Allen County Commissioner David Lee would rather the county landfill not get a reputation as a “tire landing zone.”
And while Commissioner Jerry Daniels doesn’t love the idea, he recognizes accepting tires “is a revenue stream for the county.”
Public Works Director Mitch Garner addressed creating a new tire disposal monofill site at the landfill at Tuesday’s meeting. The current site will reach its limit in “five, six years, or maybe sooner,” said Garner.
Problems with the site came to the forefront last year when a single company, FMS/United Tire, dumped nearly 2,000 tons of shredded tires. The next largest company had dumped just 67 tons in the same time period.
Due to this, the commission made some changes to the county’s tire disposal costs. County residents now pay $5.50 per ton, for the first 25 tons each month. After the 25-ton limit is reached, they pay $100 per ton for the remainder of the month. Out-of-county residents pay $130 per ton, beginning with the very first ton dropped off.
Currently, tires are disposed of in the northern part of the landfill. The new location will be in the southern region of the landfill.
“It will be about five acres in size,” said Garner. The project is still about two years out, according to Garner. “The top has been stripped already, but we still need to blast the rock,” he said.
Garner noted they would obtain the proper permits in the upcoming two years to set up the monofill site.
IN OTHER NEWS, Road and Bridge Director Mark Griffith presented the commission with a pair of bids to consider. The first bid approved was for asphalt oil products from Coastal Energy of Willow Springs, Mo. This included pothole patchers, chip/seal for existing chip/sealed roads, and a primer that is applied prior to chips being put down. The commissioners approved the bid for the products from Coastal Energy at $2.60 per gallon, $2.96 per gallon, and $2.39 per gallon, respectively.
The commission also approved the sole bid for dust control. Scotwood Industries of Overland Park offered magnesium chloride at $1.43 per gallon or 35% calcium chloride at $1.29 per gallon.
In regards to the calcium chloride, Griffith noted, “Our dust control guy said that once you get to the 35%, you’re not saving any money on that one. By the time you’ve mixed it all up, you’re already at $1.43 or possibly more… which is the price of the magnesium chloride.”
Griffith recommended the commission approve the bid of $1.43 for magnesium chloride.
Last year’s magnesium chloride was $1.37 per gallon, and the cost charged to residents was $2.37 per foot. Griffith recommended the same rate to residents with a two-hour free spray time. After the two hours, it will be $125 per hour. The commission unanimously approved Griffith’s recommendations.
Griffith noted that last year, approximately 94 residents utilized the dust control. “I know there was some dissatisfaction last year because of the timeframe — did we lose some?” asked Lee. Griffith confirmed that they did lose three last year.
“There were some people that said it wasn’t worth putting it down because it was so late,” he said. “That’s why I’m getting this out sooner this year — to get the chemicals back by the end of March.”
