DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Decatur City Council gave the green light to create a composting plan for the City of Decatur government during Monday nights council meeting.
The Council approved a contract with an environmental engineering firm to prepare a grant-funded plan for composting and food waste reduction.
JPL Environmental Engineering will develop a plan tailored for the City of Decatur's municipal government as an initial step toward a broader goal of establishing a County-wide program. This plan will focus on identifying ways to enhance the City's compostable waste disposal methods.
Community members and businesses like Tillamook and Innovafeed have shown interest in food diversion programs.
To reduce costs, this grant will specifically target the City’s composting options based on the funding level provided.Â
JPL’s final report will assess the viability of composting City-generated compostable materials at this time. The plan may also support efforts to secure additional grants or recommend operational changes.
Establishing a small composting facility for City-generated compost could serve as a first step toward implementing a County-wide community composting program.
This contract will not exceed $74,200 and is funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, with a 15 percent contribution from the City.
The Council also reviewed and accepted a $500,000 Brownfields assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Decatur was one of 10 Illinois cities awarded funding.
The grant provides technical assistance to assess and sustainably reuse contaminated properties.
The City will conduct environmental site assessments in the Jasper Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridors; Tillamook’s 21.5-acre campus (former Prairie Farms) is one priority site.
After completing assessments, the City intends to apply for grants to remediate environmental issues and begin or continue redevelopment projects at assessed properties.
Copyright 2024. WANDTV. All Rights Reserved.
