MONROE - By unanimously rejecting a proposal returned by the Green County transfer station, Monroe's Common Council on Tuesday effectively ended negotiations with the facility and will be looking at alternative locations to accept its trash.
Proposed agreements such as the most recent one have been pushed back and forth between the city and the Solid Waste Management Board over recent months with little results. After three years of discussions with the transfer station, Monroe dropped its membership in January but continues to send its trash there, paying a slightly higher non-member rate.
The transfer station, located near Brodhead, is the dumping point for trash that eventually is buried in Janesville.
City Administrator Phil Rath told the council he had concerns regarding the proposal being considered, mostly because its content is identical to the previous proposal put forward. Over the months of talks, neither party has offered concessions on their points and negotiations had come to a standstill. Rath said the agreement had no details in regard to the scope of requirements, chance for fluctuation or expected prices. He recommended the council reject the proposal.
"Those are things I still feel are very important to have in any agreement," Rath said. "I don't see it as having any way to move forward."
Colin Simpson, Monroe's director of public works, told the aldermen that changing where the city's solid waste is taken would not create an operational problem, even if the city were to decide on a new site immediately.
Alderman Brooke Bauman, who served as a representative on the solid waste board, assured fellow council members the city would still be able to continue as non-member users of the transfer station, regardless of whether or not they rejected the proposal on the table.
"They have really given us no incentive to work with them," Bauman said, referring to past claims by the transfer site claiming it would be forced to shut down if Monroe, its largest contributor, were to no longer use the facility.
"They're actually doing all right without us, and we're doing better without them," she said.
Rath shared figures that show Monroe would save money if it were to find an option other than the transfer station. Citing calculations he had made, Rath said the city spent $174,000 in 2014 to have residents' trash taken to the county transfer station. As an alternative, Rath said that number could drop to $150,000 if the city were to transport its solid waste directly to Janesville, and an even larger dip to nearly $121,000 if taken to a private transfer station within the city limits.
The council will take up options for trash disposal at a future meeting. In the meantime, it plans to continue to haul city waste to the transfer station as a non-member.
Proposed agreements such as the most recent one have been pushed back and forth between the city and the Solid Waste Management Board over recent months with little results. After three years of discussions with the transfer station, Monroe dropped its membership in January but continues to send its trash there, paying a slightly higher non-member rate.
The transfer station, located near Brodhead, is the dumping point for trash that eventually is buried in Janesville.
City Administrator Phil Rath told the council he had concerns regarding the proposal being considered, mostly because its content is identical to the previous proposal put forward. Over the months of talks, neither party has offered concessions on their points and negotiations had come to a standstill. Rath said the agreement had no details in regard to the scope of requirements, chance for fluctuation or expected prices. He recommended the council reject the proposal.
"Those are things I still feel are very important to have in any agreement," Rath said. "I don't see it as having any way to move forward."
Colin Simpson, Monroe's director of public works, told the aldermen that changing where the city's solid waste is taken would not create an operational problem, even if the city were to decide on a new site immediately.
Alderman Brooke Bauman, who served as a representative on the solid waste board, assured fellow council members the city would still be able to continue as non-member users of the transfer station, regardless of whether or not they rejected the proposal on the table.
"They have really given us no incentive to work with them," Bauman said, referring to past claims by the transfer site claiming it would be forced to shut down if Monroe, its largest contributor, were to no longer use the facility.
"They're actually doing all right without us, and we're doing better without them," she said.
Rath shared figures that show Monroe would save money if it were to find an option other than the transfer station. Citing calculations he had made, Rath said the city spent $174,000 in 2014 to have residents' trash taken to the county transfer station. As an alternative, Rath said that number could drop to $150,000 if the city were to transport its solid waste directly to Janesville, and an even larger dip to nearly $121,000 if taken to a private transfer station within the city limits.
The council will take up options for trash disposal at a future meeting. In the meantime, it plans to continue to haul city waste to the transfer station as a non-member.