County discusses trash
Marion County Commission decided Monday to continue the review of a proposed solid waste payment plan.
They presented a proposal to city representatives and KC Development, which operates the county transfer station at Marion.
KC Development officials said the figures didn't adequately cover their costs.
City officials said any action on their part would require formal action by councils — but that most just wanted the issue resolved.
No action was taken. The issue will be revisited Monday.
Part of the problem, commissioners said, is that the cities of Peabody and Goessel, as well as some rural residents, use trash haulers that take material to out-of-county sites. Unless the price is competitive with that rate, they are unlikely to change those agreements.
KC Development officials say an agreement signed by previous commissions was for a transfer station to serve the entire county, with the county paying the cost. The county has not paid any portion of the solid waste disposal fee, and not all solid waste comes to the station, they say.
The county's proposed agreement would base disposal fees on tonnage instead of households. The base rate would be $38 per ton for trash generated within Marion County and collected by county-licensed haulers.
No set fee was established for out of county waste or material brought in by someone other than a licensed hauler.
In addition, the county would pay $6 per ton to KC Development. Commissioners said this supplemental fee is to maintain timely and efficient disposal service. Commissioners say if the transfer station closes, haulers may have to go to Wichita or Salina, if transfer stations there agree to accept material.
KC Development officials were exasperated by the offer.
"As far as the concept, it could be made to work, but the numbers aren't close to right," said Rex Savage of KC Development.
Savage said other counties may offer lower prices, but they are receiving higher volumes of waste. Further, most have some type of tax support through their county, either a general mill levy or an assessment per user.
Theo Bond of KC Development said the county should re-open negotiations to buy the transfer station, or pay the firm $38,700 per month, the figure they say would cover the estimated tonnage produced in the county.
Bond said efforts to work out an equitable arrangement with the county were failing.
"You act like we are your worst enemy," he said. "We just can't get along. For two years we've been asking, and we can't get it done."
Commissioners said they weren't ready to open those discussions, though Savage said an independent consultant could show them how to amortize costs over a number of years. Commissioners had said it would be too expensive, but Savage and Bond said they weren't being served well by their special attorney in charge of solid waste, Jim Kaup.
"You should have a business person draw up your business plan, not a lawyer," Savage said.
Bond added that if the county does decide to re-open negotiations with the firm, it should be through county attorney Susan Robson; he did not want to deal with Kaup.
"We recognize part of the contention is private ownership, but that's what the county wanted to do (when the job was bid)," Savage said. If the county wanted to buy out the firm, they were willing to negotiate a fair price.
Jim Clemmer, mayor of Tampa, said he was told that Central Kansas Regional Solid Waste Authority, a four-county region that includes Marion County, would propose construction of a landfill in the county, near the McPherson County border. Each county would have to provide from $600,000 to $1 million to begin construction.
Commissioners had no comment on the proposal.
Mayor Delores Dalke of Hillsboro said an agreement based on tonnage made sense. However, if costs are lower elsewhere, it may be hard to keep cities hauling solid waste to a local site.
"We know we have a county with one of the oldest populations, and one of the lowest per-capita incomes in the state," she said.
"It's $6.25 to dispose of trash and $4 for a pack of cigarettes," Bond responded. "What can't you afford?"
