The 3-2 vote on Dec. 3 by commissioners allows for an additional 14-acre waste collection cell at the landfill, but commissioners stopped short of any action on increasing the daily tonnage or enlarging the radius of the service area, both of which Republic had requested during a public hearing in November.

The action taken by commissioners in December held off any potential contract negotiations with Republic until independent consultants for the county conduct a study of the county’s solid waste management options for the future. Commissioners still have not directly addressed Republic’s hopes of extending its waste collection radius from 60 miles to 70 miles and increasing its daily tonnage limit from 660 tons to 1,750 tons.

PC PRIDE, through its attorney John Runkle of Chapel Hill, filed papers in Person County Superior Court on Jan. 2 petitioning the court to issue a “writ of certiorari,” the term for a legal document issued by a court to start a formal legal review of an action by a court or other entity. PRIDE maintains the board’s action was improper and wants the court to void the permit.

In connection with the legal action, PC PRIDE issued a press release explaining, “This action is being brought because the members [of PC PRIDE] are presently and will be in the future, directly and adversely affected by the operation of the existing landfill and its expansion. The petition [to the court] cites the failure of commissioners to conduct a fair and unbiased hearing as required by state law.”

The hearing referenced is the November public hearing.

All five commissioners are named in the petition as “respondents.” >>

On Dec. 3, Commissioners Kyle Puryear, Larry Yarborough and Johnny M. Lunsford voted in favor of the special use permit for the extra cell at the landfill, while Commissioners Larry Bowes and Jimmy Clayton opposed the action.

PC PRIDE said in the release that it was prompted to take the matter to court because:

• “The expansion is not in harmony with the existing agricultural and residential uses in the Mt. Tirzah community;

• “The proposed expansion will constitute a nuisance to the members of PC PRIDE and other members of the public;

• “The property owners adjacent to and close in proximity to the landfill and proposed expansion have suffered loss of property value and an interference with health, safety and general welfare;

• “PC PRIDE members were not given a fair and unbiased hearing.”

The formal petition charges, in part, that commissioners were legally bound to recuse themselves from taking part in the November hearing “because they were biased” and “they had been tainted by extensive [improper unilateral outside] communications.”

The petition asks the court to:

• Issue an order granting the writ of certiorari requiring Person County to file the November public hearing record with the court and PRIDE for review;

• Find issueance of the special use permit improper and thereby void;

• Grant any other relief that is just and reasonable, including attorneys’ fees and expenses if appropriate.

PC PRIDE co-chairman Frances Blalock said the organization is “representative of citizens throughout the county working to find alternative and more progressive ways of handling the county’s waste resources.

“They have been working diligently to protect the environment in Person County,” Blalock said. “The vision of this organization is to identify activities in the county that are detrimental to the health and general sense of well being of all residents.

“Recent laws regarding waste reduction through reusing, reducing and especially recycling bring a challenge to each county and PC PRIDE challenges each household, school, office and business to audit their waste streams and change their waste habits.

“The constant pressure on the waste industry is to awaken them along with the county residents to the reality that the current method of disposing of our county’s waste is antiquated, a primitive dump and cover process, and that precious resources are being destroyed that should be sustained for future needs,” Blalock concluded.

Person County government will be obliged to file a formal response to PRIDE’s petition within 30 days.