(1) No person, partnership, industry, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency shall operate, maintain or construct a solid waste disposal area of a type that must be licensed by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control at any place located over any groundwater source that supplies drinking water to the residents of Springfield, Nebraska, either within the corporate limits of the City or within five miles of the corporate limits of the City, except for a solid waste disposal area which has obtained a license as provided for in this section. A person, partnership, industry, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency desiring a license to operate a new solid waste disposal area shall make application to the City. The application shall contain the name and residence of the applicant and the location of the proposed disposal area and a copy of the application, operational plan and all addenda filed with Nebraska Department of Environmental Control. The application shall be filed with the City Clerk. Upon filing the application, each applicant shall pay an application fee of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
(2) Upon receipt of the application and filing fee, the City Council shall hire an independent engineering firm to review the application. The engineering review shall determine what effect, if any, the proposed solid waste disposal area will have on the groundwater that supplies drinking water.
(3) The engineering review shall be available in the City Clerk’s office five (5) days prior to the public hearing.
(4) Before any solid waste disposal area shall be approved by the City, a public hearing shall be held by the City Council within forty-five (45) days of the receipt of the application.
(5) The City shall give notice at least ten (10) days before the hearing on the application. Such notice shall be given by publication of a notice one time in a newspaper either published in or having general circulation in Springfield. The notice shall state the time and place of hearing, the name and address of the applicant for the license, and the exact location of the proposed solid waste disposal area.
(6) Within ten (10) days following the public hearing, the City Council shall hold a special meeting and vote on the application for the solid waste disposal license. The City Council shall consider the application, the independent engineering report and the testimony from the public hearing. The purpose of the license is to protect the groundwater that supplies drinking water to the Springfield residents. The license shall be granted if it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt that construction of the solid waste disposal area will not contaminate the groundwater that supplies drinking water to the residents of Springfield.
(7) The initial license shall be for a period of five (5) years and may be renewed every five (5) years for a renewal fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(8) If the City Council votes to grant the license, the City Clerk shall issue a license to the applicant upon filing by the applicant with the City of a performance bond in the amount equal to five hundred dollars ($500.00) per acre of the disposal area, but not less than twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), which bond shall terminate one (1) year following the last day of the license period or subsequent renewal period.
(9) Any person who shall violate or refuse to comply with the enforcement of any provisions of this Chapter as set forth herein or incorporated by reference shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each offense. A new violation shall be deemed to have been committed every twenty-four (24) hours of such failure to comply. In addition to all other relief, an injunction may be brought against violating parties. (Ord. No. 305, 2/14/89) (Amended by Ord. No. 311, 11/7/89)