OTC rejects burner funding

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, October 25, 2008

It’s four against one as Perham refuse burner participants grapple with how best to establish a joint powers board. In this case, Otter Tail County is going up against the City of Perham and the counties of Todd, Wadena and Stearns counties.

The other counties who haul refuse to the refuse burner in Perham have voted — with Perham — to hire a private law firm to pursue the establishment of a joint powers board. A no vote came from Otter Tail County.

Perham supports the formation of a joint powers board, tied to approval for a refuse burner expansion. Otter Tail County does not support a facility expansion.

That’s the reason for the county’s no vote in hiring the law firm to perform preliminary work for the joint powers board.

Vote total percentages represent each entity’s participation in the refuse burner. Otter Tail County’s share is 37 percent. The vote, reflecting this factor, made it 63 percent in favor and 37 percent against the proposal.

A major question from Otter Tail County's perspective is the expense with an expansion of the refuse burner, between $9 and $10 million.

Steam heat from the refuse center in Perham is sold to Tuffy’s, a pet food manufacturer, and Bongards Creameries. An expansion of the refuse center, according to Perham officials, would be needed in order to successfully meet future contractual obligations to the steam heat customers.

However, county Solid Waste Director Mike Hanan said the steam needs of both customers can be met without a facility expansion, just as they are being met today.

“The expansion would allow a greater volume of the steam sold to the steam customers to be generated using the waste heat recovery (garbage) boiler,” he said, “rather than the auxiliary boiler (natural gas fired boiler).”

County board chairperson Sydney Nelson and the other four county board members — Dennis Mosher, Robert Block, Roger Froemming and Everett Erickson — support a go-slow approach on expansion. All agree that the county board needs to look at the ramifications of incurring more debt.

The Perham refuse burner currently process 118 tons per day, equivalent to 35,000 tons of refuse per year. Following an expansion, that would increase to 200 tons per day, equivalent to 55,000 tons per of refuse per year.

Otter Tail, Todd and Wadena counties are contractually obligated to the refuse burner through 2022. Stears County, on the other hand, has a contract that ends in September 2009.

Perham currently receives $84,000 per year as an administrative fee for managing the facility. About 14 employees (part of Perham city government) work at the Resource Recovery Facility in Perham.