LAKEPORT — The Eastlake Landfill will begin receiving Ukiah-area solid waste in 2012, after the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted Tuesday to approve the county entering into an agreement allowing the import.
The BOS decision came at the end of a three-hour discussion with Public Services Department representatives about the landfill”s projected $500,000 budget shortfall. Options to cover the anticipated deficit were also considered at the May 10 BOS meeting.
Importing waste could allow the county to cover the shortfall and build up the landfill”s financial reserves needed to fund mandatory improvements, Public Services Director Kim Clymire and deputy director Caroline Chavez told the BOS.
Chavez told the BOS that the landfill has seen a 25-percent decrease in annual tonnage received since 2006, causing significant drops in revenue. The recession and increased diversion and recycling efforts have contributed to the revenue decrease, Chavez said.
The BOS voted 3-2 to approve of the idea of importing waste from Ukiah, with District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing and District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington in dissent.
The BOS then approved, by a 4-1 vote, the county entering into an agreement with Solid Waste Systems, Inc. (SWS) allowing the import, marking the first time the county”s landfill would accept exported trash. Farrington dissented.
SWS will transport the waste from the Ukiah Valley Transfer Station, which it operates. Lake County Waste Solutions, which hauls residential and commercial waste from the unincorporated north county, is an SWS-affiliate under the same ownership.
“We think it”s a positive step forward and looking at the future, we feel it was the correct idea,” SWS partner Bruce McCracken said.
The import will begin Jan. 1, 2012 and the agreement extends until Dec. 31, 2016. Import could be extended for an additional five years (2017 to 2021) by mutual consent.
The agreement allows SWS to transport up to 65 tons of non-hazardous solid waste per day, using no more than three trucks. Even with the import, the amount of waste received daily at the landfill is not expected to reach 200 tons, the maximum allowed, Chavez said.
A $38.25 gate fee would apply for imported tonnage for the first three years. The rate would be adjusted slightly for years four and five per the agreement.
Agreement provisions include prohibiting SWS hauling trucks from traveling on Highway 20 east of the Highway 29 junction to reach the Clearlake-based landfill.
Another provision calls for SWS and the county to meet and confer by 2014 about the feasibility of constructing a recovery facility in Lake County.
The company would consider building a resource recovery facility (RRF) in the county to sort through the imported garbage, McCracken said. District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the potential for an RRF in Lake County compelled him to support the import.
The BOS also indicated approval for increased gate fees at the landfill, voting 4-1 to waive a reading of the entire proposed ordinance establishing the changes and advancing the second reading to the June 7 meeting. Farrington dissented.
Increased gate fees would serve as another fund-recovery method for the landfill, Chavez said.
The BOS approved of a graduated fee-increase structure, which called for a 16-percent increase beginning in July and roughly 6-percent increases for each of the following three years.
The current landfill gate fee rate for the public is $37 per ton, meaning new rate, as of July, would be $42.92 per ton. The rate is estimated to reach $51.12 in July 2014.
Clymire and Chavez presented a series of gate fee increase options to the BOS, some of which could have allowed the shortfall recovery without the import.
One option proposed a 39-percent gate fee increase beginning in July, which Public Services projected would allow them to recover only the $500,000 deficit for next fiscal year.
Other options called for high percentage increases for next year followed by gradual increases the following three years, which could have been able to cover the deficit and add funds to reserves.
All rate increases would apply directly to self-hauling residents and would be passed through by the franchise haulers to their residential and business customers. The franchise haulers bring in roughly 70 percent of the tonnage received at the landfill, Chavez said.
Public Services was concerned that increasing the gate fees too high could lead to an increase of illegal dumping.
The BOS also approved amendments to the county”s contracts with the two franchise haulers, allowing the companies to implement a variable quarterly fuel surcharge. Farrington dissented in the 4-1 vote.
The surcharge idea developed from the haulers” interest in recovering money lost because of increasing costs of diesel fuel, Chavez said.
Farrington argued that adjusting to high fuel prices should be considered “a cost of doing business” and not necessarily recovered by the companies through BOS approval of a new fee.
The surcharge will appear as a separate line item on the invoices of all residential and commercial customers, effective in July. The surcharge for July will be based on average fuel rates from March, April and May.
Had the fee been approved to start May 1, the charge for the average residential customer would have been 55 cents per month and $7.40 per month for the average commercial customer, according to Chavez.
The surcharge could increase or decrease based on fuel prices.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
