Genesee County commissioners voted 6-2 on Oct. 14 to suspend construction of a planned $12.7 million recycling and education center at the former McDonald Dairy property in Flint, ordering staff to find new locations after months of resident pushback over the site. The project itself isn't dead, but where it will eventually be built is now anyone's guess.
According to WNEM, commissioners voted Wednesday to suspend construction at the planned Flint location and directed staff to identify three to six alternative locations throughout Genesee County. The county has not announced a timeline for selecting a new location, though the station reports the recycling center itself has not been canceled. The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Delrico J. Loyd, directs staff to seek alternatives to the planned Flint location near Chavez Drive and Robert T. Longway Boulevard.
That site, at 609 Chavez Drive, is the former home of the McDonald Dairy complex, which processed milk in Flint for 70 years before the buildings came down in 2024, as reported by MLive. The county acquired the property from the Genesee County Land Bank with plans to build a year-round facility where residents could drop off recyclables, electronics and household hazardous waste, rather than relying solely on the periodic pop-up recycling days that have become increasingly expensive to run.
Why the Site Became a Sticking Point
Resident Brandi Purtill urged commissioners to abandon plans for the facility at the former McDonald Dairy site, telling the board that Flint residents deserve a voice in a healthy industrial future and raising concerns about environmental risks. A petition opposing the project at that location gathered 397 verified signatures, and community partners have raised concerns about the site, described as an entry point into downtown Flint. Some residents argued the downtown river area would be better suited for mixed-use development than the proposed industrial-area site, according to the Flint Courier News.
That same outlet reported from a community input session in September that not all community members felt adequately informed about the project, and that residents pressed county staff on what safeguards would prevent off-gassing and chemical exposure from batteries and televisions once the center opened. County staff told attendees the facility would not process materials on-site but rather collect and store items for pickup — paper, cardboard, plastic, electronics and household hazardous waste among them — before they're hauled away.
Loyd said the session was broadly supportive of the center itself but not its location, and he has described the former dairy property as a major eyesore in his district, county and community. He has also said county residents desire the recycling center and that the data supports its need.
A Divided Board and a Cost Picture That Kept Shifting
The vote split the board. Commissioner Charles H. Winfrey, who represents District 2, voted in favor of the resolution, saying simply that the people have spoken. But Board Chairman Dale K. Weighill, who represents District 8, voted against it, saying he was concerned that household hazardous materials could contaminate the community if the project is delayed any further.
Money has already gone into the project. About $1.5 million had been spent over the past decade, Commissioner Gary Goetzinger told WNEM. WNEM reported that money spent on demolition at the original property cannot be recovered, although some other expenses could potentially carry over to whatever site is chosen next.
The project's price tag itself has been a moving target. The Flint Courier News described it as a $12.7 million recycling and education center, while MLive reported the county had secured roughly $5.5 million and needed more than twice that amount; an earlier MLive report from August 2024 pegged the cost at $10 million. The reasons behind those shifting estimates haven't been publicly detailed. A $900,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has helped underwrite the project throughout.
Pop-Up Events Show the Demand Is Real
Part of the urgency behind building a permanent facility comes from how popular — and expensive — the county's existing pop-up recycling days have become. MLive reported that the Genesee County Planning Commission found roughly a 400% increase in the cost of its recycle-day events since 2019, even as the events kept drawing hundreds of participants. In one recent example reported by the same outlet, 952 available appointments for a county recycling event were fully booked within two days, generating 2,217 waitlist signups.
That demand is central to the county's case for building a permanent, centralized drop-off site for household hazardous, electronic and other waste rather than continuing to rely on occasional events. The planned center was also meant to serve an education function, giving residents information on the benefits of recycling and sustainability, not just a place to drop off materials.
For now, the search for a new home starts over. The Genesee County Public Works Committee is expected to review the alternative sites by January 2027, according to the resolution, but the county has given no indication of what criteria it will use to judge the three to six options once they're identified, or how quickly a final choice might follow.
