Otter Tail a step closer to solid waste reform

By Lisa Kaczke | The Daily Journal

Published 07:54 a.m., June 27, 2009

Officials from Otter Tail and Wadena counties are in agreement to work out a deal to collaborate their efforts to possibly save money.

The two county boards met for an hour Tuesday in Fergus Falls.

“Wadena is here asking, ‘What can we two counties do together?’,” said Hoot Gibson, who is currently overseeing solid waste activities in Wadena County after its solid waste director vacated the position.

Bill Stearns, vice chair of the Wadena County Board, said his county board is interested in sharing a solid waste director with Otter Tail County. The two counties have a duplication of efforts and administration work that Sterns sees as unnecessary. The recent vacancy of Wadena’s solid waste director position has created the opportunity to research what the counties could do together, Stearns said.

However, the sharing of services is being viewed by commissioners in both counties as one step in a possible ground-breaking new idea for Minnesota counties.

Wadena and Otter Tail counties, along with Todd County, are on the cusp of creating a steering committee to regionalize their solid waste departments into an entity that would oversee solid waste and allow the counties to share services, transfer stations and landfills. The entity would also oversee the Perham Resource Recovery Facility, an incinerator used by the three counties to dispose of their solid waste.

It still has yet to be decided if creating the regional entity would mean the counties would eliminate their individual solid waste departments, Otter Tail Solid Waste Director Mike Hanan said.

The three counties are holding the first steering committee meeting July 8 in Otter Tail County. Officials from Becker, Clay, Cass and Hubbard counties are also expected to attend after they expressed interest in possibly joining the proposed regionalized solid waste entity.

“Are you guys ready for an adventure?” Otter Tail Commissioner Roger Froemming asked the group.

Gibson pointed out that Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff is aware of and encouraging the proposal. The counties may receive more willingness and leniency from the MPCA as they form a regional entity as a result of being the first in the state to do so, Hoot said. He added that the MPCA is saving a $2.8 million grant until Dec. 31 for the expansion of the Perham incinerator based on the proposal moving forward.

The idea was proposed by Otter Tail County Commissioner Doug Huebsch recently as a compromise in a disagreement over the ownership of the incinerator. A larger entity would lower the financial risk that could fall onto the taxpayers, Huebsch said, while Hoot pointed out that it could save the counties money by considering what the counties need and bring it to the table.

Gibson said he “felt like we were a century behind” after visiting Otter Tail County’s solid waste facilities. Wadena is paying to haul materials out of the county while Otter Tail is selling it in the form of steam in Perham. Wadena’s transfer station is in need of repairs, isn’t efficient and is expensive for the county, Gibson said.

The proposal “could change a lot things to a lot of counties,” Gibson said.

It also is a time that is ripe for regionalization as a result of Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposing that counties regionalize, Huebsch said.

“Garbage doesn’t know borders,” he said.

However, Froemming cautioned that if the regional entity became too large with too many counties, it could end up hurting the counties involved.

In the meantime, Hanan is expected to discuss with Wadena officials working in both counties to solve the issue of Wadena’s vacant solid waste director position. He is expected to bring a recommendation to the Otter Tail County Board. Hanan told Otter Tail commissioners Tuesday that he was interested in taking on the Wadena position also.

Otter Tail County Commissioner Lee Rogness said the commissioners were “very excited” discussing the handling of solid waste in the eastern part of the county while the board Chairman Everett Erickson said the board was in favor of sharing a solid waste director.

Rogness continued, saying that the collaboration makes sense because it cuts operation costs and “is the theme of the governor and the economic environment.”

Wadena is a small county that sends about 6,500 tons of solid waste annually to the Perham Resource Recovery Facility, Stearns said. Its solid waste department’s budget is $1 million. The Otter Tail Solid Waste Department collection of $1.8 million in solid waste fees is about half its revenue, Hanan said.

Hanan questioned what the expectations would be for him in Wadena. He pointed out that Wadena officials shouldn’t expect to receive the same services from his as they would from an employee who could be there full time. But if they were looking for someone who could do general oversight of the department, he could do it.

Ideas were proposed by Wadena officials for the use of Hanan as a solid waste director. Stearns estimated that Hanan would need to spend 20 percent of his time in Wadena County. He could spend the time overseeing the paperwork process and filing forms for the county. He wouldn’t have to travel to Wadena County to do so and wouldn’t be expected to be in Wadena for the day, Stearns pointed out. Also proposed was the hiring of a solid waste supervisor in Wadena who would work on the ground in the county and refer to Hanan when a situation called for it.

Otter Tail Commissioner John Lindquist said he could see it evolve from sharing a director between counties to possibly having a regional waste manager.

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