By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

The cooking grease recycling plant at 1745 S. John Young Parkway – the source of numerous bad odor complaints from both residents and nearby businesses – could soon be annexed into the city of Kissimmee.

Affordable Bio Feedstocks Partners, the plant’s operator, has applied for annexation and the City Commission Tuesday evening on first reading of the request voted 5-0 to allow it. Plant owners – operating now under an Osceola County conditional use permit – also are requesting a similar permit from the city. Once annexation occurs, the city would deal with any nuisance complaints, including the smell.

The company’s recycling plant, according to industry information, focuses on the separation of waste cooking grease and oils into three commercially marketable products: brown grease, nutrient-rich organic solids and nutrient rich water. According to city documents, the 5.4-acre site also houses facilities maintenance, marketing, real estate and distribution businesses, all under the management of the property owners within existing structures on the site.

The plant, while operating in the unincorporated area, was in violation of county code because the water purification and bio-diesel processing going on there was not allowed under the property’s conditional use, which was approved to allow private bulk fuel storage and refueling. The plant, because it was out of compliance with the conditional use, was for a time accruing a county fine of $200 per day. County code enforcement had ordered the company to bring the property in compliance after a June 16, 2010, hearing.

In an attempt to resolve issues surrounding the county conditional use and possible annexation, company officials met with the city and county staff to determine the best course of action for correcting the problem. According to information provided for the commission meeting Tuesday, the functions of the plant have been “greatly reduced from what was originally proposed” and a new conditional use and site plan are to be submitted to the city in order to “ensure all necessary onsite improvements are constructed to support the brown grease recycling.”

Bill Freeman, representing the plant operator at the commission meeting, said the company has added deodorizers into its operation and has closed the top of a boiler to reduce the odors escaping.

“We are not ignoring it,” Freeman said. “If something is wrong, we’ll fix it. You invited us to become part of the city; we are not leaving the county on bad feelings.”

Attorney Steve Mellich, representing J Herbert Corporation at 1751 S. John Young Parkway, said the plant’s operation has a “history of non-compliance” with the county as it relates to the conditional use. He also said stormwater from the site runs off to adjacent properties, another code violation.

Mellich also urged the city to inspect the changes to the boiler to ensure its safety in terms of a possible explosion and whether it meets city code.

“The smell is the more substantive issue – at times, it stinks,” Mellich said. “The applicant has taken measures trying to abate the smell but it isn’t working.”

The attorney added that nearby businesses have had to send employees home at times when the smell from the plant was at its worst.

“We hope the city can take a more aggressive effort at compliance than the county did,” Mellich said, adding that the plant’s proposed annexation is a way of getting around the county code violation and that the county essentially would be deferring the compliance issue to the city. “It was that or request a new conditional use permit from the county.”

City officials said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had investigated the smell complaints but that it found the plant to be in compliance with state regulations.

In answer to that, Mellich urged the city not to rely on the state’s findings since the bad odor doesn’t occur everyday and depends on weather conditions and on what process is being undertaken at the plant on any given day.

“We are asking the city to be aware of the process going on,” Mellich said.

City Attorney Don Smallwood said determining whether the odor constitutes a nuisance would be a “subjective call.”

“It could end up in court to determine if staff was right (declaring the smell a nuisance) or whether the company was right,” Smallwood said.

Mayor Jim Swan said odor issues are “very challenging” to resolve but promised the city would “follow through with enforcement” if smell becomes an issue.

City officials also said the boiler would be inspected to see whether it does indeed comply with city building codes and if it didn’t, then the annexation could not move forward. Drainage issues also would have to be resolved.

In addition, city officials explained that the company’s engineering site plan accompanying the county conditional use permit request showed the grease recycling operation but due to an oversight had not been specifically included in the conditional use when approved by the County Commission.

Freeman Properties LLC, of Kissimmee, is the owner of the recycling plant site, according to county property records. Affordable Bio Feedstocks Partners, state corporation records show, is managed by David and Charlyne Holcomb, of Orlando, and Abe Freeman, of Kissimmee; Mimi Freeman is listed on state records as the manager of Freeman Properties.

The company began in April 2008 as Affordable Bio Feedstock, with company officials listed on state documents at the time as Mimi, Matthew B. and Abe N. Freeman. The company changed its name and management in June 2010.