(A) The PCF Committee shall hold a public hearing on the request for site approval no sooner than 90 days but no longer than 120 days from the date of filing of the request for site approval. A transcript shall be made and retained of all portions of the public hearing.
(B) Within 30 working days after a request for site approval is filed, the County Board Chairperson shall determine the date, time, and location of such public hearing, but in any event the initial public hearing must be scheduled no sooner than 90 days but no later than 120 days from the date the request for site approval was filed with the County Clerk.
(C) The County Board Chairperson shall notify the applicant of the date, time, and location of such hearing. The applicant shall cause notice of such hearing to be made as follows:
(1) Publish legal notice in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county no later than 14 days prior to the date of such hearing;
(2) Such notice shall consist of the following:
(a) The name and address of the applicant;
(b) The owner of the site, and in case ownership is in a land trust, the names of the beneficiaries of said trust;
(c) The legal description of the subject site;
(d) The street address of the property, and if there is no street address applicable to the property, a description of the site with reference to location, ownership, or occupancy, or in some other manner that will reasonably identify the property to residents of the neighborhood;
(e) The nature and size of the proposed development;
(f) The nature of the activity proposed;
(g) The probable life of the proposed activity;
(h) The time and date of the public hearing;
(i) The location of the public hearing;
(j) A statement that all documentary evidence other than testimony to be submitted at the public hearing and a list identifying witnesses must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the public hearing commences;
(k) A statement that all parties, including members of the public, intending to testify or cross-examine must submit notice of said intent to the County Clerk or sign in with the hearing officer on or before the first day of public hearing; and
(l) A statement that written comment must be received by the County Clerk or postmarked not later than 30 days after the date of the last public hearing.
(3) No later than 14 days prior to the hearing, notice shall be delivered by certified mail to all members of the General Assembly from the district in which the proposed site is located, to the State Environmental Protection Agency, and to the governing authority of all municipalities contiguous to the proposed facility.
(D) The hearing officer appointed by the County Board Chairperson shall preside over the public hearing and shall make any decisions concerning the admission of evidence and the manner in which the hearing is conducted subject to this subchapter. The hearing officer shall make all decisions and rulings in accordance with fundamental fairness. The hearing officer may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, incompetent, or unduly repetitious testimony or other evidence. No ruling of the hearing officer shall be appealable to the PCF Committee or the County Board.
(E) The applicant for site location approval shall have the burden of going forward with evidence of the suitability of the site location for the proposed use. The request for site location approval previously filed, and all reports, maps, or studies contained therein shall be deemed evidence and admitted as an exhibit at the public hearing.
(F) Any person appearing at such public hearing shall have the right to give testimony and comment on the suitability of the site location for the proposed use. All persons intending to participate in the hearing, including members of the public, must submit written notification of said intent to the County Clerk before the first day of public hearing or register in person with the hearing officer prior to the close or adjournment of the first day of hearing. Any person who has submitted a timely notification of intent to participate at such public hearing shall have the right to present testimony and witnesses and orally comment on the suitability of the site location for the proposed use. Any such person shall have the right to be represented by an attorney at said public hearing. Participants represented by attorneys shall have the right of reasonable cross-examination, subject to the hearing officer’s judgment and consistent with fundamental fairness. Participants not represented by attorneys shall be allowed to submit written cross-examination questions to the hearing officer, who shall exercise discretion to direct relevant and non-duplicative cross-questions to the applicable witness. Cross-questioning of witnesses will be permitted only during that period immediately following each witness’ testimony.
(G) Conduct of the public hearing shall be substantially as follows:
(1) Call to order;
(2) Introduction of the hearing officer;
(3) Recognition of the applicant and identification of the request for site approval;
(4) Recognition by the applicant of fees, notices, and date of filing of the request for site approval;
(5) (a) Recognition of the PCF Committee and other parties wishing to testify and any other reports, exhibits, maps, or documents of record as filed pursuant to this subchapter, as amended. All parties, including members of the public, intending to testify or cross-examine must sign in or submit written notification of said intent to the County Clerk or hearing officer on or before the first day of the public hearing. Should the public hearing extend beyond one day, additional parties or members of the public, not of record as of the first day of the public hearing, will not be allowed to present testimony or cross-examine, except as authorized by the hearing officer for cause shown, consistent with fundamental fairness.
(b) Subject to § 150.40(D), any person wishing to comment orally, without being subject to cross-examination, may do so at the conclusion of evidence, subject to the hearing officer’s discretion.
(6) The applicant, the county, and other parties represented by counsel may make an opening statement;
(7) Testimony from the applicant and/or any witnesses the applicant may wish to call. Upon the close of the applicant’s evidence, the county and other parties may offer expert witnesses and other testimony or evidence they may wish to present. Members of the public, of record, as set forth in divisions (F) and (G)(5) above, may then present oral comment. All members of the public who participate by providing oral comments shall do so under oath. The hearing officer shall decide the order of presentation of testimony subject to this subchapter;
(8) All witnesses shall testily under oath. Testimony may include the use of exhibits. All witnesses shall be subject to reasonable questioning as follows: direct, cross-questioning, redirect, recross, and the like. After all parties have presented testimony, reasonable rebuttal, surrebuttal, and the like, may be allowed at the discretion of the hearing officer;
(9) Should any issues, facts, data, or other evidence arise during the course of the public hearing, which were not apparent or reasonably foreseeable from the request for site approval as filed with the County Clerk, such situation may constitute grounds for a recess in the public hearing for a period not to exceed five working days;
(10) Summary statements by the applicant, other parties, and the county, subject to limitations as imposed by the hearing officer;
(11) Rebuttal statement, if any, by the applicant, subject to limitations as imposed by the hearing officer;
(12) Proposed findings of fact and recommendation of the parties. Prior to the close of the hearing, the hearing officer shall fix a date after the hearing to file the same with the County Clerk; and
(13) Hearing closed.
(H) If, prior to making a final local siting decision, the County Board has negotiated and entered into a host agreement with the applicant, the terms and conditions of the host agreement, whether oral or written, shall be disclosed and made a part of the hearing record for that local siting proceeding. In the case of an oral agreement, the disclosure shall be made in the form of a written summary jointly prepared and submitted by the County Board and the applicant, and shall describe the terms and conditions of the oral agreement.
(Prior Code, § 3-5B-5) (Ord. 2007-0327, passed 3-20-2007)