ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    March
    7,
    1985
    JANET HOESMAN and BYRON HOESMAN
    Petitioners,
    v.
    )
    PCB 84—162
    CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF URBANA,
    ILLINOIS and
    THE
    CIT?
    OF
    URBANA,
    )
    ILLINOIS
    Respondents.
    STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
    (by
    3.
    Marlin):
    As the reviewing body
    in this case,
    the Board can only
    overturn the City~sdecision
    if
    it
    is against
    the manifest weight
    of
    the evidence.
    The record before the Board
    is weak
    in many
    respects and consists largely of assertions on the part
    of the
    applicant and opponents.
    Given the constraints of the law,
    I
    cannot conclude that the City Council’s decision should be
    overturned.
    The Council was clearly aware
    of the concerns of the
    residents who live near the landfill site and has promised to
    take specific steps
    to resolve conflicts and minimize the impact
    of
    the landfill,
    I believe
    that the hearing before the City on
    the City’s
    application was as fair as possible under the circumstances and
    that the additional proceeding before the Plan Commission helped
    focus attention on the controversy rather than prejudice
    the
    position of the opponents.
    In this case,
    the
    :Lack of sworn testimony before the City
    Council
    is
    a serious error.
    While such an error can create
    a
    prejudicial situation,
    I do not believe this occurred
    in
    this
    case and
    no participant claimed otherwise.
    Therefore,
    I see no
    useful public purpose being served by reversing
    the City on this
    point.
    Such action would simply lead
    to another expensive
    hearing with little chance of
    a changed outcome.
    The siting law places elected city and county officials
    in
    an unfamiliar quasi—judicial
    role which requires them to follow
    unique procedures.
    Where possible the Board should make
    allowances
    for inadvertent error by the hearing body or
    participants where
    no prejudice has been alleged
    or
    is clearly
    evident.
    To do otherwise,
    would make
    an awkward
    situation worse.
    83-179
    2
    It should be noted that regardless of
    the Board’s
    action,
    the applicant will
    be able to take steps to use the subject
    site
    as
    a non—regional landfill serving Urbana only.
    I,
    Dorothy M~Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    hereby certify
    that the above Statement For the Record was
    filed on the
    ~i~C
    day of
    _____________________,
    1985.
    Dorothy M, Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    ard Member
    83-180

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