Commissioners inch forward on transfer station

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

In a meeting with an engineer helping plan a new transfer station for the county, county commissioners agreed to plan for a permanent, rather than temporary, facility to replace the crumbling building now in use.

Bruce Boettcher, of BG Consultants, showed commissioners two options, one for building a permanent facility and the other for building a temporary facility to use until a permanent facility is built later.

The estimated cost to build a permanent facility is $4.05 million, with a projected completion date of July 2019.

The estimated cost of a temporary facility is $1.19 million, with a projected completion date of February 2019.

A sales tax at the same rate as an earlier tax used to build a jail is a possibility commissioners are considering. The jail sales tax expires July 1.

Approving a tax to build a transfer station would require an election. County clerk Tina Spencer said she recommended a mail ballot for the vote.

“I would recommend doing this by mail ballot election because we’ll have better turnout — more participation,” Spencer said.

The election must be held by March 20 and the votes canvassed by March 26, Spencer said. The deadline to notify the state that the jail tax ends, and that a new tax begins, is April 1.