CORRESPONDENCE_1971-1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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stuay octore maxmg its decision. prupwa,, V..,....._.___ _ Future of Austin Roact By Gene Turner Of rhe Record 8Wf The future of a Forward Inc. re- cycling and landfill operation on Austin Road has been taken under submission by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, fol- lowing a repetition of previous pro and con arguments over the facil- ity. The question before the board is whether the use permit held by For- ward Inc. for the operation should be left alone, modified, or, as re- quested by aviation spokesmen and neighbors, revoked. Ralph Tonseth, manager of the county -owned Stockton Metropolitan Airport, and several Federal Avia- tion Administration officials said the dump could attract sea gulls, al- ready a problem to flights because of the nearby City of Stockton dump. Tonseth hinted that accreditation of the airport could face problems in the future because ,of an FAA regulation that no dumps or land- fills be located within 10,000 feet of airport property. The Forward Inc. property is closer than that, he said. Joseph Michael, attorney for the company, and two representatives of an engineering firm it hired,- as- serted the operation will not attract gulls because it does not accept garbage. If the birds decide to come any- way, measures will be taken to drive them away by chemicals and the use of sound, said James Mang of SCS Engineers. The aviation representatives said birds represent a danger both to light general aviation planes and to commercial jets, which might, ing- 2 1477 Dump est them into engines. Tonseth said 'progress has been made by the City of Stockton in get- ting rid of birds at the city dump, but he does not want to face the danger of another operation more directly in the airport approach zone. Supervisor' George Barber and Supervisors' Chairman Richard Yoshikawa suggested any kind of debris will attract rodents, which in turn will draw birds to the site. Michael said Forward Inc. has in- vested some $300,000 to $350,000 in the operation, and is recovering about 15 to 20 tons of paper and one or two tons of metal a month. However, Mike Gikas, chairman of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation's Zoning and Land Use Committee, said most of the paper is recycled elsewhere and merely stored at the site. Unsettled Gikas said he does not believe the company would lose its investment if the use permit were revoked. "The people who were sincere and wanted to see a resource center out there have been short- changed," he said. Michael conceded that develop- ment of the facility has been slow, but said the company is attempting to proceed in compliance with terms of the use permit. Supervisor Clifford Wisdom said the major question in resource re- covery is whether the public is will- ing to pay the cost. He noted that a University of the Pacific professor, Gary Howells, will conduct an experiment this summer along with his students, in- volving 1,300 homes in the Sherwood Manor and Lincoln Village/West areas of Stockton in a garbage sep- aration program.