Bob Balenovich, the Rumpke site engineer for Kentucky, explains the details of a proposed garbage transfer station on Power Street during a meeting Tuesday at Delafield Community Center. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Ronald and Becky Rigsby appreciate that Rumpke wants to be a good neighbor when it builds its proposed district office and transfer station behind their Power Street home. Still, the Bowling Green couple dont want Rumpke as a neighbor. For what they want to do, its an ideal location if the houses werent in front of them, said a frustrated Becky Rigsby, who has lived in the same house for 27 years and is part of one of two families living in front of the proposed site. Weve always wanted to move, but his elderly parents lived next door. Weve had two salvage yards, a recycling place, a concrete batch plant and a pallet factory move in. Weve been to several rezoning meetings when the different companies moved in and expressed our concerns. Weve also talked to several commissioners and the mayors office, but to no avail. The city passed everything. The Rigsbys were among several homeowners who expressed concerns about the proposed transfer station during an informational meeting Tuesday at Delafield Community Center. The proposed district office and transfer station will consolidate the Cincinnati-based companys county business into one area, Rumpke spokeswoman Shelly Sack said. Were currently located on Graham Street, but we dispose of our trash at Kenway, Sack said. We werent operating efficiently. The proposed state-of-the-art, 12,000-square-foot facility would be used to merge the countys solid waste for its trip to Pearl Hollow Landfill in Elizabethtown. After collection trucks are weighed, they will enter the building to dump their trash on the concrete floor. A front-end loader then will transfer the trash to a tractor-trailer truck and employees will cover it with a tarp to prevent blowing during the trip to Elizabethtown, facilities engineer Bob Balenovich said. The $1.3 million project also will include a 12,000-square-foot maintenance facility, a 22,500-square-foot district office and a little more than an acre of green space, Balenovich said. Though a tractor-trailer truck would leave the facility every hour, the facility shouldnt significantly increase traffic on Ky. 185 and Boatlanding Road during its operating hours, which would run from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, Balenovich said. Rumpke would like to start building the complex in April and be fully operational in August, but that will depend on whether City Commission approves a zoning change for the proposed site of the district office, Sack said. Rumpke will be meeting with the city/county planning commission Jan. 18 to recommend the rezoning. Were wanting to change the zoning from Industrial 1 to Industrial 2, which is designated light industrial, with a conditional use permit for solid waste, Sack said. During the meeting, Balenovich mentioned several safeguards the company would be take to protect the environment, but it didnt ease the concerns of many residents who live along Ky. 185.Theres no way they will be able to keep it under control, said Teresa Harrison, who lives off of Ky. 185. I just dont believe them. The Rigsbys just want to be able to walk into their yard and see trees, homes and other residents, not tractor-trailer trucks and pallets, they said. When everybody leaves here, they will have a home in a nice area to go to, Becky Rigsby said. When we go home, well have to look at junk.