Three new commissioners join solid waste commission

Posted 1/10/01

Three new commissioners join solid waste commission

By Danielle Strenke

At its first meeting of the new year, the East Central Solid Waste Commission returned only two of the five county commissioners to its ranks. Newly appointed commissioners from Pine County, Kanabec County and Mille Lacs County joined returning commissioners George Larson of Isanti and Bob Gustafson of Chisago.

Alan Hancock replaces Frank Skaff as Pine Countyís representative to the commission; Paul Reiman takes over for Dave Tellinghuisen from Mille Lacs; and Dennis McNally is now Kanabec Countyís representative.

Larson and Gustafson were appointed as the boardís chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, while Hancock will serve as treasurer.

Executive Director for the ESCWC, Allan Bonini, reviewed detailed background information on the history of ESCWC with the board, as three of the members are new to the organization.

He briefly covered bond debt, pointing out that the commission has set aside a special account to cover the last two bond payments for 2001, which will total about $282,000. ìThe good news it there will be a little bit of pressure taken off the counties,î Bonini said.
ìThat is if everything goes as expected,î Commissioner Larson said. Bonini said the bonds are scheduled to be paid off in 2007, when the original charter for the ESCWC will expire.

He reviewed the failed proposed waste management fee system with the group, which was rejected by Mille Lacs County last fall. In its place, to ensure a steady stream of waste into the Mora facility, Bonini said, the commission voted to continue offering a $4/per ton hauler rebate and propose a five-year contract to all their haulers.

ìAs of now, 75 percent of the waste coming in last year has been secured through contracts,î Bonini said. ìItís especially important that we have secured all of the large haulers.î

He said now that the contracts are in place, it is time for the organization to think how it wants to proceeds with a strategic planning process. ìThis was a 20-year agreement, set to sunset in 2007,î he said. ìBy 2004 we need to demonstrate our value to the community at large.î

He asked the board to start developing a task force, made up of members from the community at-large, haulers, business people, local and county officials, and any other interested parties.

Bonini said there would be more options than simply continuing with the waste facility after 2007, or closing it after the bonds were paid. These include selling the operations before 2007 if offers arise, and numerous alternative uses to the now vacant compost facility in Mora.

ìWe should make a strategic decision and then decide whether and how that facility fits in with that plan,î Bonini said. ìWe pay $30,000 in insurance premiums, and half of that is to cover the compost facility and its equipment. We may want to consider more creative alternative uses for that building.î

He also discussed other issues facing the commission in 2001, including the proposed withdrawal of Mille Lacs County. The commissioners discussed the benefit to Mille Lacs of withdrawing from the organization, and costs involved with reviewing all aspects of the withdrawal.

ìMy concern is there will be a certain amount of expense here, and it should be borne solely by Mille Lacs County,î Commisioner Larson said. ìWhy would the other counties want to pay this, and find out how they can withdraw-thereís nothing in it for us.î He went on to ask what the possible motivation was for the withdrawal proposal.

Commissioner Reiman said the county was disillusioned with the failure to use the Mora compost facility in its true capacity. ìIt goes back to the history of this organization. It was supposed to be a compost facility, but that never materialized, then there was the fire, and then Microlife came into it,î he said.

Bonini also discussed other budgeting issues for 2001, such as the construction of Phase 4 and shutdown of Phase 2 of the landfill, construction of a customer convenience center for private haulers at the Cambridge facility, and ideas for future recycling programs.

The commission set its meetings for 2001 as the second Monday of each month, 9 a.m., at Mora. The next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 12.

In other business, the commission:
ï Rejected a counter proposal from BFI on its waste delivery agreement. BFI asked to sign a one-year agreement, instead of five years.