Buffalo Grove won't televise IEPA hearing on Land and Lakes

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hearing on Buffalo Grove's Land and Lakes landfill will not be televised, village officials decided this week.

The hearing, scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 9 at Buffalo Grove Village Hall, concerns whether the IEPA will continue monitoring the landfill site along Milwaukee Avenue.

The decision not to broadcast was made through a survey sent to village board members. Only trustees Lisa Stone and Beverly Sussman voted in favor of televising the event.

Officials who opposed gave two reasons: cost and precedent.

Village Manager Dane Bragg said televising the hearing would cost about $850, and Trustee Steven Trilling said it would set a precedent making it difficult for the village to refuse requests to broadcast plan commission and zoning board meetings, as well as hearings on local issues like the extension of Route 53.

Stone argued that it is important to broadcast the event since only about 100 people will be able to see it live in village hall.

“I feel it's money well spent, as the public has the right to see and hear firsthand what is said regarding this public safety issue,” she said.

Overflow crowds who showed up to speak on the issue of off-track betting last year were “locked out” of the chambers and forced to listen in the basement of village hall, she added.

“I hope you will reconsider, because the perception is you don't want people to hear what happens at the public hearing,” she said. “The fact that you're blocking it is so wrong. I don't think it's about the money. It's about the information.”

Buffalo Grove typically records and broadcasts only its village board meetings, but Village President Elliott Hartstein said he asked staff to survey trustees after receiving an e-mail from a citizen asking about the issue.

“We govern ourselves by majority,” Hartstein said of the final decision.

Trustee Jeffrey Braiman took issue with Stone's statement that citizens were locked out, saying the village hall's downstairs conference room could accommodate overflow.

He also questioned the level of interest in the issue, asking Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch how many people had gone to the village's website to read Shaw Environmental Inc.'s report on the landfill. Neukirch said the number was less than 50.

Hartstein reiterated that he is confident the IEPA, which holds jurisdiction over the landfill, will protect the safety and welfare of the community.

“I have said publicly many times that if there is any issue, I welcome and embrace whatever the IEPA decides or feels is appropriate,” he said.