Clean dirt signals (eventual) cross-country track at Settler's Hill
It's been a decade since residents near the former Settler's Hill landfill in Geneva saw trucks dumping anything on the 700-acre site. Within the next couple weeks, the trucks will start arriving again. This time, they'll dump clean soil instead of trash.
Kane County owns the landfill. Waste Management of Illinois Inc. oversees the environmental management and monitoring of the landfill site.
County officials cast a preliminary vote in favor of a $30,000 contract extension with Weaver Consultants Group this week. The company will provide environmental consulting to the county on bringing in uncontaminated soil from construction sites.
Ken Anderson, who oversees the landfill as part of his duties for Kane County, said better days are ahead for people who want to see Settler's Hill become an attraction rather than a detraction.
"The project is moving forward," Anderson said. "It hasn't happened as fast as we'd have liked, but it's moving."
County officials already inked a deal with Aurora-based Heartland Recycling. The company will pay the county $1.25 per cubic yard of clean soil it drops at the landfill. It already has a trailer and observation center set up at Settler's Hill in preparation for the arrival of the first truckloads.
The piles of dirt will mark the first major tangible signs of the coming changes for the landfill. Since its closure in 2006, the site has functioned as a power generation facility operated by Waste Management. It's also a favorite place to spot eagles and view the distant Chicago skyline for people with the ability and clearance to access the hill.
By fall of 2019, county officials believe the site will be a unique attraction for cross-country events. The clean dirt coming to the site will become the material used to form the course.
"The important thing right now is people shouldn't think the landfill is open again when they start seeing the trucks arriving at the site," Anderson said. "They are just taking clean fill. Something good is coming soon."
The track's design will allow fans to watch the progression of runners along almost the entire course. Most courses only allow fans to view the start and finish of races.
The existing parking on the campus, which includes property leased by the Kane County Cougars, is the second feature county officials will use to lure local, regional and national cross-country events to the site.
The belief is the facility can drive the economy by also sending event attendees to local restaurants and hotels. If that happens, it will fulfill a promise county officials made to Geneva back when the landfill opened in 1982.
The deal was to transform the landfill into a use with a direct benefit to Geneva as compensation for 24 years of having a regional dump in town.