Waste group pushes for grant legislation

By Danielle Strenke
The East Central Solid Waste Commission (ECSWC) is hopeful that legislative sponsors will be able to pass a bill in the next session that will exempt the five-county joint powers from repaying outstanding grant monies.
The commission held a multi-county meeting with representatives from Fillmore, St. Louis and Wright counties Nov. 21 at the Isanti County Government Center, to discuss possible language to be included in the bill.
The five counties included in the ECSWC ñ Chisago, Isanti, Pine, Kanabec and Mille Lacs ñ currently have $10 million in outstanding debt, in bonds that will be recallable June 1, 2003.
The grants obligate the commission to continue to look at new technologies for utilizing its Mora facility to reduce the amount of waste that is landfilled.
ECSWC Executive Director Allen Bonini said at the meeting that the conditions of the grant are ìplacing an unfair burden on the counties.î
He said all of the county commissioners present at the meeting agreed that the technology available is simply not economically viable for facilities such as the one in Mora.
Both Fillmore and Wright counties have built and subsequently been forced to closed compost facilities.
Wright County debt is around $10 million. In St. Louis County, only transfer stations were built and the county owes considerably less ñ around $300,000.
Bonini said he was pleased with the meeting, with 40 people attending including county commissioners and local and state legislators.
He said the next step is to finalize language for the proposed bill, and work on finding a sponsor who will carry the bill to St. Paul. The ECSWC is hopeful that it will be passed into law next spring.

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