Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade commission will likely have deferral vote on Doral incinerator

Last week, the Trump family tossed a wrench in the process by getting involved. And now even the mayor is officially confirming she wants a deferral.

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Once again, the fate of the Doral incinerator has been put on pause.

The issue of the Doral incinerator and its future was supposed to come up at Tuesday’s Miami-Dade County Commission meeting, but the mayor confirmed that the commission will likely vote on whether to defer the issue.

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"So this has been a long process," Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

The chair of the commission told NBC6 that the mayor told him she wanted the issue deferred. Commissioner Raquel Regalado officially requested the deferral.

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Ultimately, the commission will decide how long to put the issue on hold.

Last week, the Trump family got involved with the ongoing saga. The President-elect’s son, Eric Trump, met with Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez and told him he called the mayor to voice his concerns about keeping the incinerator in Doral, where Trump National Doral is located.

Levine Cava did confirm having a conversation with Eric Trump and told him all options were on the table.

“We had already decided that we wanted to take a little more time to explore some other options. I was able to say, we’re open to options," she said.

Two weeks ago, the mayor recommended keeping the incinerator in Doral.

Talk of relocating the facility started last year when the existing one was destroyed by a fire. Four areas had been proposed, including the current Doral location, a site in Medley, and two sites near the Miami-Dade/Broward western border.

The mayor said she recently met with environmentalists, who asked for alternative options.

"So one of the options that we had looked at but we're going to look at again is the possibility of more landfilling, not necessarily locally, so we’re looking at all options, and I think it’s appropriate to take a little more time," Levine Cava said.

The likely decision to defer is welcomed news by those affected, like the city of Doral and its mayor, Christi Fraga.

“I think this is a step in the right direction," Fraga said.

Fraga said she has also been in touch with the Trump Organization as well as other stakeholders to try and find other solutions.

"We’ll continue to have a conversation and put an action plan in what is the right solution for the county long term," Fraga said.

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