BRODHEAD - The Green County Solid Waste Management Board took steps, albeit small and tentative steps, Thursday to appease City of Monroe administration seeking more transparency in membership costs at the trash and recycling drop-off transfer station.
The city is also looking to reduce the volatility in bills from month to month, for better budgeting purposes, according to board chairman Nate Klassy.
Klassy laid out several suggestions gleaned from a discussion that he and station manager Randy Thompson had with city personnel last month.
Board members readily agreed to the city's call for billing the maintenance costs of the county's sealed landfills separately from the tipping fees and operational costs of the transfer station. The costs are currently itemized but sent in one bill. And Klassy said the city's desire for more representation on the board has subsided.
But members balked at raising gate prices or tipping fees enough to cover all operational costs. The proposed price hike could be as much as 60 percent if tipping fees went to $70 per ton.
Higher Rates
Paying more at the gate or per ton means more of the operational costs would be passed on to private haulers and individual citizens. The City of Monroe would see a reduction in its monthly transfer station bills, because so much of the city's total trashload at the station is hauled there by private haulers, private business owners and citizens. The city garbage trucks pick up only residential trash.
Monticello, a village that picks up and hauls all of its residential and commercial trash and some of its industrial trash, could see perhaps a small reduction in its membership costs.
Municipalities that use private, refuse-hauling companies might see a hike in their bills from those companies, as companies pass on the increases.
But the more likely scenario, said board members, is that private companies would simply reject the county transfer station in favor of hauling their loads to other landfills or transfer station sites.
Even an increase of 10-12 percent would guarantee the loss of at least one of the station's largest, private hauler customer, according to Thompson.
And the loss of more trash would only exasperate the station's problem of remaining viable. The station's future has been uncertain since 2011, when the largest trash hauler operating in the county began bypassing the station to dump at the company's own landfill at Mallard Ridge.
Board members and Thompson agreed that higher prices or loss of the station would squeeze out small, private companies, and less competition would mean remaining large haulers would control the local trash market and prices.
More Trash
Board members, too, are looking to reduce volatility - their concern is in the amounts of trash dumped at the station each month. They say rates would not have to be raised so high, if they could work with a larger volume of trash.
They are considering asking their partnering communities to pass ordinances requiring all trash within their boundaries, whether hauled by the municipality, private companies or private citizens and business owners, to be disposed of at the county station. The move would not only increase the station's volume, but would also ensure a relatively steady, more predictable flow of trash from year to year. Seasonal differences would still exist.
Municipalities would require licensing of private haulers to enforce their ordinance, Klassy said.
Next month, the Solid Waste Management plans to look at current rates and determine how much they can raise rates, not just on tipping fees but also on other items, such as tires, appliances and furniture. The station's 2015 budget draft is also expected to be ready for a first review.
The city is also looking to reduce the volatility in bills from month to month, for better budgeting purposes, according to board chairman Nate Klassy.
Klassy laid out several suggestions gleaned from a discussion that he and station manager Randy Thompson had with city personnel last month.
Board members readily agreed to the city's call for billing the maintenance costs of the county's sealed landfills separately from the tipping fees and operational costs of the transfer station. The costs are currently itemized but sent in one bill. And Klassy said the city's desire for more representation on the board has subsided.
But members balked at raising gate prices or tipping fees enough to cover all operational costs. The proposed price hike could be as much as 60 percent if tipping fees went to $70 per ton.
Higher Rates
Paying more at the gate or per ton means more of the operational costs would be passed on to private haulers and individual citizens. The City of Monroe would see a reduction in its monthly transfer station bills, because so much of the city's total trashload at the station is hauled there by private haulers, private business owners and citizens. The city garbage trucks pick up only residential trash.
Monticello, a village that picks up and hauls all of its residential and commercial trash and some of its industrial trash, could see perhaps a small reduction in its membership costs.
Municipalities that use private, refuse-hauling companies might see a hike in their bills from those companies, as companies pass on the increases.
But the more likely scenario, said board members, is that private companies would simply reject the county transfer station in favor of hauling their loads to other landfills or transfer station sites.
Even an increase of 10-12 percent would guarantee the loss of at least one of the station's largest, private hauler customer, according to Thompson.
And the loss of more trash would only exasperate the station's problem of remaining viable. The station's future has been uncertain since 2011, when the largest trash hauler operating in the county began bypassing the station to dump at the company's own landfill at Mallard Ridge.
Board members and Thompson agreed that higher prices or loss of the station would squeeze out small, private companies, and less competition would mean remaining large haulers would control the local trash market and prices.
More Trash
Board members, too, are looking to reduce volatility - their concern is in the amounts of trash dumped at the station each month. They say rates would not have to be raised so high, if they could work with a larger volume of trash.
They are considering asking their partnering communities to pass ordinances requiring all trash within their boundaries, whether hauled by the municipality, private companies or private citizens and business owners, to be disposed of at the county station. The move would not only increase the station's volume, but would also ensure a relatively steady, more predictable flow of trash from year to year. Seasonal differences would still exist.
Municipalities would require licensing of private haulers to enforce their ordinance, Klassy said.
Next month, the Solid Waste Management plans to look at current rates and determine how much they can raise rates, not just on tipping fees but also on other items, such as tires, appliances and furniture. The station's 2015 budget draft is also expected to be ready for a first review.