By VICKI URBANIK

Now that the composting site in the Crocker section of Chesterton is no longer open to the general public, the Waste Reduction & Recycling District of Porter County is looking for a new site in the northern part of the county.

On Thursday, the Porter County Park Board agreed with a request from the Recycling District to explore a possible partnership to find a new composting site.

Davis told the park board that before the Recycling District considers purchasing a site on its own, it wanted to see if it could develop partnerships with other entities. She told the park board that even if it helps the district in the endeavor, she’ll still be searching for additional sites in north county.

The Recycling District operated the Crocker composting site through a partnership with the town of Chesterton, offering the public a place to take their organic waste as well as the compost created. But the site, owned by the town, ceased being open to the general public at the start of this year, when the Chesterton Street Department needed the site for its own needs.

“We knew that time was coming. It’s here,” she said.

The Recycling District also operates a composting site on its own property in Boone Grove, as well as a site on Ind. 130 through a partnership with Valparaiso.

Davis said under the most ideal situation, a north-county compost site would consist of 80 acres or so. But since that’s unlikely to happen, she said the new site should be at least 20 acres and preferably, 30 acres in size. The new site would likely serve the areas in and around Chesterton, Porter, Burns Harbor and Portage.

By consensus, the park board agreed to partner with the Recycling District to explore possible sites. “It’s a very big problem,” said park board member Christine Aylesworth of the disposal of organic yard waste. Davis noted that yard waste cannot be landfilled.

However, the idea of a composting site on county park property was promptly rejected by audience members Herb and Charlotte Read, both of whom supported the need for composting, but said a compost site shouldn’t be in a park. “I think that’s an improper use of park land,” Charlotte Read said. “I fear the precedent here,” added Herb Read.

In another matter, the park board took no action on a pending request from the Duneland Fourth of July Committee to once again hold the annual festival and fireworks show at Sunset Hill Farm County Park, as it was last year.

Maintenance supervisor Mike Howton noted that the festival committee went before the Chesterton Park Board about possibly moving the festival back to Chesterton’s Dogwood Park, but that the town park board had a variety of concerns about the traffic flow and fireworks. “We have the same concerns as they had,” he said.

Howton also said the festival hasn’t gotten back with the park staff yet with the requested information. Park Board President Rich Hudson said it’s now up to the festival committee to try to resolve the concerns. The county park board won’t be “the bad guys if this falls apart,” he said.

Posted 3/7/2008