On a 5-0 vote the Mariposa County Supervisors Will Consider Raising the Rates at the Transfer Stations By an Unknown Amount at a Future Public Hearing (With Audio)

At the January 25, 2011 Mariposa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting the BOS discussed providing direction and taking actions regarding changes in operation of the Coulterville, Hornitos, Fish Camp, and north county (Don Pedro) transfer stations.

The Board of Supervisors packet on this item.

The Landfill is an Enterprise Fund, meaning that it is supposed to be self-supporting and not receive any General Fund dollars.

Audio is in minutes and seconds.
(Press the Green Arrow to Play. Yellow Button is Pause and Red/Orange Button is Stop. Mouse over the Timeline Bar to advance or back up the Audio.)


0:00 Allen Toschi, Director of Public Works opens the agenda item and discusses the money situation. The landfill was loosing $200,000 a year before Solid Waste & Recycling Manager Michelle Miller was hired at the landfill. Now just the Transfer Stations alone are loosing over $70,000 a year. This cannot be funded by the Enterprise Fund.

2:40 Supervisor Lyle Turpin said that eliminating the Transfer Stations is not a viable option. He said they need to come up with a formula to keep the stations open.

4:40 Supervisor Janet Bibby talked about the proposed $9.00 a 32 gallon bag fee if you are in county and $11.00 if you are out of county.

5:00 Michelle Miller talked about nationwide landfill usage and the local landfill. She said in 2008 she was told to cut $750,000 from the landfill budget which was roughly 25% of the budget. She mentions how they save money out at the landfill and how now they are producing a form of compost and the unfunded mandates that the State requires which averages around $200,000 a year. The $9.00 a bag does not count for any improvements to the sites.

9:30 Supervisor Bibby talks about Hornitos and the Don Pedro Stations and can the trucks schedule differently. For pick up service Hornitos residents pay $60.50 for four cans once a month. In Coulterville they pay $35.01 for four cans once a month. Supervisor Bibby also talks about the illegal dumps in the area. She also says the $9.00 a bag is an option versus loosing the station.

14:30 Supervisor Kevin Cann mentions that the Transfer Stations are just a symptom of a bigger issue. He talks about the 'State of the Art' Composter, the increase of plastics and state mandates. He said it is fun to pretend that the landfill is an enterprise fund "but it ain't." He said if we are going to run the operation they have to fund it.

18:20 Supervisor Jim Allen mentioned the Fish Camp Transfer Station. He said the county needs to step in and take care of the problem.

21:20 Supervisor Bibby supports digging into the budget to find funds for the landfill. She also said she did not support the compost plant because of concerns over the green waste analysis. She mentions the future costs at the landfill.

24:00 Supervisor Turpin talks about the $9.00 a bag fee. He said the County General Fund is going to have to be part of this bag fee.

Public Comment
29:00 Ruth Sellers mentions that Supervisor Stetson voted for the Composting Facility and it costs the taxpayers $173,000 on a loan for the facility. She mentions the funding sources that paid for the Composter. She said the BOS should ask for forgiveness on the USDA loan, close the dump and treat it as a Transfer Station and haul everything to Merced.

37:00 Ruth Catalan mentions that the landfill should not have to be an Enterprise Fund. The County should pay for it. She said the TOT money should pay for the landfill.

39:50 Robert Luke mentions the recycling not being adequate in Mariposa County and the County is not paying the full CRV back to the residents. He also would like to know what a 'bag' is for $9.00? Mr. Luke also talked about the two weekends the Transfer Stations were closed in Coulterville during the Holidays and what a mess it was and also that $9.00 for a bag is ridiculous. Also that we pay taxes for county services and we are entitled to them.

46:00 Sheriff Doug Binnewies mentions that closing the stations would lead to increased dumping.

47:30 A resident of Greeley Hill talks about the amount of road trips to Mariposa by residents if they close the stations.

49:00 MaryAnn Huff mentions that a program is needed for recycling.

52:00 A resident mentions that the landfill should not be an enterprise operation.

58:00 Michelle Miller notes that a bag is a 32 gallon container and she is understaffed at the compost facility as she could use sixteen to eighteen people and she currently has around twelve employees. She has one unfunded position.

59:00 Supervisor Turpin mentions his request would be for the staff and CAO to bring back a formula for the rates if the situation would be a 50-50 ratio with the county and the transfer stations users. Michelle Miller said it would work out to $6.25 a bag. The current charge is $3.50 a bag.

