Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Area township considering proposal from landfill



The Rich Valley Township Board has been asked by the Spruce
Ridge Landfill to change the fee it imposes from a $2.50 per ton tip fee
to a $1 per ton host fee agreement.

Spruce Ridge claims that the whole amount could be put
into the township’s general fund to be used however it wants.

The issue was discussed at the township’s annual meeting
on March 13, but no decision was made. The township board decided, after
over an hour of discussion, to have its attorney look at the agreement with
the landfill’s attorney.

It also suggested that the attorney could get a written
opinion from the Minnesota Attorney General as to whether or not the entire
host fee can go into the general fund.

Rich Valley Township Clerk Sue Schulz said the issue was
brought up at the annual meeting as information for the township residents.
That way the residents could voice their thoughts on the matter.

She said there were some concerns voiced, but the major
one is the legality of putting the entire host fee amount into the general
fund.

Currently, Rich Valley Township collects $2.50 per ton
of waste that is taken to the landfill as a tip fee. The state law allows
the fee, but 83 cents per ton has to be set aside for landfill abatement
projects.

The fee was imposed in September of 1999, which has generated
over $95,000 in the last 1-1/2 years.

The host fee agreement would be a five-year contract that
would drop the fee to $1 per ton. Mark Reinert, from Spruce Ridge Landfill,
said the contract has a built-in escalator that allows the fee to go up
a certain percentage every year.

In addition, all Rich Valley Township residents would be
able to deliver up to 1,000 pounds of their garbage to the landfill per
month at no cost, and the free pick-up of their recycling would continue.

“That is something we can give back to the township,”
said Reinert. “The landfill is in the township, and it is not going
anywhere.”

Reinert said the base gate charge at the landfill has
been dropping from its high of $45 per ton in September 1999 to the present
$32.34 per ton.

He said he has seen a small increase in business since
the rate dropped, but dropping it again will help bring back more of the
business that was lost.

The Norwood Young America transfer station is currently
shipping its garbage to Iowa. Reinert said the fee there is only $3 and
there are no more taxes added.

In McLeod County, the total gate rate, including state
and local taxes and fees that have been imposed, is currently $48.50 per
ton. More than 33 percent of that is taxes and fees.

Reinert said once a company has gone through the expense
of loading the garbage on a semi, the mileage to Iowa is no big deal.

If the host fee agreement is put into place, it may be
affordable for the waste going through Norwood Young America to be re-routed
back to Spruce Ridge. Reinert said that would double the current volume.

Reinert considers the host fee agreement a win-win situation.
Lowering the fee would allow for additional volumes into the landfill, which
would result in higher revenues for the township and Spruce Ridge.

But, the township is still concerned about the Minnesota
statute that the current tip fee falls under. Schulz said that putting the
entire amount of a host fee into the general fund has never been challenged.

The concern is, if the practice was challenged in the future
and the court said the money needed to be put into an abatement fund, the
township would have to come up with a large amount of money for the abatement
fund.

“The host fee agreement is nothing new for Waste Management
(owner of Spruce Ridge),” said Reinert. He said it has host fee agreements
with a landfill in Burnsville and the township’s side of the landfill in
Elk River.

One township resident asked why the garbage bills have
not been going down along with the fees at the landfill.

Reinert said that the residents would have to talk to the
hauler about that.

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