and the public have time to consider all perspectives and prepare to respond at the hearing. This also allows for the most efficient use of meeting time.

Addendum submitted, now available to public

Republic Services submitted additional material for the CUP application on March 14, 2025. This addendum to the Burden of Proof (submitted on Jan. 15) is publicly available on the Munidocs platform as Landfill Expansion Application, 1st Addendum to Burden of Proof.

The Benton County Planning Division is working to incorporate this new information into the staff report.

View Republic Services’ CUP application online:

To learn more about the decision process, visit bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill.

February 28, 2025 in News

Republic Services’ Conditional Use Permit Application Deemed Complete

The Benton County Planning Division has deemed Republic Services’ revised Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application for Coffin Butte landfill as Complete. The application is moving forward to the decision process, which is expected to be completed by August 11, 2025.

Benton County is now working on staff reports to give to the Planning Commission and agency referral partners who will review the application and make recommendations. When the reports are complete, the County will set the dates for a two-week public comment period and a hearing before the Planning Commission, a group of seven volunteers from throughout the County appointed by the Board of Commissioners.

The Planning Commission meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis. All meetings are open to the public. While the hearing date for Republic Services’ application has not been set, the County expects that it will not happen before April 1, 2025. To meet the August 11 deadline, the hearing should happen no later than May 6, 2025.

As soon as the hearing and public comment dates are set, notification will be sent to all who signed up as Interested Parties through the Community Development webpages. The County will also communicate the schedule through the website, a press release, and emails to the County’s general interest contact list and solid waste process special interest list.

View Republic Services’ CUP application online:

Sign up as an Interested Party to receive updates on the application.

To learn more about the decision process visit bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill.

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