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Board mulls higher landfill tipping fee

NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners will consider increasing the Brown County fee for landfill dumping from $17.25 to $19.25 per cubic yard Sept. 26.

The Brown County Solid Waste Commission recommends raising the tipping fee by $2 and hiking the solid waste tax 10.4 percent so the total proposed fee will be $22.52 per cubic yard.

The landfill is self-sustaining and does not use county levy funds for operation. Fifty cents per cubic yard of the tipping fee goes to the Landfill Trust Fund which is used for landfill closure and post-closure costs required by the state. The remaining tipping fee pays for landfill operating costs.

Landfill operating costs have risen to meet the New Generation Landfill rules for leachate; new Department of Health drinking water standards for PFCs and to build a new cell for waste. Recently, income fell short of building up reserves and the county purchased a parcel north of the landfill for a potential spray field area.

The tipping fee was last raised in 2015. As of Sept. 5, the Landfill Operating Fund balance is $1,722,088.79.

Proposed cell 20 landfill construction costs are $411,000 for 2017 and $1,119,712 for 2018.

Surrounding landfill tipping fees range from $45 to $67.86 per ton. The conversion price of the Brown County tipping fee is about $46.06 per ton (using 750 pounds per cubic yard). It will rise to about $51.40 per ton.

Commissioners will also consider:

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) bonus expenditures of $8,025.

• The State of Minnesota Child Support Program Interagency Cooperative Agreement for 2018-19.

• A $27,115 Dodge Caravan SXT with power side door from Mayday Motors for Brown County Heartland Express. Other van bids without power side doors were a $25,939.35 Ford Transit Connect from Chuck Spaeth Ford and a $23,767 Dodge Caravan SE from Mayday Motors. Power side doors are a necessity, according to the Request for Board Action.

The van would be used at Heartland and Brown County Human Services, mostly for Bridge on Center, for trips beyond 30 miles.

• Adding a case aid position to the Brown County Human Services Child Protection Mental Health Unit.

• A $6,073 contribution towards the $12,145 total cost proposed by Miller Dunwiddie Architecture for the masonry restoration revised construction including phasing the Brown County Museum masonry project. The Brown County Historical Society will contribute the remaining $6,072 for the proposal.

• A $3,020 low quote from Farasyn Construction, New Ulm, to replace the northeast steel exterior door at the Heartland Express Transit Manager’s Office at the Brown County License Bureau. Other quotes were $3,034 from Heymann Construction and $3,119.78 from Nosbush Glass Co.

• A $7,847.60 low quote from Full Service Electric, Inc., New Ulm, to remove 11 400-watt fixtures and replace with 150 watt LED fixtures in the courthouse parking lots. A $1,039.50 rebate is estimated upon energy efficiency project completion. CB Electric bid $8,549.50 for the project.

• A $11,344 low bid by Bryan Nelson Construction for County Ditch (CD) 33 tile replacement in Albin and Mulligan Townships. The system has 22,910 feet of open ditch and 165,474 feet of county tile in a benefitted area of 5,050 acres. The project is scheduled to begin on or before Oct. 31 and be complete by Dec. 31.

• Convene a public hearing to consider 2018 drainage assessments and establish a 4 percent interest rate for those not paid within a 60-day billing period.

The board meeting begins in the courthouse commissioners room at 9 a.m. today.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.

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