A couple of emails arrived in our Daily Post mailbox yesterday.
This, from Carl Young, chair of the Archuleta County Democratic Party:
The BoCC continues to shoot itself in the foot. Hidden under an agenda item “This resolution updates certain fees” is what some are calling a doubling of landfill fees. Also SOP for this board, the new fees are not presented in comparison to the old. Yet another example of bad governance.
Is anyone going to tomorrow’s meeting? Were there any public hearings on landfill rate increases? Why would any sane politician double a user fee in an election year?
The email contained a link to the BOCC agenda notes for today’s regular meeting at 1:30pm.
https://www.archuletacounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/10622?fileID=8301
In that June 2022 document, we can find the proposed Landfill and Transfer Station fees, highlighted in yellow. (Other fee changes are also included in the proposed resolution.) Of particular interest, perhaps, are the fees for Compacted Commercial and Residential waste delivered to the County Landfill, priced at $35 and $32 per cubic yard, respectively.
As Mr. Young points out, the information packet provided to the commissioners — and available to the public — shares the new, proposed fee schedule, but does not share the existing fee schedule.
For comparison purposes, here is the existing fee schedule found on the County website, dated ‘February 2022’. We might find it interesting that the existing fee for compacted and loose waste, delivered at the County Landfill, is approximately half the amount proposed on the June fee schedule. Certain other fees have increased as well, while a few fees have been reduced.
The full agenda for today’s 1:30 meeting is available here.
We also received a copy of a letter sent to customers by Chris and Heidi Tanner, owners of Elite Recycling & Disposal.
Here’s that letter:
Dear Customer:
The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will be voting on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, to double the disposal rates at the Archuleta County Landfill.
Currently the rates are $17/Cubic Yard for Compacted Waste — and Solid Waste Manager, Kevin Pogue, and County Manager, Derek Woodman, are proposing to raise that rate to $35/Cubic Yard for Compacted Waste. Rates for other materials at the landfill will also be increased, if your commissioners approve these rate changes. If disposal rates are doubled as proposed, we will have no option but to raise our prices.
The proposed rate changes are a reaction by the Archuleta County Solid Waste Department to the following:
A State of Colorado inspection conducted on April 27, 2022, in which multiple violations were issued regarding daily operations of the landfill, some of which were recurring violations identified in previous inspections which had not been corrected. It should be noted that the landfill manager who was responsible for addressing these violations resigned shortly before the April 27 inspection, and the current manager, Kevin Pogue, stepped in on short notice.
During the 2021 inspection of the landfill, the estimated remaining life of the landfill was 8 to 10 years. During the 2022 inspection on April 27, 2022, the life of the landfill was estimated to be 4 years, and the County has not made provisions for relocating the current landfill once its capacity has been reached. It can take several years to plan, budget, permit and implement a new landfill, and the estimated 4 years of remaining life of Archuleta County’s current landfill makes this issue of great importance. If the estimate of 4 years is correct, soon we will have nowhere to take our waste.
We believe that a price increase may be needed, but doubling prices is a very steep increase and with little notice. We feel that the Archuleta County Solid Waste Department is rushing this decision and doing so without a thorough evaluation of the current state of the landfill’s operations.
We would ask that:
1. The County Administration and Solid Waste Department provide a detailed plan of how the violations identified by the State Inspection on April 27, 2022, will be corrected.
2. Provide a detail of the landfill’s current profit and loss figures and if rates are raised, where will that additional money will be applied. In other words, proof that the increase is needed.
3. Provide a detailed plan showing the options for a new landfill or some other facility in which to handle our waste going forward once the current landfill’s capacity has been exhausted. An exploration of available options for waste disposal, now, is critical for our future.
4. Detail what we will get as taxpayers in return for this doubling of rates? Will the landfill stay open on minor holidays and have longer daily hours? Will the condition of the landfill be improved so that the roadway to get in and out of the landfill is safer and not a roller coaster? Will that road allow two-way traffic which is not the case currently? Will the dumping area or working face of the landfill be leveled and the size increased for the safety of the public and that of commercial haulers such as ourselves?
As owners and operators of Elite Recycling & Disposal, LLC we see the problems at the landfill daily. We are interested in participating in a dialogue and thorough study of the problems and the development of a solid plan to address those problems and to address a new waste facility for our future before simply raising rates.
If you agree with us, please take a moment and let your commissioners know how you feel. This rate increase is on the agenda of the BOCC meeting [today] on June 7, 2022, which starts at 1:30pm. For your convenience, we are listing the contact information for each of our County Commissioners, and we urge you to reach out to them.
Alvin Schaaf, aschaaf@archuletacounty.org, 970-264-8305
Ron Maez, rmaez@archuletacounty.org, 970-264-8303
Warren Brown, warren.brown@archuletacounty.org, 970-264-8300
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we thank you should you choose to reach out to your commissioners regarding the proposed doubling of rates at the Archuleta County Landfill.
Chris and Heidi Tanner
Owners
Elite Recycling & Disposal, LLC