By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The referendum question asking voters to approve $1 million per year for five years for Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling is still on the November ballot even though the county’s program will be closing down December 31.
The referendum question was approved by the county board by the August deadline to put the question on the ballot, and then the municipalities decided to pull out of the Dunn County solid waste and recycling program after that, said Morgan Gerk, director of Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling, at a meeting of the solid waste and recycling management board on October 6.
Gerk said he has been receiving questions from the public about why the question is on the ballot if the county will not have a solid waste and recycling program.
If the referendum question were to be approved, the Dunn County Board has the option of not levying for and collecting the money, and since there will be no program, there would be no reason to collect the money, Gerk said.
If there were significant demand to bring the county’s solid waste and recycling program back in subsequent years, Dunn County could then re-evaluate the situation and implement the tax levy at that point, he said.
Gerk said he has been directing people to the Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling website for more information about the referendum.
Statement
The statement on the Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling website reads as follows:
“The Dunn County Solid Waste & Recycling Division will no longer be providing solid waste or recycling services after December 31, 2020. The ballot language for the referendum in support of the division’s capital improvements and Clean Sweep program was approved and submitted in preparation for the ballot print deadline on August 25th. In September, all member municipalities that participate in the County’s solid waste and/or recycling program made the decision to withdraw and provide their own services to their constituents beginning on January 1, 2021. Unfortunately, these decisions were made after the ballots were printed and changes could not be made to reflect the closure of the County program.
“Therefore, the opportunity to vote in support of solid waste and recycling capital improvements in Dunn County remains. If the referendum passes, the County Board of Supervisors will make a determination for when or if an appropriate time to implement the levy will occur, in support of a future County-managed solid waste and recycling program. This would be solely dependent on whether or not there is significant support for a return of these services at some point in the future.
“A ‘Yes’ vote for this referendum would show your support for keeping the possibility of future County-managed solid waste and recycling services under consideration.
“A ‘No’ vote for this referendum would indicate that you do not support the possibility of these County-managed services returning.”
Responsible units
Gerk also reported on the Responsible Units that are being formed among the municipalities in Dunn County.
State law requires all municipalities to either be a Responsible Unit for recycling or to join another Responsible Unit.
Boyceville is forming an RU and Downing and Wheeler will join the Boyceville RU to operate the Boyceville collection site. The Village of Boyceville plans on purchasing the existing equipment at the collection site, Gerk said.
The City of Menomonie will continue to operate the city’s collection site, he said.
Colfax is forming an RU, and the Village of Elk Mound and the Towns of Elk Mound, Spring Brook, Colfax, Grant, Otter Creek, Tainter and Wilson will join the Colfax RU to operate the Colfax collection site. The members of the Colfax RU will be purchasing the existing equipment, Gerk said.
The Connorsville site will be operated by the New Haven RU, which will be joined by the Towns of Tiffany and Sheridan. The municipalities are not planning to do solid waste, only recycling, so there will be one surplus compactor and receiver box, he said.
Downsville and the Town of Dunn will operate with the Town of Weston, Gerk said.
Dunn County owns the Ridgeland collection site, and Ridgeland is forming an exclusive RU, he said, adding that he does not yet know if the Ridgeland RU is planning on operating the collection site.
Rock Creek is forming an exclusive RU, will operate the Rock Creek site and will purchase the equipment from Dunn County, Gerk said.
The Town of Peru will be joining the Pepin County RU, he said.
The Towns of Sand Creek, Lucas, Red Cedar, Sherman and possibly the Town of Menomonie will be forming their own RU, although it is possible the Town of Menomonie may work out an agreement with the City of Menomonie, Gerk said.
Surplus equipment
The original offer of $15,000 for the municipalities to purchase each of the compactors and receiver boxes at the collection sites still stands, Gerk said.
All the other equipment at the sites will be included at no cost since it has already almost completely depreciated in value, he said.
Colfax, Elk Mound and the Town of Dunn each want an additional compactor, but there are only two surplus compactors, Gerk said.
The surplus compactors and receiver boxes will be offered for sale by sealed bid with a minimum bid of $15,000, he said.
Gerk told board members that he planned to send out invitations to bid to the municipalities in the near future.
Transfer station
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax and chair of the Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling Management Board, asked if there had been any interest in leasing the transfer station west of Menomonie on state Highway 29.
Several private haulers have expressed interest in leasing the transfer station, Gerk said.
Another idea Gerk said he had received would be for the University of Wisconsin system to develop a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF, pronounced “merf”) at the transfer station.
Several universities would partner to install separating equipment to process source separated recyclables that would come exclusively from university campuses, he said.
Timelines
Gerk said he would work with the various municipalities on the timelines for the collection sites.
For example, brush grinding will have to take place at the collection sites before there is a hard freeze, he said.
Dunn County also will need to clean up the collection sites before January 1 when the new Responsible Units start operating them on January 1. Site operations may have to be discontinued the week between Christmas and New Year’s, Gerk said.
Bjork asked if the county would have to do any mitigation, such as installing monitoring wells.
The collection sites will continue to operate as they are now, and most of them are built on old landfills and already have monitoring wells, Gerk said.
The state Department of Natural Resources will conduct a final closure inspection before the sites are turned over to the new Responsible Units, he said.
Newsletter
Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling will be sending out its final Resource Newsletter the week of October 19, Gerk said.
The newsletter will contain information about the collection sites being operated by new Responsible Units on January 1, the referendum and deer carcass disposal, he said.
Deer carcasses
The DNR has free carcass disposal for residents, but businesses, such as taxidermists and meat processors, have no place to dispose of carcasses. Deer carcasses will be collected at the transfer station through the end of December and will be taken to the Barron incinerator for incineration, Gerk said.
Landfills will not take deer carcasses because the Chronic Wasting Disease prion is tough and survives in the leachate from the landfills, which is processed in wastewater treatment plants, and prions also survive the wastewater treatment process, he said.
Because the prion survives, it can be distributed out onto the landscape again from the wastewater treatment plants where it can infect more deer, Gerk said.
Deer carcasses used to be collected at the transfer station until the end of January, but that will not be possible this year, so the deer carcass collection will end December 31, he said.
Dave Bartlett, chair of the Dunn County Board and chair of the Sheridan Town Board, said he was concerned that deer carcasses will once again be thrown out into ditches and into ravines on farms after the county program ends.
Backwards
Bartlett said he also was concerned that Dunn County would be going “backwards” on solid waste and recycling.
If someone has to dispose of furniture or a television, and that person does not believe much in recycling, the furniture and televisions will end up in the ditches and ravines again, he said.
“I think Dunn County is taking a big step backwards environmentally,” Bartlett said.
The townships closer to Menomonie will maybe not be in such a tough position, but the northern townships will have a harder time with furniture, tires and other objects in the ditches, he said.
Dunn County would be better off with a county solid waste and recycling program, Bartlett said, adding that it would be better for the county if the referendum did pass.
“I feel strongly we are going backwards environmentally in this county,” he said.
“There will be buyers’ remorse,” said Steve Rasmussen, a member of the solid waste and recycling board.
“There already is buyers’ remorse,” Gerk said.
People will have to make a bigger effort to recycle, Bartlett said.