1:00 Supervisor Cann said that the county needs to deal with the number that Michelle needs to run her operation at an efficient level. He mentions single source recycling.

1:03 Allen Toschi said that currently the budget is balanced at $2.2 million. Several items are not included in that budget including building maintenance and machinery, professional services and service agreements that have all been cut from the budget. He said to keep the landfill limping along would cost $240,000 to $250,00 more a year. A realistic budget for performing maintenance and some new financed equipment would add another $280,000 to the budget, unfunded state mandates would be another $150,000 a year, plus the transfer stations at $70,000 for a total of $3.3 million. Anticipated revenues are running slightly above projections and should come in around $2.3 million leaving a net loss of $1,000,000. He said they have eleven employees now and need sixteen to eighteen that would add another $200,000 a year to the budget. That leads to a realistic budget of $3.3 million.

Audio is in hours and minutes.

1:08 Michelle Miller noted that the Transfer Stations need about $3,000 to $5,000 per station for maintenance.

1:09 Supervisor Turpin said we are here today to work on Transfer Stations. He said most people he talked to would go for $5.00 a bag. He said they need more bins for recyclables.

1:11 Supervisor Allen said he is not for a rate increase at all. He would not support increasing the rates for the Transfer Stations only.

1:13 Supervisor Bibby asks if the Solid Waste Committee reviewed these rates?
Michelle Miller said the committee reviewed a $6.00 price.

1:14 CAO Rick Benson said if this is concerning General Fund dollars that the money will have to come from some other services.

Audio is in minutes and seconds.


0:00 The CAO continues about where the General Fund money would come from. He mentions long term options like the Tipping Fees, zones being established that would have different rates and raising taxes. He would like this to be looked at during budget hearings. He mentions different scenarios that the BOS could choose from.

3:55 Mariposa County Health Officer Dr. Mosher was asked about the environmental impact from closing the Transfer Stations.

8:50 Supervisor Cann said closing the stations are not in their best interests. None of the BOS are for closing the stations.

10:00 Supervisor Allen would like this brought back before the Solid Waste Task Force Committee.

11:00 Supervisor Bibby would also like information from the Committee. She mentions the Tuolumne County residents using the landfill. They cannot raise fees if they wanted to today as it would take a noticed Public Hearing. CAO Rick Benson said he is hearing that the proposed fee increase is something they will not support at $9.00 a bag. They could come back at a lower bag fee. He said if they go with the $6.25 fee it would leave the Fund with at least a $35,000 deficit.

14:36 Supervisor Bibby said she would support $7.00 a bag rather than close the stations.

17:30 Supervisor Turpin asks about a county wide increase in bag fees and the CAO said that is possible with a Public Hearing.

18:00 Allen Toschi said that the $9.00 bag fee is just what it costs to pay for the stations anything less would require General Fund dollars. Supervisors Allen and Bibby said they would like this brought before the Solid Waste Task Force Committee.

20:45 Michelle Miller said that the committee has recommended closing certain stations and closing one for the winter and that the BOS has chosen not to do that. She said the BOS approved the budget for the stations for six months and that ended in December.
Supervisor Allen said the option to close should be removed and then brought back before the committee.

23:30 The CAO has several suggestions for the BOS.

26:00 Supervisor Turpin said the County needs to be involved in the formula for the bag fee.

36:00 Supervisor Allen said they need to give staff direction and they have already agreed not to close the stations.

40:00 Supervisor Bibby asks Michelle Miller if there is another way to break down the costs per station rather than just divide by four. Fish Camp costs close to $2,000 a ton versus the $124 at the landfill, Coulterville and Don Pedro come in at around $200 a ton.
She also said other places price the landfill dumping at a flat amount of money versus a per bag fee.

46:00 The CAO asks Supervisor Cann if the BOS feels there should be no difference in the prices between the prices at the landfill and at the stations. Supervisor Cann said they should not rule that out. Supervisor Cann said the motion for direction may be that staff and the committee come back before the BOS with realistic funding or incremental increases at the stations. He said the real problem is dealing with the entire Solid Waste operation. Supervisor Bibby agrees with the stations paying more money because the trash is handled two times.

48:00 Allen Toschi asks that for clarification the BOS wants staff to go back to the committee one more time and then back to the BOS with a recommendation increase in costs for the stations and a long term plan of action for the landfill. The BOS will consider raising the rates at the Transfer Stations an unknown amount at a future public hearing. The motion carries 5-0.