Greenfield unanimously approves preliminary vote on building moratorium
Greenfield moves one step closer to a dreaded building moratorium.
The city is stuck choosing between hurting its economic development or allowing untreated sewage to spill into the streets.
Greenfield has outgrown its wastewater treatment plant, and is already pushing it to the limit to the point that the infrastructure is breaking and there have already been spills.
The city council agrees, they need to slam the brakes on any new building projects that could put more of a strain, while they work on getting a new treatment plant with almost double the capacity.
But nobody wants to see the economy stagnate due to the building moratorium.
“That's how the public views it. They see it as, oh, everything's going to stop. You know, what's going to happen, john? You know, you know, 3 or 4 years potentially./they don't want that. They want to see Greenfield advance, Greenfield progress," said former Greenfield mayor John Huerta.
The big issue is funding the more than $100 million plant.
The city council said they’ve recently heard good news from state legislators about qualifying for up to $75 million in grant money.
“it’s happening now, but you would have hoped it would have happened earlier," said Huerta.
He thinks the current council could have been more proactive in lobbying for Greenfield.
“You can't sit here at home and and have them the, the folks in at the state capitol and the state water board make those decisions without you present, you have to be there," said Huerta.
Still, there is hope that state money will bear the brunt of the project, leaving Greenfield to come up with the remaining several million through a bond or tax measure.
The city council will hold a final vote in August. It’s expected to pass and then go into effect 30 days after that. Any project that is already permitted by that time will be allowed to move forward.
And the council will raise the issue again every six months to see how soon they can lift it. The thought is that it will last at least until there’s no more questions regarding funding and construction of the new plant.
