BRODHEAD - The possible sale of Janesville's landfill could cause another twist - but not a shutdown - in the future operations of the Green County transfer station.
Janesville Director of Public Works Carl Weber said Friday he anticipates a request for proposals on Janesville's landfill property to go out sometime next week. The city could reject all bids.
The Janesville landfill serves all of Rock County.
Janesville has a contract with Green County to accept the trash that the Green County transfer station collects, bales and transports to the Janesville landfill.
But the Janesville landfill sale, if it does go through, may not be too detrimental to Green County's collection site.
The Green County Solid Waste Management board on Thursday, April 10, was considering whether to offer three- or five-year contracts to their partner municipalities this fall, an indication that members see at least a somewhat definite future for the station's operations.
Last fall, the board issued only one-year contracts for 2014, when board members were unsure if enough trash was coming into the facility to sustain operation expenses.
Transfer station Supervisor Randy Thompson said, if or when the time comes, he would look into "piggybacking" with the City of Janesville on a contract with the new owners.
Green County could also haul to another landfill.
"Someone will want it," Thompson said.
The most likely place would be in Winnebago County, Ill., according to Thompson.
Hauling into Illinois would mean the need to replace trucks to meet Illinois state highway regulations for weight, but Thompson also pointed out that there is no recycling fee in that state, which would reduce the tipping fees.
Last year, board members were concerned that the City of Monroe would not renew its contract, which would drastically reduce its tonnage and the feasibility to remain open. No contract would also mean paying non-member prices at the gate for anyone, including individuals and companies, hauling trash from the city.
Monroe did, however, renew under the one-year contract.
Board members expressed renewed hope for the station from the amount of business conducted in March, which is still pre-construction season, they said.
For the month of March, the transfer station had 520 tickets, or customers, who hauled 1.3 million pounds of trash through the gates.
Of that amount, the City of Monroe along with individual residents and businesses hauled in 630,000 pounds of trash. About 160 customer tickets were from Monroe, 20 of which were for the City of Monroe itself, which picks up only residential trash.
Out of about $30,000 in revenues for March, municipal partners paid about $11,000. Private waste collectors and other large contracting businesses paid $16,000. The remaining was paid by individuals and businesses that haul trash to the station independently.
March revenues did not meet the total monthly expenses, but Thompson said summer revenue typically evens out the winter deficit.
A snapshot of business in April shows 48 customers dropped off trash on April 10.
Private waste hauling companies put a huge dent, nearly 70 percent, in the station's revenues starting in late December 2011, when one company at the time, Veolia Environmental Services, started bypassing the station in favor of hauling to the company's own landfill near Darien. Advance Disposal has since bought Veolia, but still hauls most of its collected trash to Darien.
Some partner municipalities now require their private haulers to dump their trash at the county landfill.
Janesville Director of Public Works Carl Weber said Friday he anticipates a request for proposals on Janesville's landfill property to go out sometime next week. The city could reject all bids.
The Janesville landfill serves all of Rock County.
Janesville has a contract with Green County to accept the trash that the Green County transfer station collects, bales and transports to the Janesville landfill.
But the Janesville landfill sale, if it does go through, may not be too detrimental to Green County's collection site.
The Green County Solid Waste Management board on Thursday, April 10, was considering whether to offer three- or five-year contracts to their partner municipalities this fall, an indication that members see at least a somewhat definite future for the station's operations.
Last fall, the board issued only one-year contracts for 2014, when board members were unsure if enough trash was coming into the facility to sustain operation expenses.
Transfer station Supervisor Randy Thompson said, if or when the time comes, he would look into "piggybacking" with the City of Janesville on a contract with the new owners.
Green County could also haul to another landfill.
"Someone will want it," Thompson said.
The most likely place would be in Winnebago County, Ill., according to Thompson.
Hauling into Illinois would mean the need to replace trucks to meet Illinois state highway regulations for weight, but Thompson also pointed out that there is no recycling fee in that state, which would reduce the tipping fees.
Last year, board members were concerned that the City of Monroe would not renew its contract, which would drastically reduce its tonnage and the feasibility to remain open. No contract would also mean paying non-member prices at the gate for anyone, including individuals and companies, hauling trash from the city.
Monroe did, however, renew under the one-year contract.
Board members expressed renewed hope for the station from the amount of business conducted in March, which is still pre-construction season, they said.
For the month of March, the transfer station had 520 tickets, or customers, who hauled 1.3 million pounds of trash through the gates.
Of that amount, the City of Monroe along with individual residents and businesses hauled in 630,000 pounds of trash. About 160 customer tickets were from Monroe, 20 of which were for the City of Monroe itself, which picks up only residential trash.
Out of about $30,000 in revenues for March, municipal partners paid about $11,000. Private waste collectors and other large contracting businesses paid $16,000. The remaining was paid by individuals and businesses that haul trash to the station independently.
March revenues did not meet the total monthly expenses, but Thompson said summer revenue typically evens out the winter deficit.
A snapshot of business in April shows 48 customers dropped off trash on April 10.
Private waste hauling companies put a huge dent, nearly 70 percent, in the station's revenues starting in late December 2011, when one company at the time, Veolia Environmental Services, started bypassing the station in favor of hauling to the company's own landfill near Darien. Advance Disposal has since bought Veolia, but still hauls most of its collected trash to Darien.
Some partner municipalities now require their private haulers to dump their trash at the county landfill.