APOPKA, Fla.,None — There are new questions over whether the city of Apopka ever really intended to expand a city landfill.
City leaders voted to increase the Keene Road landfill, and some residents were furious.
But WFTV's Drew Petrimoulx learned it could have been a big bluff, because the city manager has said Apopka was just trying to get a better deal on its dumping fees.
But county officials said they find that hard to believe.
Apopka residents have held town hall meetings, signed petitions and even formed a political committee all in protest of the planned landfill expansion.
"I feel like there's a lot more land further away from people that they can build a dump without any problems," Apopka resident Peggy Ganim said.
The upgrade would allow Apopka's privately owned facility to accept residential and commercial garbage, whereas now it only takes in yard waste and construction debris.
Apopka city commissioners have voted twice for approval.
But now the city manager Richard Anderson has been quoted as saying they never really wanted the expansion in the first place, and seemed to suggest the city was using the threat of an upgrade as a bargaining chip to get the county to lower Apopka's dumping rates at its landfill.
"Has this been an ongoing issue from the city of Apopka? This was the first I've heard of it." Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said.
WFTV went to get answers from the city manager after calls to his office went unanswered. WFTV was told that he wasn't there, and that he would call WFTV back, but he never did.
On Tuesday afternoon, Orange County was set to vote on an ordinance aimed at stopping Apopka from upgrading, but the vote was delayed while the county and city negotiate.
"I have heard worries from people that think the city of Apopka is playing you for a fool? I'm not concerned about that," Jacobs said.
Now another group of residents very confused by these latest statements are those that live along McQueen Road on the east side of the landfill.
They had been told they would be bought out after the upgrade.
One resident said that if this was all a bluff, she would be extremely disappointed.
WFTV
