The controversy that has enveloped the little town of Eddystone isn’t going anywhere.
Council met last night and was met by another large group of residents who wanted to tell them – in no uncertain terms – exactly what they thought of the plan to allow Camden Iron & Metal to relocate their metal-shredding facility at the old Foamex site in the borough.
Last month borough council approved a preliminary land development plan that would allow the move.
Some residents believe council is rolling out the red carpet for the company, and not paying nearly enough attention to residents’ complaints about traffic, quality of life, and possible health and environmental complications stemming from such an operation.
They couldn’t even agree on where to hold the meeting. Yesterday I noted that the residents’ group was upset that council would not move last night’s meeting to a larger facility to accommodate the crowd, as had been done with a previous hearing on the matter.
Yesterday I got a call from the borough with a little more information about that. The person I talked to said the citizens group had been putting flyers all over town asking people to call borough hall in an effort to get the meeting moved. The official said that after all that they got responses from five citizens.
In the meantime, the group reiterated their opposition last night. You can read the story and check out a video of the meeting here.
Council is in a tough spot here. They have an opportunity to bring in a company that will undoubtedly bring with it jobs and tax benefits to the struggling town. On the other hand, they have to weight that against residents – at least some of them - who clearly do not want this plant in their town.
Yep, tough spot.
Comments
There's one pretty basic question that doesn't get asked when the Daily Times covers these Eddystone council meetings. Where are the supporters of the CIM facility that the mayor and other people speak of? I'm sure there are quite a few out there, but there are more leprechauns and unicorns at these meetings than pro-CIM residents.
Some say that the people who pack these meetings are only a vocal minority who don't represent the majority of Eddystone residents, but when we look back on this issue in a year or two, the official record will show testimony opposing CIM by a large number of individual residents at meeting after meeting and quite possibly not one single resident speaking in favor of CIM.
The Eddystone Borough Council has conducted no poll. There has been no referendum. The only means they have to gauge public sentiment is the testimony presented at council meetings, and that has been at least 99% against allowing CIM to build in Eddystone.
Is there a journalist at the Daily Times who has the gumption to get a statement from each Eddystone council member explaining the pro-CIM votes and the one abstention?
Glen Wilson
Eddystone