Posted 3/15/01 Solid Waste Commission closer to taking over landfill operations By Danielle Strenke The East Central Solid Waste Commission completed the next step toward taking over operations of its Mora landfill facility at its meeting Monday, March 12. After a late start due to the snowy weather Monday, the commission approved the awarding of a bid on a new landfill compactor for the Mora landfill. The bid, which was the lowest received, was given to Sweeney Brothers Tractor Inc. out of Burnsville. The ESCWC will sign a five-year lease agreement with Sweeney Brothers on a Bomag compactor, at a cost of $357,500. The total amount of the lease will be $409,280, which is under the budgeted amount of $426,000. Cost to buy a new landfill compactor is around $450,000, which made a lease agreement more economically feasible. Director Allen Bonini told the commission at its February meeting that the compactor lease included the option to buy it for $1 at the end of the five years, if the commission deemed it economically feasible. The lease agreement is the next step for the commission, as it nears the July 1 date for takeover of the landfill operations. In the continuing saga of the proposed withdrawal of Mille Lacs County from the joint powers agreement, the commission was presented with a timetable for completing analysis of the financial and legal ramifications. Bonini, along with the commissionís attorney Dave Oberstar and Marion Heemsbergen from Chisago County, are compiling the analysis for review by the commission. ìWe will report back to the commission no later than the end of April,î Bonini said. The commission will have the opportunity to review the analysis, and have further discussion of the withdrawal at its May 14 meeting. In his report, Bonini told the commission that he had met with seven waste haulers at a ìHaulerís Forumî on Feb. 15. He said the two-and-a-half hour discussion was very worthwhile. ìI was asking for their input, and making sure they had no complaints, which was a good thing to hear,î Bonini said. He has also presented a report on the commissionís strategic plan to three of the five participating counties: Chisago, Pine, and Isanti. He told the commission he was scheduled to meet with Kanabec County later this week, and would be on the agenda for an upcoming meeting in Mille Lacs County soon. The commission held an emergency meeting February 26, to approve the advertisement calling for bids on landfill construction and closure, scheduled for this year. The advertisement needed to be approved by the commission before it was published, with bids due to the commission by March 26. The construction will call for completion of a roughly four-acre expansion of the landfill, which is Phase 4 of a total of five phases. Along with this, Phase 2 of the landfill will be at capacity, and thus closed. The next meeting of the ECSWC will be Monday, April 9 at 9 a.m. at the Mora facility. ©Post Review