DC PR&D forwards to executive committee solid waste and recycling request for $5 million referendum
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has forwarded the request for a $5 million referendum from the solid waste and recycling division to the executive committee.
The Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling Management Board met on May 12 and approved the request for a referendum question on the November ballot that would collect $1 million annually for five years, said Morgan Gerk, director of DCSW&R at the PR&D committee’s May 26 meeting.
The request for a referendum must be approved by the solid waste and recycling board, the PR&D committee and the executive committee before it is forwarded to the Dunn County Board for consideration.
The money would be used for capital improvements, such as new infrastructure at the transfer station on state Highway 29 east of Menomonie, Gerk said.
The money also would be used for considering whether to convert the Dunn County system to a single stream recycling model instead of source-separated materials, he said.
Converting to a single stream recycling model would make recycling easier for the haulers and for the residents of Dunn County, Gerk said.
Instead of county residents sorting their recyclables at the collection stations, the recyclables would all go into one container.
To operate a single-stream recycling model, the transfer station would need a new loading dock, a specialized compactor, and mobile equipment, such as a lowboy trailer, a loader and a truck, so the solid waste and recycling division does not have to rely on the highway department to do the loading and to manage certain aspects of the program, such as yard waste, Gerk said.
The next step for the request for a referendum is the executive committee meeting on June 10, he noted.
Partners
The solid waste and recycling management board is planning to hold a meeting with the municipalities in June to obtain some guidance, said Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax and chair of the solid waste and recycling management board.
One part of the meeting will be to find out which municipalities want to remain part of the solid waste and recycling program, he said.
“I hope they want to be part of it,” Bjork said.
Dunn County’s solid waste and recycling program conducts Clean Sweep events for hazardous materials and also helps residents safely dispose of certain items hazardous to the environment, such as electronics, pressurized cylinders, used oil and antifreeze, he said.
Elected officials are responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the county, and without a program, Bjork said he was afraid hazardous materials would end up “dumped in the back 40.”
The June meeting will determine the direction solid waste and recycling is going to go, Bjork said.
Part of the referendum money would go toward the solid waste and recycling division’s fund balance to replenish money that has been used to cover budget deficits and part of the money would go toward capital improvements, he said.
Maintenance
Mike Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, said he could understand the capital improvements but wondered about the wording that referred to referendum money also being used for maintenance.
Maintenance is part of the infrastructure, Gerk said.
But allowing the referendum money to be used for maintenance “could open up a lot years from now,” Kneer said.
Part of the referendum money will go toward capital improvements, and the solid waste and recycling division also will have to raise the per capita fees to be self sufficient, Bjork said.
The solid waste and recycling management board needs a commitment from the municipalities on how to move forward. If some of the municipalities drop out, the county program may have to be discontinued and solid waste and recycling would have to handled by private haulers, Bjork said.
Putting maintenance in the referendum language “looks like a black hole” and should not be an option, Kneer said.
The maintenance in the referendum could refer to something like replacing the floor in the building at the transfer station, said David Bartlett, county board supervisor from Boyceville and chair of the Dunn County Board.
Items like replacing the floor are a big maintenance cost and are part of what is eating up the budget now, he said.
The Dunn County Board approved a budget amendment at the May meeting to transfer $330,000 from the county’s general fund to the DCSW&R division to cover a budget deficit for 2020.
The referendum would help keep the per capita fee down as well, Bartlett noted.
A referendum question also would let county officials know if the residents of Dunn County want to continue with Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling, he said.
While not all of the towns and villages in Dunn County are members of Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling, the referendum question would be asked of all Dunn County residents, and all county residents would pay the referendum amount if it were approved by the voters.
Environment
The town boards would always want to go the cheapest route, but they are not considering the environment, said Bartlett, who also serves as chair of the Sheridan Town Board.
Bartlett said he had looked into getting Dumpsters for the Town of Sheridan, and the cost would be close to what the township is paying now for the per capita fee for Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling.
But Dunn County recycles more than the private companies, and Dunn County accepts recycling from all of the townships and not just the member townships, Bartlett said.
If people have to drive to Eau Claire or the Twin Cities to recycle what Dunn County recycles now, recyclables are going to end up in ditches and in other places on the landscape, he said.
The request for the referendum must be approved by the Dunn County Board at the June meeting in order to be on the ballot for the November election, Bartlett noted.
Kneer said he supported the request for a referendum for capital improvements because the county has a “fantastic” solid waste and recycling program.
The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee approved forwarding the request to the executive committee for a $1 million referendum that would be collected annually for five years.
Kneer voted “no” on the motion.