MONROE - The city Community Improvement Committee opted to take no action Tuesday on suggestions for relocating the waste management company, Veolia Environmental Services, which maintains a trash and recycling transfer on the city's west side.
In early October, following several complaints of accumulation of garbage producing offensive odors, City Administrator Phil Rath told the Board of Public Works he was inquiring, in the interest of health and welfare and public safety, whether the owners of the transfer station would be interested in relocating.
Veolia was amenable to the idea, he said Tuesday, but had some concerns about the costs associated with such a move, such as preparing a site and building. They estimated the costs to be about $1 million to $1.5 million.
Rath said no negotiations were underway and no offers had been made, but he wanted to know what, if any, direction the committee would want to take on the idea. Possible relocation sites could be in industrial parks on the north side or near the wastewater treatment plant on the west side, he added.
Three Veolia company representatives, including area manager George DeVries and Floyd Leo from business development, attended the meeting Tuesday. The company would agree to move, essentially at the request of the city, only if it were "cost neutral," they said.
"We have no concerns or size issues," DeVries said. "If we rebuild it would be almost a carbon copy of this one."
"We don't need to move," he added.
Veolia also expressed interest again in obtaining and processing the city waste, at a tipping fee of $40 per ton, versus the $45 per ton the county transfer station is charging, an offer they had made earlier this year.
Devries noted the station could easily run three times the amount of trash through the current facility. "We could easily accommodate the city waste and still have room to spare," he said.
The current location, on 7th Street, is in an industrial zoned area, which allows for the use of the transfer station, Rath said. Rezoning would not affect Veolia's use of the station, as it would be grandfathered in.
"They want to be a good neighbor," said committee member Tyler Schultz. "I want us to work with them, not against them."
Members of the Board of Public Works took action Oct. 1 to determine the extent and validity of complaints about foul odors emanating from the transfer station, voting unanimously to bring in a representative from the Department of Natural Resources to investigate the complaints and test the water in Honey Creek that runs near the transfer station. The DNR has not yet been notified to perform that testing, said Rath, but received copies of notifications the city sent to Veolia to remedy the cause of the three specific complaints verified by city employees. Veolia complied with each cleanup within the one-week limit.
But Brooke Bauman, a member of the Community Improvement Committee, said the three official complaints were "not that many" in the four-month period over which they occurred. She noted the excessive heat of last summer would have had an impact on the control of odors.
Police Chief Fred Kelley said one reason more complaints about Veolia are not coming to city hall is because "now calls are coming to the police station."
Kelley said a "continual problem" with nuisance odors is occurring, one that "seems to go away when Tom (Boll, street department supervisor) goes down there."
The extent of the problem can be "measured by the number of complaints" coming into the police department, Kelley said, though he offered no specific number of complaints since August, when the last city notification was sent to Veolia. Violation of city codes regarding accumulation of garbage that produces offensive odors, insects or rodents, or is injurious to public health, can be met with citations, as many as one a day, he said. The city code declares such a situation to be a nuisance.
"Just because there's a permitted use doesn't mean there is nothing the city can do," he added.
Rath concluded that there are "things on both sides to be done to alleviate problems."
Alderman Boyce said it would be "worthwhile to continue discussions with Veolia, if that can be done to reduce our (waste collection costs). But we are equity members of the Green County transfer station, too, which is very valuable, and which we shouldn't abandon."
In early October, following several complaints of accumulation of garbage producing offensive odors, City Administrator Phil Rath told the Board of Public Works he was inquiring, in the interest of health and welfare and public safety, whether the owners of the transfer station would be interested in relocating.
Veolia was amenable to the idea, he said Tuesday, but had some concerns about the costs associated with such a move, such as preparing a site and building. They estimated the costs to be about $1 million to $1.5 million.
Rath said no negotiations were underway and no offers had been made, but he wanted to know what, if any, direction the committee would want to take on the idea. Possible relocation sites could be in industrial parks on the north side or near the wastewater treatment plant on the west side, he added.
Three Veolia company representatives, including area manager George DeVries and Floyd Leo from business development, attended the meeting Tuesday. The company would agree to move, essentially at the request of the city, only if it were "cost neutral," they said.
"We have no concerns or size issues," DeVries said. "If we rebuild it would be almost a carbon copy of this one."
"We don't need to move," he added.
Veolia also expressed interest again in obtaining and processing the city waste, at a tipping fee of $40 per ton, versus the $45 per ton the county transfer station is charging, an offer they had made earlier this year.
Devries noted the station could easily run three times the amount of trash through the current facility. "We could easily accommodate the city waste and still have room to spare," he said.
The current location, on 7th Street, is in an industrial zoned area, which allows for the use of the transfer station, Rath said. Rezoning would not affect Veolia's use of the station, as it would be grandfathered in.
"They want to be a good neighbor," said committee member Tyler Schultz. "I want us to work with them, not against them."
Members of the Board of Public Works took action Oct. 1 to determine the extent and validity of complaints about foul odors emanating from the transfer station, voting unanimously to bring in a representative from the Department of Natural Resources to investigate the complaints and test the water in Honey Creek that runs near the transfer station. The DNR has not yet been notified to perform that testing, said Rath, but received copies of notifications the city sent to Veolia to remedy the cause of the three specific complaints verified by city employees. Veolia complied with each cleanup within the one-week limit.
But Brooke Bauman, a member of the Community Improvement Committee, said the three official complaints were "not that many" in the four-month period over which they occurred. She noted the excessive heat of last summer would have had an impact on the control of odors.
Police Chief Fred Kelley said one reason more complaints about Veolia are not coming to city hall is because "now calls are coming to the police station."
Kelley said a "continual problem" with nuisance odors is occurring, one that "seems to go away when Tom (Boll, street department supervisor) goes down there."
The extent of the problem can be "measured by the number of complaints" coming into the police department, Kelley said, though he offered no specific number of complaints since August, when the last city notification was sent to Veolia. Violation of city codes regarding accumulation of garbage that produces offensive odors, insects or rodents, or is injurious to public health, can be met with citations, as many as one a day, he said. The city code declares such a situation to be a nuisance.
"Just because there's a permitted use doesn't mean there is nothing the city can do," he added.
Rath concluded that there are "things on both sides to be done to alleviate problems."
Alderman Boyce said it would be "worthwhile to continue discussions with Veolia, if that can be done to reduce our (waste collection costs). But we are equity members of the Green County transfer station, too, which is very valuable, and which we shouldn't abandon."