BRODHEAD - The Solid Waste Management Board will meet with all its members next month with new numbers showing the cost for municipalities to dump their trash at the transfer station.
Representatives from the city of Monroe requested more detailed cost information at the board's meeting last week. Tensions flared at the meeting as the board rejected the contract sent back to it by the Monroe Common Council last month.
The transfer station, located a few miles west of Brodhead, is the dumping point for trash collected throughout the county before being hauled for permanent burial in Janesville. In January, Monroe withdrew its membership to the transfer station after an ongoing dispute over how much the city pays. The city continues to send its trash to the transfer station but is no longer under contract.
Board members voted to reject Monroe's latest contract offering June 11. Monroe aldermen Charles Koch and Brooke Bauman, who also serve on the waste management board,were the only ones voting for the contract.
By county ordinance, nine of the eleven board members are appointed by the county board chairman. The two other seats are set aside for the president of Monroe's Common Council and the chairman of its Monroe Board of Public Works. If either representative cannot fill that spot, Monroe's mayor appoints a member to fill the vacancy.
The dispute between Monroe and the board over how much the city should pay has been simmering for more than three years with little progress.
"This is (the city of Monroe's) last attempt," Bauman said at the meeting.
She said Monroe wants some negotiation - as long as the board comes back to the common council with some figures about how much it will cost the city.
"Saying that it isn't going to work isn't going to cut it for (Monroe)," Bauman said.
Monroe City Administrator Phil Rath said the tipping fee based on market value (which is at $45 per ton plus a fluctuating operating fee) that the board wants to charge was never fair, and the city is subsidizing commercial haulers. As a nonmember, the city is currently paying $52 per ton.
"The model is broken," Rath said. "We're subsidizing the model."
According to Rath, the tipping fees alone won't cover the cost to keep the transfer station open; board members argue that fees set at a market rate is the best option to keep the doors open.
By setting the tipping fee at the market rate, the board argues, the transfer station will be able to compete with private landfills, and make fees competitive to prevent commercial haulers from going elsewhere.
Board member Harvey Mandel said the current payment structure is designed to meet costs, while allowing for room for a little extra for future maintenance.
"We have to make this a budget-friendly plan," he added.
Rath, however, said the board has to consider other ways to offset its deficit rather than having members subsidize commercial haulers by having members pay their operating fees. He added that Monticello has been hit hard by the same situation.
"(Monroe's) bills have been doubling," he said. "Its been troubling for Monroe."
Board Chairman Rich Vogel said he doesn't see how the rates set by the board are a problem. However, he said rates may have to go up if the board is losing money.
"As long as the money comes in," he said, "I don't care how it comes in as long as it's self-sufficient."
For board member Steve Stettler, there's no issue in looking at changing the cost to operate the landfill.
"We're so close on this contract," he said.
Vogel said the board will meet next month to try and get some better solutions and numbers as Bauman requested.
Representatives from the city of Monroe requested more detailed cost information at the board's meeting last week. Tensions flared at the meeting as the board rejected the contract sent back to it by the Monroe Common Council last month.
The transfer station, located a few miles west of Brodhead, is the dumping point for trash collected throughout the county before being hauled for permanent burial in Janesville. In January, Monroe withdrew its membership to the transfer station after an ongoing dispute over how much the city pays. The city continues to send its trash to the transfer station but is no longer under contract.
Board members voted to reject Monroe's latest contract offering June 11. Monroe aldermen Charles Koch and Brooke Bauman, who also serve on the waste management board,were the only ones voting for the contract.
By county ordinance, nine of the eleven board members are appointed by the county board chairman. The two other seats are set aside for the president of Monroe's Common Council and the chairman of its Monroe Board of Public Works. If either representative cannot fill that spot, Monroe's mayor appoints a member to fill the vacancy.
The dispute between Monroe and the board over how much the city should pay has been simmering for more than three years with little progress.
"This is (the city of Monroe's) last attempt," Bauman said at the meeting.
She said Monroe wants some negotiation - as long as the board comes back to the common council with some figures about how much it will cost the city.
"Saying that it isn't going to work isn't going to cut it for (Monroe)," Bauman said.
Monroe City Administrator Phil Rath said the tipping fee based on market value (which is at $45 per ton plus a fluctuating operating fee) that the board wants to charge was never fair, and the city is subsidizing commercial haulers. As a nonmember, the city is currently paying $52 per ton.
"The model is broken," Rath said. "We're subsidizing the model."
According to Rath, the tipping fees alone won't cover the cost to keep the transfer station open; board members argue that fees set at a market rate is the best option to keep the doors open.
By setting the tipping fee at the market rate, the board argues, the transfer station will be able to compete with private landfills, and make fees competitive to prevent commercial haulers from going elsewhere.
Board member Harvey Mandel said the current payment structure is designed to meet costs, while allowing for room for a little extra for future maintenance.
"We have to make this a budget-friendly plan," he added.
Rath, however, said the board has to consider other ways to offset its deficit rather than having members subsidize commercial haulers by having members pay their operating fees. He added that Monticello has been hit hard by the same situation.
"(Monroe's) bills have been doubling," he said. "Its been troubling for Monroe."
Board Chairman Rich Vogel said he doesn't see how the rates set by the board are a problem. However, he said rates may have to go up if the board is losing money.
"As long as the money comes in," he said, "I don't care how it comes in as long as it's self-sufficient."
For board member Steve Stettler, there's no issue in looking at changing the cost to operate the landfill.
"We're so close on this contract," he said.
Vogel said the board will meet next month to try and get some better solutions and numbers as Bauman requested.