Mille Lacs County still wants out of ECSWC

Posted 2/14/01

Mille Lacs County still wants out of ECSWC

By Danielle Strenke

Mille Lacs County wants to proceed with its proposed withdrawal from the East Central Solid Waste Commission, Mille Lacs County Commissioner Paul Reiman told the commission as it met for its regular meeting Feb. 12.

Once again the ECSWC discussed the ramifications of Mille Lacs County withdrawing from the five-county joint powers agreement that is now over 10 years old.

The members voiced concerns over both legal and financial aspects of the withdrawal, particularly in light of the initiation of new, five-year contracts with all of the waste haulers in the five-county area.

ìIf we release Mille Lacs, then that would release those towns too,î said Commissioner Dennis McNally of Kanabec County. With the new waste agreements, commercial haulers are required to bring 100 percent of their loads to the East Central facilities.

Bonini said the agreements with Mille Lacs haulers would have to be factored into the withdrawal analysis. ìThat could be part of the agreement, that public entities like the cities are still required to bring waste here,î said Commissioner Bob Gustafson of Chisago County.

The commissioners asked Bonini to meet once again with the three-person committee working on the withdrawal, consisting of himself, Chisago County Environmental Services Director Marion Heemsbergen, and the commissionís attorney Dave Oberstar.

The trio will look at all of the possible financial and legal aspects of the withdrawal, and bring an analysis back to the commission. ìThis could very well take several months,î Bonini said.

Financial issues

The commission received and approved the financial statements for December and year-end.

In summary, the ECSWC recorded a net income of about $1 million, after revenues of over $5 million less expenditures of just over $4 million. This was 1.4 percent over the budgeted income amount for 2000.

ìWith one million in the bank, what kind of interest are we getting,î said Commissioner George Larson of Isanti County.

Bonini said $100,000 of the money is in CDs, earning 6.4 percent APY. Funds in the commissionís checking account earn 100 percent of the t-bill rate, which varies, but was around 6.5 percent at the end of the year.
With falling interest rates, Bonini said, the interest on these accounts also decreases. ìWe should probably stay on budget even though interest rates are dropping, but I guess we never know,î Comm. Gustafson said.

Bonini said part of the increase in revenue from interest was simply based on doing a little homework. ìWe did some shopping around for the best interest from banks, which forced them to get a little more competitive,î he said.

Comm. Larson noted that the 61,000 tons that came in last year was the highest volume of waste ever at the facility. ìWe can anticipate growth in tonnage as long as the population increases,î he said.

Bonini said there is only one hauler left to sign a delivery agreement, because they have not had a board meeting recently.

ìHow do we determine if all the waste is coming here, and not going down to Elk River,î Comm. Larson asked.

ìThe only surefire way is to watch a truck and see where it goes,î Bonini said. Comm. Gustafson said there used to be an agency working for the ECSWC to monitor that, but with past volumes, they should be able to see an increase.

Landfill compactor purchase

As the commission prepares to internalize operations of the Mora landfill, Bonini presented a specifications list for acquiring bids on a landfill compactor.

He said the commission would obtain the compactor on a five-year municipal lease program. The equipment could then be bought for $1 if it was economically feasible. ìWhat does one of these cost?î Comm. McNally asked. Bonini told him around $450,000, which was why leasing the equipment made more sense.

The commission approved the specs, and Bonini will look for bids to bring back at the March meeting.

ìAre these specs written so that more than one compactor, one company, could fit,î Comm. Larson said.

Bonini said there are currently four companies manufacturing these types of compactors, although one design is not recommended, leaving three possibilities.

The ESCWC will take over operating the landfill on July 1. Bonini said the new compactor and other upgrades, such as alternative daily cover, will add at least one year to the existing phase of the landfill.

ìI talked to one manufacturer who saw what we had, and said right away that we could get 25 percent better compaction,î he said. ìIím more conservative, assuming 15 percent.î

ìWe are going to get a lot better job out there, not only with this type of equipment, but a lot more updated. We have so many problems with whatís out there,î Comm. Gustafson said.

Recycling successful

In his Directorís report, Bonini told the commission about the success of recycling programs at all of the ESCWC facilities. Since its inception last summer, more than 27 tons of scrap metal have been recycled at the Mora facility. The program is offered free of cost to customers; a St. Cloud recycler picks up the metal for recycling free of cost to the ESCWC.
Bonini said a metal recycling roll-off box has been added at the Hinckley transfer station as well, and the Mora facility has been encouraging customers to separate out cardboard to keep it from the waste stream.

Bonini told the commission that he had made a presentation to the Chisago County Board, and offered to make presentations to the other four county boards as well. ìIt was well received by our board,î Comm. Gustafson said. ìYou hear perceptions going around the community of whatís going on here,î he said.

Bonini said he is also setting up hauler forums, inviting all of the haulers to meet with him. The first one will be Feb. 15 at the Isanti County Government Center.