AXTELL, TX — People in Axtell have formed a committee of people to help be a voice in the fight against the alternative site for the Highway 84 landfill.
For months Axtell residents said they've heard rumors of the controversial Waco Landfill expansion wouldn't head toward eastern McLennan County, but then they saw the Waco City Council agenda had items proposing the purchase of a 504 acre ranch near Axtell for an alternative location for the landfill.
That tract of land extends into Limestone County.
"You can't just dump the problems of the rich on the poor of the Eastern county," Lacy Hollingsworth, a lifelong Axtell resident, said.
Hundreds of people near the community of Axtell, upset over the proposed landfill site near their homes, packed the gym at Axtell High School to voice their concerns over the proposed landfill.
Among those hearing the concerns: other community members from the McLennan and Limestone county sides of the proposed site and both nominees for the McLennan County Commissioner seat for Precinct 2.
"They mentioned property values and environmental concerns," democratic nominee Patricia Chisholm-Miller said.
Republican nominee, Donis "D.L." Wilson said he'd heard the same concerns and added, "These may not be millionaires out here, but they're good, honest people who want to know what is going to happen to their area."
In addition, people said they have concerns over traffic, referring to F.M. 939 as "narrow" and the street's intersection with S.H. 31 as "dangerous."
"It's very concerning that we're going to add this much more traffic to an already narrow road," Hollingsworth.
The City of Waco released a statement stating it is open to public input on the proposed landfill:
The City of Waco considers the residents of eastern McLennan County as its neighbors. Recent evidence of this is that Waco has offered some of its water (up to 2 million gallons each day) to help resolve the area's arsenic issue in its water supply. Likewise, our goal will be to work with elected officials and residents of the area near the intersection of State Highway 31 and T.K. Parkway throughout this process.
The special meeting of the Waco City Council to discuss the proposed site and a potential vote is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Bosque Theater at the Waco Convention Center.