Anaheim : Landfill, Jail Plans on ‘Town Meeting’ Agenda

Proposals for a county landfill and a jail will be the topics of a town meeting tonight for county and city officials and residents concerned with water quality and property values.

Also on the agenda for the meeting, organized by residents, is a development plan for Anaheim Hills Golf Course. Sydney Minich, an organizer of the meeting, said she expects at least 500 people with “a great deal of constructive anger” to show up at the Canyon High School gymnasium, 200 S. Imperial Highway, at 7:30 p.m.

Of the three subjects to be aired, the county landfill, proposed for either Coal Canyon or Gypsum Canyon, is the most important, Minich said.

A report from independent consultants, released last month, showed that placing landfills in the canyons would pose potential problems--including contamination of the Santa Ana River--if recommended precautions are not adopted. Minich and other residents oppose the landfill, saying they fear contamination of the river, which replenishes the county’s water supply.

“I just don’t think people understand the potential for massive disaster that we have out here,” Minich said.

While most of the officials at the meeting--from the county Environmental Management Agency, Solid Waste Management Agency, Parks and Recreation Department and other groups--will talk about the landfill and the jail--also proposed for Gypsum or Coal Canyon--residents also intend to bring up a plan to build condominiums, single-family houses and a commercial center at the golf course, Minich said.