Changes coming to county landfill
RED OAK — Montgomery County mayors will vote in October whether to approve an Iowa Waste request to turn the local landfill into a transfer station only.
Iowa Waste is required by state law to receive the Montgomery County Landfill Association’s approval to transfer waste to their Mills County site, instead of burying it at the site just north of Red Oak.
Red Oak Mayor Ted Schoonover supports the proposal, calling it a win-win.
“I can understand their plight as it will cost them about $3 million to open another cell,” Schoonover said.
Schoonover added the landfill in Mills County, which also accepts trash from Council Bluffs, is much larger and capable of handling additional waste without the additional investment.
With a foundation already poured for the transfer station, Schoonover said the landfill association will have to make some decision as to where the county’s trash will go.
“We have to take our trash somewhere,” Schoonover said. “If we don’t go there, we have to go somewhere else, like Page or Cass County.”
Red Oak City Administrator Brad Wright, when discussing the matter at last week’s council meeting, said Page County has expressed an interest in accepting the waste.
However, Wright pointed out the downside of not having a transfer station where trash could be dumped and then hauled by Iowa Waste to the landfill.
The situation there (with Page County) is it would have to be a direct haul,” Wright said. “Our haulers and citizens that wanted to take debris to the landfill would have to drive to Page County to do it.”
While some on the Council expressed concern over the impact the landfill change will have on haulers’ fees, Schoonover said the contract rates for Batten Sanitation and Town Country Sanitation would remain unchanged.
However, fees for the general public will increase from $58 to $75 a ton, although the rate could be reduced to $68.55 if the association agrees to a 10-year contract with Iowa Waste.
“Unless you haul trash to the dump yourself, I doubt most people will notice or be affected by this change,” Schoonover said.
A small cell will be kept open at the Montgomery County landfill for emergencies such as large, damaging storms.
Should the landfill association agree to Iowa Waste’s request, Montgomery County’s waste will be transferred to Mills County as soon as construction on the transfer station is complete.
Montgomery County would also be added to Iowa Waste’s Comp plan.
However, as Wright pointed out, the landfill association could simply approve Iowa Waste’s request to transfer the trash without joining the comp plan for up to 12 months.
By doing so, he said the landfill association could take the full year to explore other options before committing to Iowa Waste.
The landfill association will discuss the issue at its Tuesday, Oct. 4 meeting at 7 p.m. in the Red Oak City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.