Moorcroft prepares to go it alone on landfill

The future of the landfill has long been a concern for not only Moorcroft, but also for the surrounding communities and county residents who take advantage of the lower prices and convenience of a local repository. However, at last week’s meeting of the Crook County Commission, the decision was made to appoint a committee to continue the discussion, rather than form a solid waste district as requested by Mayor Dick Claar.

In response, the Moorcroft council has decided to explore the possibility of going it alone and will be investigating potential funding avenues over the next couple of months.

The commissioners and Claar have been in discussions regarding the possible formation of a solid waste district to commence investigation of future viability and perhaps oversight of the municipal landfill. The DEQ as well as privately held company TDS were invited to join the conclave.

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) expressed their impartiality to any decision made, according to Claar. However, they have given the municipality only two years to come up with a workable plan of action and, if that does not happen, the landfill will be forced into closure and Crook County as a whole will be transferring their garbage to other facilities.

“That’s basically it,” Claar says.

TDS is the facilitator former mayor Steve Sproul introduced to the council several years ago as a possible answer to the issue of operations. However, the suggestion was dropped after TDS refused to invest funding for any of the actual financial hurdles the town was facing.

Claar states the problem at that time and today as, “They’re willing to operate it, but they’re not willing to dig the pit and they’re not willing to pay for a liner or a permit; they’re not investing anything except hiring a guy and putting him to work there.”

TDS would receive pay from the town for having a person on site. “Basically, like renting your house, you pay all utilities and they get to live there,” Claar explains.

The commissioners afforded an hour of discussion regarding the options on the table including a district, privatization of operation or leaving the problem to Moorcroft. Later in the day, a decision was made to form a committee of eight individuals from local municipalities and the county to evaluate the viability of moving forward with a solid waste board.

Claar expressed his disappointment in this decision.

“I don’t know what they’re looking for because they had a joint powers board and they met for two years without any decision made and now they’re back to [a committee],” he says. “I’m upset over this, we’re just kicking the can down the road again.”

This is a disappointment with which the rest of the council strongly agreed at the Monday night meeting when the mayor shared the commissioners’ action.

The mayor communicates his frustration with the manner in which the commissioners have handled this issue, saying, “I don’t understand why they don’t want to start a waste district that can come back with a recommendation [maybe] to put it on the ballot and let the voters decide.”

The legitimacy of his concern about possible bias at the county level was noted by fellow councilmen when the poll previously sent throughout the county to ascertain how residents stood regarding this issue was brought up. At that time, 60% responded with approval of a mil levy for the management of the landfill for everyone who uses it.

He views their behavior as less than appropriate, “A couple of county commissioners are not representing the voters of Crook County. They’re representing their friends; two county commissioners who are afraid this thing will pass by a vote of the people and they’re afraid to put it on the ballot. Now, we have to force this a little bit because DEQ has given just two years to get a plan to them that they can permit.”

Claar has not been formally informed about the commissioners’ decision as of this report; he says he plans to speak to Commissioner Fred Devish to get the facts, including a timeline. “I’m waiting to see how fast this transpires,” he says, mentioning that the town has a very tight schedule set by the DEQ and repeating his view that, “I think we have a couple of commissioners who have sold us out by not letting the people decide what’s best for Crook County.”

Councilman Ben Glenn opined, “What I see happening, since this joint powers board was already created, we’ve had it for four years and nothing has ever been done with it. I think all the county’s doing is buying time. I don’t see it going anywhere.”

Claar states that he has no problem accepting a commission-appointed joint powers board.

“I have a problem with a lack of a timeline. They need to set a time line and say okay, in 90 days or four months, we need to what our options are, [but] I think we already know what our options are,” he says.

The aforementioned third option is the most untenable, requiring the town to find the funds needed to install a lined pit on the acreage. The DEQ has assured Claar that the agency will permit another pit if it is lined.

“If we can’t get the commissioners to move forward, I think we need to explore if we can secure the financing,” advocates Claar.

HDR Engineering’s Heath Turbiville spoke to this Monday night, suggesting that both SRF and Rural Development would be interested in possible loans. However, to help pay for this option, the town will have to increase outside tipping fees (for anyone outside of town limits).

Regarding the commissioners’ stand, “We’re trying to be good neighbors to all the people in the county,” Councilman Dale Petersen said, “And we have a couple folks standing in the way of what has to be done.”

Councilman Ben Glenn concurred, “The county will do nothing with this until new commissioners are elected. It’s going to rely on us to take care of the people who voted us in.”

The mayor concluded, “They’re not giving the Crook County residents an opportunity to even weigh in on it and that’s wrong, I think.” He agreed with Glenn that the council has to take care of the residents of the town and not let the landfill close.

Thus, with the advice of the DEQ, Moorcroft is waiting for a cost breakdown from HDR to build a large C&D (Construction and Demolition) pit, which does not have to be lined, in order to bring in more revenue. In accord with his fellow councilmen, the mayor is preparing to seek financing to move forward without a district if the committee does not offer significant recommendations within the next couple of months.