Town still keen on county solid waste district

Moorcroft Mayor Dick Claar will conduct a walk through the municipal landfill Wednesday with a state inspector to determine the current health and future of the enterprise.

Claar explained at Monday’s meeting of the town council his hope to see a solid waste district approved by the Crook County Commissioners in the future as well as permission from the DEQ for another pit established.

“It’s critical, in my opinion,” the mayor stated, “for all of northeast Wyoming that this landfill remains open.”

The landfill has been closed to non-municipal garbage before, due to the garbage dump filling and no permission from the DEQ to dig another pit. This left many struggling to know what to do with their garbage and the unscrupulous to dump along road and waterways.

The mayor recently expressed his concern that a similar situation could happen again and include the town: “Hopefully, we can compact well enough to get another two years [with the permitted extensions]. If Moorcroft has to haul our garbage to Gillette, at today’s rates, it would cost each customer $28 more a month.”

At the meeting, Claar explained the reason that the commissioners have not been approached yet regarding forming a solid waste district for the county this year.

“The one percent optional tax is on the ballot this year and we don’t want to injure that. I personally feel that that is extremely important that that passes for the economic development of Moorcroft, improve our infrastructure and retire some debt,” he said.

“If we ask for a solid waste district this year, that would be a mill levy on the ballot and we don’t want the voters to have to choose between the two. We want to have the opportunity to put it on the ballot in two years.”

The commissioners would be responsible for creating a district and appointing a board who would then determine a mil levy for operating the site, which would be anywhere between one and three mils, according to Claar.

Further advocating the need for a solid waste district to keep the landfill open to all, the mayor gave some sobering facts: “Right now, if we closed the landfill and a private citizen had a truck load of garbage to take to the dump, you couldn’t take it to Gillette; only a contractor can haul into Campbell County. That resident would have to hire one of the solid waste contractors to haul it for them. It is critical that