MONROE - Members of the Green County Solid Waste Management Board will contemplate a proposal to restructure the oversight and authorization body for the county transfer station before meeting again to iron out any wrinkles next month.
The proposal to create a solid waste management commission, comprised of members appointed by municipality users, was offered by the City of Monroe at a meeting Thursday, March 14. City Attorney Rex Ewald explained the basics of the plan he drafted at the city's request. Board members gave it a cordial, but not overly enthusiastic, reception.
In order for the plan to succeed economically, Ewald said, members had to be "all-in," meaning directing all waste to the transfer station, and enforcing it through municipal ordinances. Defined in the proposal as "flow control," it was the most important part of the agreement for board chairman Nate Klassy.
"If we can get flow control to get all the trash coming to the transfer station, the price per ton will go down for everybody," Klassy said.
Board members were not as receptive to weighted voting in the proposal. While the commission would conduct most business under a one-member, one-vote process, the proposal allows any member to call for using a weighed vote. Ewald said its use would be rare, but it was there in the event of a difficult voting issue.
The weighed vote is included to satisfy city leaders' consensus that "we should have a voice equal to our share of the action (usage)," Ewald said. The weighted vote should be according to population, he said, which is "a very scientific and accepted standard" and "a safer way to go" than by the current tonnage use.
Under a weighted voted, the City of Monroe, with about one-third of the county population, would have much more pull than other members.
Board member Harvey Mandel said the city's influence on the board has always been substantial, because one of its county supervisors "has been chairman for the committee for many number of years."
Steve Stettler, a board member, said the weighted vote bothered him also. He added that he doesn't considered the facility a county-run landfill, because county supervisors from participating user communities are appointed as board members, who operate the facility without county-levied funds.
"We keep costs down so it doesn't cost users any more money," Stettler said. "We run it the cheapest way possible."
Stettler questioned how the city's proposal lowered costs. Under the current fee rate, solid waste is accepted for $45 per ton; $35 is paid to the Janesville landfill and $10 is retained for compacting and hauling.
Another board member, Richard Vogel, addressed a perception in some communities that "Monroe has created a financial problem for the landfill. It looks like (Monroe is saying), 'we got you into this situation, and now we're going to come in and take it over.'"
Vogel said he's like to see the city "show a commitment" by passing its own flow control ordinance first, to get the transfer station "back up and going again."
Klassy had appealed to the city about two years ago to implement a city ordinance requiring all waste picked up in the city to be taken to the county station. The city did not implement that idea. By the end of 2011, a private waste collection firm had begun by-passing the county transfer station in favor of its own landfill near Delavan. The result was about a 50 percent drop in business at the county's facility, most of which had been from the City of Monroe.
Art Carter, chairman of the Green County Board of Supervisors, said the transfer station has enough money under the reduced usage to carry it until the end of the year. But unless an agreement is worked out to financially support the facility, the county would "go back to someone being a supervisor of it and the rest shuts down. The county is not going to pay for it out of taxpayers' dollars," he said.
The city's Board of Public Works is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m. today, March 18 to discuss, and possibly recommend, extending its current agreement with the solid waste transfer station until the end of 2013. The same agreement was offered by the Solid Waste Management Board to all its users. The Board of Public Works is also scheduled to discuss and possibly make changes to its proposed agreement.
Klassy said the Solid Waste Management Board will schedule another meeting with the city after it discusses the proposed commission structure in April. Meetings with other municipal users regarding the city's proposal will then be scheduled, he added.
The proposal to create a solid waste management commission, comprised of members appointed by municipality users, was offered by the City of Monroe at a meeting Thursday, March 14. City Attorney Rex Ewald explained the basics of the plan he drafted at the city's request. Board members gave it a cordial, but not overly enthusiastic, reception.
In order for the plan to succeed economically, Ewald said, members had to be "all-in," meaning directing all waste to the transfer station, and enforcing it through municipal ordinances. Defined in the proposal as "flow control," it was the most important part of the agreement for board chairman Nate Klassy.
"If we can get flow control to get all the trash coming to the transfer station, the price per ton will go down for everybody," Klassy said.
Board members were not as receptive to weighted voting in the proposal. While the commission would conduct most business under a one-member, one-vote process, the proposal allows any member to call for using a weighed vote. Ewald said its use would be rare, but it was there in the event of a difficult voting issue.
The weighed vote is included to satisfy city leaders' consensus that "we should have a voice equal to our share of the action (usage)," Ewald said. The weighted vote should be according to population, he said, which is "a very scientific and accepted standard" and "a safer way to go" than by the current tonnage use.
Under a weighted voted, the City of Monroe, with about one-third of the county population, would have much more pull than other members.
Board member Harvey Mandel said the city's influence on the board has always been substantial, because one of its county supervisors "has been chairman for the committee for many number of years."
Steve Stettler, a board member, said the weighted vote bothered him also. He added that he doesn't considered the facility a county-run landfill, because county supervisors from participating user communities are appointed as board members, who operate the facility without county-levied funds.
"We keep costs down so it doesn't cost users any more money," Stettler said. "We run it the cheapest way possible."
Stettler questioned how the city's proposal lowered costs. Under the current fee rate, solid waste is accepted for $45 per ton; $35 is paid to the Janesville landfill and $10 is retained for compacting and hauling.
Another board member, Richard Vogel, addressed a perception in some communities that "Monroe has created a financial problem for the landfill. It looks like (Monroe is saying), 'we got you into this situation, and now we're going to come in and take it over.'"
Vogel said he's like to see the city "show a commitment" by passing its own flow control ordinance first, to get the transfer station "back up and going again."
Klassy had appealed to the city about two years ago to implement a city ordinance requiring all waste picked up in the city to be taken to the county station. The city did not implement that idea. By the end of 2011, a private waste collection firm had begun by-passing the county transfer station in favor of its own landfill near Delavan. The result was about a 50 percent drop in business at the county's facility, most of which had been from the City of Monroe.
Art Carter, chairman of the Green County Board of Supervisors, said the transfer station has enough money under the reduced usage to carry it until the end of the year. But unless an agreement is worked out to financially support the facility, the county would "go back to someone being a supervisor of it and the rest shuts down. The county is not going to pay for it out of taxpayers' dollars," he said.
The city's Board of Public Works is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m. today, March 18 to discuss, and possibly recommend, extending its current agreement with the solid waste transfer station until the end of 2013. The same agreement was offered by the Solid Waste Management Board to all its users. The Board of Public Works is also scheduled to discuss and possibly make changes to its proposed agreement.
Klassy said the Solid Waste Management Board will schedule another meeting with the city after it discusses the proposed commission structure in April. Meetings with other municipal users regarding the city's proposal will then be scheduled, he added.