City council refers composting business proposal to committee

The city's Street Committee is being asked for a recommendation on Decorah resident Marty Grimm's proposal for private operation of the city's yard waste site.  Grimm appeared before the City Council Monday night to answer questions about his proposal.  He said the DNR has given its approval of such a facility.

As decorahnews.com first reported in April, Grimm is proposing to the City of Decorah that he be allowed to take over the operation of the city's Yard Waste Site so he can open a commercial composting business.

Grimm says he would collect food waste from Decorah restaurants such as La Rana, Magpie, Java John's and T-Bock's, as well as grocery store food waste from Quillin's and Fareway and combine it with yard waste brought to the site by the public, then creating commercial grade compost.

He told decorahnews.com he's had "nothing but positive feedback" to the proposal, with some people praising the environmentally sound features of the plan, others excited about the possibility of longer hours of operation, and restaurant owners excited about not having to take their food waste to the landfill.

But Decorah resident Herb Hageman on Monday night spoke out against the proposal, calling the yard waste site "one of the city's best facilities" and asking why the city would consider privatizing it.  Several city council members said they had begun to get critical comments from the public about the proposal.  That was enough for them to recommend referring the proposal to the Street Committee.

Because the city's yard waste site is located on land outside the city limits, Grimm's proposal needs the approval of both City of Decorah and Winneshiek County officials.  The Decorah City Council on Monday night approved by a 4-2 margin a proposal to begin an application to the Winneshiek County Board of Adjustment for a special zoning adjustment.  Opponents of the resolution said it gave the impression that the City Council had already approved Grimm's proposal, but supporters of the resolution said the special zoning adjustment application needed to be filed now for consideration at the Board of Adjustment's next meeting--and could later be withdrawn if the city council votes down Grimm's proposal.