Holly Pond Town Council considers concerns about new recycling facility

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BNF Metals’ scrap yard seen from Highway 278 on Monday. According to Holly Pond’s mayor, the owner has ordered a privacy screen that will comply with the town’s ordinance. (W.C. Mann for The Cullman Tribune)

HOLLY POND, Ala. – At the Holly Pond Town Council meeting Monday evening, Councilwoman Julie Ray raised concerns about the town’s new metal recycling facility BNF metals. The facility received its business license on June 6, 2023 and officially opened on June 16, a month after the council on May 1 passed what some of its members called a “junkyard ordinance.” Ray read excerpts from the ordinance, saying that it requires solid walls or screened fences eight feet tall surrounding all outdoor areas containing scrap materials, and that the contents of the scrap yard must not be visible to the public– blocked from view by walls, solid fencing, landscaping or natural terrain. She then stated that BNF’s yard is not completely fenced, and that much that is fenced has open fencing that does not hide the contents of the yard.

“This is two meetings that have passed since this has taken place, and there’s still no fence up around the perimeter, other than the west side of their business by the automotive mechanic shop,” said Ray, adding later, “There has been mentioned that there was nothing that we could do about this matter. It’s not the fact that there was nothing that we could do about this matter (at meetings following the passage of the ordinance). You know, we had options before this business came into town, and we still have options.”

Ray told the council that she did not oppose the presence of a scrap yard in the town, stating, “First and foremost, let me speak and say that I have nothing against the business coming to town. They’re a business coming in like any other business.”

Ray was joined in her complaint by Eric and Stephanie Wiseman, whose home property sits along the eastern border of the BNF yard. The Wisemans attended the council meeting to address the issue.

“I don’t even want to sit on my front porch and watch my kids play outside,” said Stephanie Wiseman, “because I look over and that’s all there is: there’s nothing but huge piles of trash. And I moved into a beautiful house in a beautiful town, and that’s not something I want to see. And my kids literally look at it and they’re like, ‘Mom, that’s really gross.’”

The family charged that they can no longer invite friends over because of the trash and noise at the facility. They expressed fear that piles of debris at the site already exceed what an eight-foot fence would hide, and worries about downhill liquid runoff from the site, as well as the potential for metal debris to be blown by wind down into the yard where their children play.

A visit by The Tribune to the Wiseman’s property showed that no fence stood between the BNF scrapyard and their house, which sits at the bottom of the hill on top of which the recycling facility is located.

The front of BNF’s yard along Highway 278 has an open chain link fence, while a compliant closed wooden wall separates the yard from the facility’s public parking area.

Mayor Carla Hart responded to the concerns of Ray and the Wisemans, saying that she has talked to the owner, Jared Ibrahim, that he is in the process of fencing in the remainder of the property, and that he is awaiting the arrival of mesh covering for the currently open fencing that will obscure view of the yard from outside.  She added that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management has made multiple visits to the facility and found Ibrahim in compliance with the law. Town Clerk Connie Moore noted that ADEM found one minor issue with a drainwater permit, which the owner is currently working to correct.

Ray countered that the fence should have been completed before the facility opened for business.

Moore told Ray that the town does not ask detailed questions of each new business owner applying for a license, citing Ray’s own business license as an example, arguing that doing so in this situation would be “kind of picking on one particular person.”

“It’s not picking on someone,” said Ray. “It’s business; it’s nothing personal.”

Moore later asked Ray if the town needs an ordinance to govern the food vendors that come to special events in the community. Ray called the question unfair, since she had personally contracted those food vendors, noting also that food vendors are already subject to strict health department regulations. Moore noted that Ibrahim also has state licenses and permits.

“He is working on it,” said Hart. “I talked to ADEM myself. ADEM was there the 24th of July, and there’s no liquids that they’re worried about. He assures me that all the gas tanks are empty when they come in there with vehicles and such as that. He’s doing his best to follow the rules, ours and the state’s.”

Citing wording from the ordinance, Ray told the council, “If they don’t abide by it, we as a council can revoke that license until they get that fixed. If they’re not abiding by our ordinance, what we passed, and our residents have a complaint with that, we as a council can pull until they get it fixed. I didn’t want to go that far, but through that ordinance, it gives all of that.”

Hart said, “We’ll address the fence, and if it doesn’t get done, and he can’t give me a timeline, then I guess we will call a meeting, and we’ll address this together as a council, and go from there. If rules aren’t abided by, we will stand by our law. I don’t know – we’ll have to revoke if he doesn’t follow our rules or talk to (town attorney) Dan (Willingham) and see what we need to do.”

Willingham was not at Monday’s meeting, but Mayor Hart said that she would talk with him about what the town should do, including deadlines for compliance, when he is available.

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