MONROE - Not only is Monroe likely to be under contract to give the county's landfill its garbage again, it will double the amount.
That's because the Board of Public Works Monday recommended a new five-year deal with the Green County Solid Waste Management Board that calls for not only residents' garbage to go to the Brodhead transfer station, but commercial garbage as well.
Will that hurt local businesses because private haulers will raise their prices to offset costs associated with the new requirements?
And what about enforcement?
"Are we going to have to be following garbage trucks around to see where they go?" Monroe City Administrator Phil Rath said.
The city's Common Council will likely take up the matter at its March 3 meeting. Rath thinks it will likely pass.
"I know the council has felt strong about continuing a relationship with the transfer station," he said.
The Brodhead station is a dumping point for trash that eventually ends up buried in Janesville. It also serves as a spot for residents to drop off items and brush not taken without an extra charge, or not at all, from their curbside.
When Monroe pulled out of its membership last month, it put that self-serve benefit at risk.
"People tell me they really see it as a big asset," Alderman Brooke Bauman said of residents' ability to haul and dump their own items. Use of the landfill's grinding machine is particularly popular, she said.
Bauman, who represents one of two board seats belonging to Monroe, noted the landfill reported that 360 Monroe residents visited the site in December.
Meanwhile, more tonnage to the landfill should mean lower costs for the city. Nate Klassy, who served as chairman of the Solid Waste Management Board before the city pulled out, predicted the city could save $2 or $3 per ton as a result. Currently, as a non-member it pays $52 per ton. As a member, the price for now is $45 per ton.
As for Monroe businesses, they contract out to private garbage collectors. They will still have to do so, but those haulers would have to take trash to the public landfill per the proposed agreement.
Rock Disposal and Pellitteri Waste Systems are two area private haulers who currently use the county landfill at least in part, Klassy said, but Advanced Disposal does not, using its on-site business location on the northwest side of the city on 7th Street behind Blain's Farm and Fleet.
"One may raise their price, and the others not, or all of them or none of them - we don't know," Rath said. "Either way, I'm worried about the business community."
In return, the transfer station would agree to stop charging Monroe with ongoing operational costs that Rath has said were random, undisclosed and used to subsidize deficits. The results took the city's tonnage rate up to an average of $70, he said.
"The municipalities were picking up the shortfall," he said. "When someone else is picking up the tab, you can operate indefinitely."
The new guarantee that commercial trash will be in the equation will come in the form of a flow-control ordinance, which the city must adopt. Getting cooperation of the private haulers could come through adjusting licensing requirements, Rath said, with which businesses must adhere to do business in the city limits. Time is of the essence, he noted, as licenses are to be renewed July 1. Otherwise, more than a year is lost.
The tonnage rates, known as tipping fees, can be reviewed and possibly changed quarterly, according to the new contract. Previously, they were set for a year.
The new contract also spells out the specific services available at the landfill to residents, with any suspension or elimination of the services requiring notice. They are: Demolition of building materials, tires (on or off the rim), recycling, Freon appliances, approved hazardous waste, electronic waste and yard waste (brush and compost).
The discussion of altogether bypassing the Brodhead station for cheaper rates came up Monday.
"Most times when you deal with a middleman in between, you pay more," Rath said.
But Klassy suggested the wear and tear on trucks, along with the extra on-the-clock travel time by city employees, make it a bad plan. Furthermore, residents doing their own dumping would have another 15 minutes to drive.
Bauman was certain other municipalities using the landfill would follow with flow-control ordinances of their own, making the deal whole across the board.
Without the involvement of Monroe, which represents more than 50 percent of the landfill's garbage, Klassy said it would have to close.
"It's a make-or-break deal," Bauman added. "If there's no flow control, there's no transfer station and everyone will think it's our fault. There's no sugarcoating that."
Still, Rath wonders if he could find a better deal for the city by going with a private firm for everything and shopping for the best deal.
