Sweetheart spent more than $100,000 for the berm and is willing to tear it down, but doubts that is what neighbors want, Pasqualini said.
Houcksville Road residents face a 630-foot-long gray concrete wall, now partially hidden by the berm, and insisted on a buffer to soften the view. County inspectors discussed the berm with the town, Frazier said.
The berm was included in the original plan but the location was altered, said Decker, the town manager.
Now the 6-foot-high grass-covered mound sits atop the town's water main, a line that was staked to show its location.
"Had they submitted changes to us, we would have said, "Build farther out,'" Decker said. "Our easement is clear to our rights. This is a water line of significant importance that connects a big portion of our system."
The town doesn't have the excavation equipment - a backhoe and trench shoring walls - to deal with pipes leaking so far below ground, Decker said.
Frazier said the county has the manpower and equipment to handle such problems and would lend the town help should the need arise.
Decker will testify at the zoning hearing tomorrow on the fuel tank Sweetheart wants to install at its building.
"No matter how well this is designed, there is the potential for spills," Decker said. "We would have a largely unregulated fueling facility serving 100 trucks a day. It constitutes a risk to public health."
Pasqualini insists that the above-ground tank, which, like all such operations, would be regulated by the state, is "environmentally friendly and safe."
It would sit on a pad lined with two layers of steel and 6 inches of concrete.
