Buffalo resident asks Commissioners to sign covenant

The group of Buffalo residents have made their next move in the ongoing issue regarding the Buffalo property intended to be the county’s new FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) vegetative debris site.

Brandon Clifton, the Buffalo resident who first learned of the project, presented the commissioners with “a declaration of restrictive covenants” during Monday’s Chambers County Commission meeting.

As he passed it out, Clifton asked the commissioners to consider the covenant, a legal agreement that can be used to impose positive or negative obligations on a landowner. Sam Bradford, Commissioner for District 4, was not present at the meeting.

The covenant refers to a 34.7 acre property along U.S. Highway 431 that was purchased by the county to be a FEMA vegetative debris site. The property, a portion of which is currently being used for agriculture, is approximately 0.15 miles north of CR 105 in the community of Buffalo.

Many Buffalo residents have expressed concern that no statement was made publicly about the site and that the county had begun putting materials on the land which broke ADEM guidelines.

The county has since removed the debris from the site.

Since then, the residents have attended many meetings and hosted community meetings of their own to discuss the issue.

Clifton said that their fear is that the county will eventually decide to turn the property into a landfill which may impact the private properties surrounding it.

If signed, the covenant explicitly states that the land is intended as a “temporary vegetative debris reduction site” and that the restrictions listed in the covenant will be binding with all successors, those who may be elected Commissioner’s in the future.

The County Commissioners made a resolution at the first meeting in June stating their intentions for the land.

However, as Chairman James Williams has said, any resolution passed by the current sitting commissioners could be overturned by the next elected group.

The list of restrictions in the covenant are as follows:

4 The debris site may be used only as a FEMA disaster site and only in the event of an emergency declared by either the governor or the US president.

4 Only vegetative debris, created by a natural disaster, may be moved to and stored on the land. Reduction shall occur via burning, chipping or grinding in compliance with Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Emergency Management Agency, Federal Highway Administration and FEMA guidelines.

4 The property may not be used as a construction and demolition site, solid waste landfill or any other federal or state regulated landfill that would be contrary to the covenant.

The language of the covenant specifically intends to protect the property’s natural condition against the development of a landfill.

The agreement also stipulates that any amendment to the covenant must be preceded by a public hearing announced at the land site and in a local newspaper 30 days in advance.

The covenant also states that owners of adjoining land will have the right to enter onto the property to inspect it for any signs of breaking the covenant.

Williams told the VTN that the commissioners have not yet discussed the covenant and no decision has been made.

He maintained that the commission’s only intended use for the land is for a vegetative debris site in the case of an emergency.

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