Changes are coming to the DeKalb County Sanitary Landfill.

“We’ll be known as the landfill town,” said Cortland Mayor Robert Seyller in response to the expansion plans of the landfill.

The landfill, located east of Somonauk Road and south of I-88 in Cortland Township, will directly affect the safety of the town’s citizens and its aesthetic value, Seyller said.

On March 18, the DeKalb County Board approved an agreement with Waste Management to expand the landfill from 300 to 2,000 tons per day to allow room for future waste and the monitoring of environmental threats to the surrounding area.

The DeKalb County Planning and Zoning Committee met last March to discuss reasons for the expansion. Dale Hoekstra, a Waste Management representative, informed the committee the landfill had seven years of life left and expanding it would allow for old waste to be removed, alleviating an existing environmental threat at the site.

Hoekstra said although there was a 9 percent decrease in the quantity of trash in 2008, areas of the landfill have almost reached their final elevation capacity of 945 feet. Moving this debris closer to the three new wells built in January 2009 will help control odor issues and groundwater contamination.

A press release written by Seyller immediately after the County Board’s approval said that the county ignored Cortland and every other government in DeKalb County when they made this agreement.

“Waste Management will pay enormous fees to the county for this expansion,” Seyller said in the release. “Cortland will not get a dime.”

Seyller believes the expansion will increase potential for water contamination, blowing debris, methane gas and odors. Traffic on Route 38 will also increase due to the transportation of wastes to and from the landfill, Seyller said.

The press release also addressed concerns of property value decreases in Cortland due to the expansion and compared DeKalb County’s retributions to those given to Kendall County by Waste Management. Seyller has been working with Waste Management on an agreement to receive money to compensate for any property loss.

“We need some benefits from the detriments we’re going to experience,” Seyller said. “People won’t want to live out here.”

DeKalb County Administrator Ray Bockman defended the county’s decision for the expansion, saying since the landfill is in the county’s jurisdiction and not in that of DeKalb, Sycamore or Cortland, it’s up to the county to pass the vote.

Once Waste Management files design plans for the expansion, a hearing process will begin to address the public’s concerns, Bockman said.

“To suggest that Cortland won’t benefit from this [source of revenue] is to ignore the facts,” Bockman said in response to Seyller’s revenue concerns.

“Bockman’s only concern was the money, not its citizens,” Seyller said.

Since his press release, Seyller has negotiated with Waste Management, asking for considerations like property value losses to be made that were previously ignored by the county. He said he is satisfied with Waste Management’s treatment of his concerns but was not happy with the way the county has treated the issue. Seyller said since the county fell short in providing for its citizens, Cortland will continue to fight to get their needs met.

“[The] county is greedy, and I’m not going to let them forget that,” Seyller said.