Rumpke Waste & Recycling received approval last week from the Covington Board of Architectural Review for a conditional use permit as it moves to construct a new waste transfer facility in Latonia.
The vote was 5-1 in favor, though some neighbors expressed concerns about the project.
The solid waste transfer station is located at 4933 Boron Drive in Latonia.
The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet defines a transfer station as a facility for the collection and consolidation of waste prior to being transported to a disposal site.
The current Boron Drive site has operated as a transfer station for approximately 45 years. In June 2020, the City of Covington sold operations of the transfer station to Rumpke. The city also moved its public works department from that area to a new facility on Russell Street.
At the BOARD meeting last Wednesday, Rumpke representatives said they wanted to eventually construct a new transfer station facility at the current site. Under this plan, the current transfer station would be demolished and converted into a parking or fueling area. The old Covington Public Works building, which is also located on Boron Drive, will be converted into offices.
“As I understand, this is to begin building and transforming what is old and smelly right now, to a modern and much better facility,” said Stephanie Bacher, solid waste and recycling coordinator for Covington.
Kevin Meyer, a site engineer with Rumpke, was the author of the conditional use permit (CUP) application.
Rumpke representatives and Bacher said the improvement to the transfer station site would help with the efficiency of waste transfer throughout Northern Kentucky.
Rumpke operates a landfill in Butler, in Pendleton Co. Rumpke representatives say the company will be able to operate more efficiently if they don’t have to empty their trucks in Northern Kentucky, then continue to service the area instead of driving much farther south to Butler.
Molly Yeager, corporate communications manager for Rumpke, echoed this sentiment.
“The goal is to have trucks actually parked at the transfer station so they can start and finish their day in Covington versus starting the day in Pendleton County, dumping in Covington, maybe going out and getting another load, then going back and ending up in Pendleton County at the end of the day,” said Yeager. “It definitely does improve a lot of inefficiencies.”
Covington’s Director of Economic Development, Tom West, penned a letter to the BOARD saying that he was a supporter of Rumpke’s plans for the transfer station.
“Their purchase has enabled the City to upgrade our Public Works facility, which will result in better and more efficient services to our residents,” West said.
However, not every member of the community was as excited, with some voicing their concerns to the BOARD over the CUP.
Andy Blair, CEO of Blair Technology Group which operates near the current transfer station in the former Johnny’s Toys building, was among them. Blair Technology Group employs 200 people, he said.
Blair’s business has been at the location since 2013 and he purchased the building outright in 2018. Blair said operating a business next to the site has been tough, and he contends that the traffic and smell around the area has been worse since Rumpke took over site operations in 2020.
Blair said the traffic situation around the site was similar when the city operated the site, but argued that “Rumpke is significantly busier.” Blair said there were negative byproducts of operating a business next to the transfer station such as spillage from dump trucks, the prevalence of rats and stray cats, and loose screws and nails puncturing his employees’ tires.
“A byproduct of being next to a dump is we get these gigantic rats constantly. There was a period where there were cats, lots of cats,” Blair said. “We’ll take the cats any day over the rats, but the cats went away and now we have the rats. We’re constantly playing defense.”
The site is not a dump, by definition, but a transfer station. Rumpke operates the landfill in Butler which receives the waste from the transfer station.
“What I’m after is having a better neighbor, a better solution to what is going on right now,” Blair said. “If they’re saying that they’re abiding by these things, I can promise you they are not.”
Blair said he didn’t think Rumpke should be approved for the CUP until the company operates in a more neighborly fashion, and described them as a nuisance to his business and its surrounding neighbors.
The BOARD noted the complaints brought up by Blair in the meeting were out of their purview. The BOARD only considers design- and zoning-related matters.
Yeager told LINK nky that Rumpke was looking to be cordial with their neighbors, and is only looking to improve the facility.
“We were unaware of issues regarding the neighbors,” Yeager said. “We try to be good neighbors, we try to reach out to the neighbors and discuss anything ahead of time to be proactive. We’ll be doing more of that in the future. We don’t want them to have any issues with us being their neighbor.”
Regarding Blair’s issues with Rumpke, such as infestations and spillage, Yeager said Rumpke is taking measures to eliminate them.
“When we first took over the site, there was a small infestation problem but we did work to address that,” Yeager said. “We have talked to the neighbors as well that if they would have any issues with any vermin on site, that we’d be happy to assist them with taking care of that.”
Yeager said Rumpke has an odor control system at the transfer station that secretes a scentless odor to help eliminate smell. Yeager also said Rumpke is working in coordination with the Covington Public Works Department and an outside contractor to sweep the streets in order to keep debris and spillage off the roadways.
“We don’t want to be a burden,” Yeager said. “We don’t want to have our neighbors think we’re not taking care of our property.”
A CUP application must meet four basic criteria requirements in order to be approved:
- The conditional use does not create an unwanted concentration of similar conditional uses that is likely to discourage permitted uses by making the vicinity less desirable for them.
- There is no practicable alternative location where the use is permitted by right within the general vicinity of the parcel proposed for development, or, if such a location exists, the proposed location is comparable or more favorable in terms
- The proposed use at the particular location is convenient for the public or desirable to provide a service or facility that will contribute to the general well-being of the neighborhood or the community.
- Such use will not be detrimental to the health, safety, or general welfare of persons residing or working in the vicinity, or injurious to property or improvements in the vicinity.
The city staff evaluating Rumpke’s application found that it met all the criteria to qualify for a CUP.
“We’ve read the staff reports and the conditions and we’re in agreement with them,” said Scott Huber, a civil engineer with Abercrombie & Associates who is working on the project with Rumpke.
