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City of Waco asks for $30,000 to fulfill open records request about landfill

According to Residents Against the Axtell Landfill, the request for information related to the city of Waco's proposed landfill was met with three bills totaling more than $30,000.

WACO — The Texas Attorney General is investigating why Waco is charging more than $30,000 to a resident of Axtell who filed an open records request for documents related to the city's plans for a new landfill.

According to the group, Residents Against the Axtell Landfill, the request was sent in August. In September, they said the city responded with estimates in the amounts of $494.40, $924.60 and $30,127.90 in order to fulfill the request.

The group said when the requestor, who hasn't been named, asked the city why it would cost so much, the city would not provide clarification or work with the requestor on amending the request.

Lacey Hollingsworth, a member of the Residents Against the Axtell Landfill committee, said the dates of the request were from 2014-2018.

City of Waco Secretary Esmeralda Hudson said on Friday that after getting the request, the city asked the requestor if they would like to clarify or if they could narrow down the scope of the request.

"Looking at that request, we're talking about thousands and thousands of records that would be responsive to that request," Hudson said. "The Public Information Act gives our municipalities the opportunity to charge based on whatever resources and time and labor it takes to research and compile and release those records."

Hollingsworth said the requestor sent a complaint to the Attorney General's office after not receiving the documents.

The AG's office responded with a letter to the city with four questions:

How did the city determine the number of hours needed to fulfill the request?

Is the information in paper or electronic form?

Where are the records located?

Does any of the information need to be redacted?

The letter was dated Oct. 24 and gave the city 10 days to respond. Hudson said the city was responding to the request Friday.

"We're going to give that information to the Attorney General's office and they will decide what our next steps are," Hudson said.

According to the Attorney General's office Public Information Act Handbook, the cost of meeting an open records request varies depending on the work involved to gather the information.

If the records are on paper, the cost is 10 cents per page. The government agency can also charge $15 an hour for the time spent gathering the records.

"Our team did a conservative estimate on what it would take to locate all of those records and that's how we came up with that amount," Hudson said.

The Waco City Council approved a plan to purchase land in September that would be used for a new landfill. It is located in an area that borders Axtell, Mt. Calm, Hill County and Limestone County.

The city can't move forward with the landfill until its application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is approved.

The Limestone County Commission passed an order Sept. 20 that would prohibit landfills in the county which would only take effect if the TCEQ denies Waco's application.

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