Fort Wayne, Indiana (WANE) – A Fort Wayne Planning Commission meeting is usually a run-of-the-mill affair.
In fact, disagreements among members seldom occurred, so much so that on Monday night even one of the committee members learned that five votes were needed to pass or reject an item on the agenda. is.
Differences of opinion with members of the public attending meetings are also usually rare.
That is why planning commission chairman Connie Haas Zuber had to threaten to call security on some of the public who were outspoken against a new recycling plant on the southeastern side of Fort Wayne. It was rare that it didn’t.
The proposed 76-acre recycling plant includes a 140-foot smelting tower and six buildings taller than the 50-foot height permitted by ordinance.
It was planned by ExUrban, a British-owned company that purchased the land for the Adams Center and Paulding Road facility across from the Sheriff’s Training Facility.
But to the great disappointment of those who were against it, it passed the planning commission on Monday.
“We’re like the bottom of the barrel. We put whatever they don’t want in the Southeast,” said Jesse Jackson, who dissented during the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, he became verbal and asked if he and others could voice their opinions before a decision was made. When he was told “no,” he said the public was disappointed with what was going on before walking away.
Jackson expressed the opinion that anything the Planning Commission did not want to see would be “located in the southeastern part of town.”
In response, President Zuber threatened to call security before Jackson and others left the meeting.
“They aren’t telling everyone the truth,” Jackson later said. “
Ty Simmons also walked out of the conference following the passing of the recycling plant.
He was upset that the council discussed whether to allow a new location for the famous taco restaurant instead of a new recycling plant.
“They are more focused on fixing taco places than pollution in our community,” Simmons said. “The way they went to each other over the taco shop instead of talking about the people who would be living in this environment is disrespectful. It shows no respect.”
Members of the planning committee said they were not making decisions based on environmental criteria.
“I think the big factors that were mentioned tonight were environmental factors that we really don’t have control over,” said Tom Freistroffer, city council member and planning committee member. “IDEM should be granted air quality permits in the future that are not currently being granted.”
