A change in state law will require Berrien County to adopt a new plan for the disposal of waste. The Berrien County Board of Commissioners on Thursday heard from Community Development Director Dan Fette, who said this new Material Management Plan will replace the old solid waste plan, which governs the three landfills in the county. It was created in the 1990s. Fette said the previous plan was a “beast” to draft that took a long time and a lot of people. He said the county doesn’t want to go through that again.
“Having looked at this, we’re convinced at a staff level that we don’t have the internal resources to do this,” Fette said. “We don’t have the personnel or the expertise to draft this plan. We certainly don’t have the time to do so. Last time we did this, we had three full-time employees dedicated to drafting and approving the plan.”
Therefore, Fette recommends the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission be brought in to develop the new Material Management plan. The group’s Bekah Schrag said the new state plan aims to meet environmental goals. She recommended Berrien County reach out to Cass and Van Buren counties as it drafts its new plan because they could pool resources, especially when it comes to recycling. The state is providing the county $60,000 to draft the plan. Fette said the county commission will receive a resolution to proceed at an upcoming meeting.
