MONROE - With its partnership costs to use the county's transfer station expected to reach nearly $200,000 this year, the City of Monroe wants more control over its representatives on the Solid Waste Management board.
On July 1, the City of Monroe voted unanimously to send City Administrator Phil Rath to "engage in conversation" with Green County board members for representation on the waste management board equal to the city's proportionate use of the station, which is about 50 percent or more each month.
But Rath and City Attorney Rex Ewald advised that the city should also appoint those members as its own direct representatives.
Mayor Bill Ross prodded council members to "hammer out an agreement" on the amount of control, if there was council consensus to continue doing business with the transfer station.
"It's time to make a decision here," he said.
The county waste management board is requesting five-year contracts with its municipal partners, in an effort to sign its own longer-term agreements for lower purchasing costs. But the city is reluctant to sign up, citing unknown future costs to participate.
According to financial data presented by Rath, the cost for the City of Monroe as a partner to use the transfer station, including labor costs to transport its residential wastes to the site, has averaged about $153,000 annually in the past six years.
The estimated costs ranged from $115,000 in 2011 to $185,000 in 2012. The 2014 costs through May were $97,400.
The Green County Solid Waste Management Board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Green County Landfill, W2002 County SS, Brodhead. Agenda items include a recap of the city's July 2 meeting, and a discussion of user agreements and out-of-area rates for future operations.
By county ordinance, waste management board members are appointed by the county board of supervisors chairman, who currently is Art Carter. Waste management board members are selected from county supervisors and citizens of the 13 municipalities that contract with the county as partners of the transfer station.
Nate Klassy of Monroe is a member and the board chairman.
The city raised objections in 2013 to having only one member from the city on the board and proposed restructuring the board into a commission made up of municipal users' representatives. The commission idea found little favor among its other partners.
Instead, Art Carter took steps in May 2013 to add two positions to the board of nine, by getting a county ordinance passed, which appoints specifically the City of Monroe Council president and Board of Public Works chairman to the county waste management board.
But because the county legally retained the power to appoint and remove the members, its gesture was rebuffed. Rath summed up the objection by noting "the costly decisions are made by a body that is not necessarily representative of the city's interests."
The waste management board put out one-year contracts in 2012 and 2013, unsure of the facility's future existence following a massive drop in trash volume coming into the transfer station, when a private hauler began to bypass the facility in favor of its own station in Walworth County.
On July 1, the City of Monroe voted unanimously to send City Administrator Phil Rath to "engage in conversation" with Green County board members for representation on the waste management board equal to the city's proportionate use of the station, which is about 50 percent or more each month.
But Rath and City Attorney Rex Ewald advised that the city should also appoint those members as its own direct representatives.
Mayor Bill Ross prodded council members to "hammer out an agreement" on the amount of control, if there was council consensus to continue doing business with the transfer station.
"It's time to make a decision here," he said.
The county waste management board is requesting five-year contracts with its municipal partners, in an effort to sign its own longer-term agreements for lower purchasing costs. But the city is reluctant to sign up, citing unknown future costs to participate.
According to financial data presented by Rath, the cost for the City of Monroe as a partner to use the transfer station, including labor costs to transport its residential wastes to the site, has averaged about $153,000 annually in the past six years.
The estimated costs ranged from $115,000 in 2011 to $185,000 in 2012. The 2014 costs through May were $97,400.
The Green County Solid Waste Management Board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Green County Landfill, W2002 County SS, Brodhead. Agenda items include a recap of the city's July 2 meeting, and a discussion of user agreements and out-of-area rates for future operations.
By county ordinance, waste management board members are appointed by the county board of supervisors chairman, who currently is Art Carter. Waste management board members are selected from county supervisors and citizens of the 13 municipalities that contract with the county as partners of the transfer station.
Nate Klassy of Monroe is a member and the board chairman.
The city raised objections in 2013 to having only one member from the city on the board and proposed restructuring the board into a commission made up of municipal users' representatives. The commission idea found little favor among its other partners.
Instead, Art Carter took steps in May 2013 to add two positions to the board of nine, by getting a county ordinance passed, which appoints specifically the City of Monroe Council president and Board of Public Works chairman to the county waste management board.
But because the county legally retained the power to appoint and remove the members, its gesture was rebuffed. Rath summed up the objection by noting "the costly decisions are made by a body that is not necessarily representative of the city's interests."
The waste management board put out one-year contracts in 2012 and 2013, unsure of the facility's future existence following a massive drop in trash volume coming into the transfer station, when a private hauler began to bypass the facility in favor of its own station in Walworth County.