"I don't know how a public entity can be competitive with a private entity," he said.
That's because the Board of Public Works Monday recommended a new five-year deal with the Green County Solid Waste Management Board that calls for not only residents' garbage to go to the Brodhead transfer station, but commercial garbage as well.
Will that hurt local businesses because private haulers will raise their prices to offset costs associated with the new requirements?
And what about enforcement?
"Are we going to have to be following garbage trucks around to see where they go?" Monroe City Administrator Phil Rath said.
The city's Common Council will likely take up the matter at its March 3 meeting. Rath thinks it will likely pass.
"I know the council has felt strong about continuing a relationship with the transfer station," he said.
The Brodhead station is a dumping point for trash that eventually ends up buried in Janesville. It also serves as a spot for residents to drop off items and brush not taken without an extra charge, or not at all, from their curbside.
When Monroe pulled out of its membership last month, it put that self-serve benefit at risk.
"People tell me they really see it as a big asset," Alderman Brooke Bauman said of residents' ability to haul and dump their own items. Use of the landfill's grinding machine is particularly popular, she said.
Bauman, who represents one of two board seats belonging to Monroe, noted the landfill reported that 360 Monroe residents visited the site in December.
Meanwhile, more tonnage to the landfill should mean lower costs for the city. Nate Klassy, who served as chairman of the Solid Waste Management Board before the city pulled out, predicted the city could save $2 or $3 per ton as a result. Currently, as a non-member it pays $52 per ton. As a member, the price for now is $45 per ton.
As for Monroe businesses, they contract out to private garbage collectors. They will still have to do so, but those haulers would have to take trash to the public landfill per the proposed agreement.
Rock Disposal and Pellitteri Waste Systems are two area private haulers who currently use the county landfill at least in part, Klassy said, but Advanced Disposal does not, using its on-site business location on the northwest side of the city on 7th Street behind Blain's Farm and Fleet.
"One may raise their price, and the others not, or all of them or none of them - we don't know," Rath said. "Either way, I'm worried about the business community."
In return, the transfer station would agree to stop charging Monroe with ongoing operational costs that Rath has said were random, undisclosed and used to subsidize deficits. The results took the city's tonnage rate up to an average of $70, he said.
"The municipalities were picking up the shortfall," he said. "When someone else is picking up the tab, you can operate indefinitely."
The new guarantee that commercial trash will be in the equation will come in the form of a flow-control ordinance, which the city must adopt. Getting cooperation of the private haulers could come through adjusting licensing requirements, Rath said, with which businesses must adhere to do business in the city limits. Time is of the essence, he noted, as licenses are to be renewed July 1. Otherwise, more than a year is lost.
The tonnage rates, known as tipping fees, can be reviewed and possibly changed quarterly, according to the new contract. Previously, they were set for a year.
The new contract also spells out the specific services available at the landfill to residents, with any suspension or elimination of the services requiring notice. They are: Demolition of building materials, tires (on or off the rim), recycling, Freon appliances, approved hazardous waste, electronic waste and yard waste (brush and compost).
The discussion of altogether bypassing the Brodhead station for cheaper rates came up Monday.
"Most times when you deal with a middleman in between, you pay more," Rath said.
But Klassy suggested the wear and tear on trucks, along with the extra on-the-clock travel time by city employees, make it a bad plan. Furthermore, residents doing their own dumping would have another 15 minutes to drive.
Bauman was certain other municipalities using the landfill would follow with flow-control ordinances of their own, making the deal whole across the board.
Without the involvement of Monroe, which represents more than 50 percent of the landfill's garbage, Klassy said it would have to close.
"It's a make-or-break deal," Bauman added. "If there's no flow control, there's no transfer station and everyone will think it's our fault. There's no sugarcoating that."
Still, Rath wonders if he could find a better deal for the city by going with a private firm for everything and shopping for the best deal.
"I don't know how a public entity can be competitive with a private entity," he said.