By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
Local municipalities wanting to stay with Portage County's solid waste management program have until 5 p.m. Thursday, June 14, to make a commitment.
If municipalities do commit, they'll get a reduced tipping fee. The county Solid Waste Management Board is offering a $7 a ton rebate at the county landfill for those municipalities extending their Municipal Recycling Agreement (MRA) through Dec. 31, 2006 - the date the current county-owned landfill is expected to reach capacity. Landfill tipping fees for municipalities extending their MRAs would be $35 per ton beginning Jan. 1, 2003. Those municipalities and landfill users not making long-term commitments would continue to pay the $42 per ton tipping fee.
Solid waste management officials are pursuing the MRA extensions to secure the waste stream needed to keep the county's program economically viable. A marketing consultant found the county Solid Waste Department can offer the rebate and remain financially healthy, despite the recent loss of volume at the landfill following the sale of a local waste hauling firm, LB Trucking, to Superior Services. About 15,000 tons of waste that had been going to the county landfill will now go to Superior Services' landfill in Wisconsin Rapids, leaving the Portage County landfill with an estimated tipping amount of 25,000 tons this year. Tipping fees paid for garbage disposed at the landfill fund the county's Solid Waste Department.
The current MRAs with 24 of the county's municipalities expire Dec. 31, 2002. As of Wednesday afternoon the towns of Sharon and Plover have formally indicated they intend to extend their MRAs, Solid Waste Administrator Gene Edwards said. He remains optimistic the remaining municipalities will follow suit. The board might also consider offering the $7 per ton rebate starting next year, instead of 2003.
Commitments from all municipalities would guarantee half the 25,000 to 30,000 tons per year needed to remain economically viable, Edwards said. He is confident the department's ongoing marketing project can secure the remaining volume.
The Solid Waste Management Board also wants to secure a waste stream as it decides how to manage waste after the current landfill reaches capacity. The board plans to decide by the end of this month what will happen following the landfill's projected 2006 closure date.
Options include building a new county landfill, building a transfer station for hauling garbage to the Winnebago County landfill or relying on the private sector (with or without county coordination). The county has bought land in the town of Stockton, across from the current landfill, for a possible new landfill.
A financial analysis shows at 30,000 tons a year, the projected costs are comparable if the county builds a new landfill or builds a waste transfer station and hauls waste to Winnebago County. Above 30,000 tons, a new county-owned landfill would be cheaper, while below 30,000 tons, the transfer station/Winnebago County option is more economical.
At past meetings, the Solid Waste Management Board has said while the private sector may be able to offer a lower tipping fee to municipalities, those tipping fees don't cover the comprehensive waste management program the county now offers, including recycling, education, clean sweep events and household medical waste disposal.
"It is difficult to estimate the cost of future private waste disposal services," Edwards said. "Private waste disposal costs tend to be quite low if adequate competition exists; however, prices tend to increase dramatically when competition is not adequate. The most effective way to estimate private sector (solid waste management) cost is through development and issuance of a Request for Proposals that specifically lays out all the services being requested."
The "biggest wrench in the works" may be the negotiated landfill settlement with the town of Stockton that some municipalities have opposed, said Edwards. The proposed landfill agreement of about $1 million still needs County Board approval.
Spread over the remaining 181,000 tons of remaining landfill capacity, the agreement will cost more than $5 per ton. Applied to the 730,000-ton lifetime capacity of the landfill, the cost is less than a $1.50 per ton.
Members of the county negotiating team are convinced they can't negotiate a better deal from the town of Stockton Negotiating Committee, Edwards said. Disapproval of the agreement would result in going through an arbitration process, which would have an uncertain income.
Compensation to the town of Stockton for being the site of the current landfill includes paying for its negotiating fees, installing screening and plantings around the site and paying for testing of private wells near the landfill.
Host fees other state municipalities negotiated for being home to a landfill include $2.20 a ton for the town of Chilton and Calumet County for a private landfill, $1.50 a ton to the town of Holland for the Brown County South Landfill and $1.35 a ton to the town of Berlin for a private landfill. Some municipalities receive free collection and disposal, which isn't included in the proposed town of Stockton and Portage County agreement.