Dump site may be privatized
4:39 p.m. Friday, October 3, 2008
To many, it may appear as business as usual at the forestry dump site.
But Parks and Recreation director Terry Bertels says the City can barely keep up with the volume of brush coming in.
This machine is working overtime to help alleviate the wear and tear on this grinder.
"What you don't see out there the quarter of a million, half a million dollar piece of equipment that's depreciating, that we're paying interest on, that's not going to last," says Bertels.
Bertels blames an increasing number of people dropping off trees, grass and leaves. He says at this pace, the grinder won't last much longer and the city is paying for it with a twenty year bond. He says that equals to more mulch that's just sitting around.
Bertels says it these conditions that caused a fire in 2006 that lasted on and off for several weeks.
Bertels says, "Not only is it not going anywhere, it is creating a potential problem down the road."
Now the City is looking to have a private company take over the operation of the dump site.
"We're looking for someone who can come in and move a lot of material off site quickly," says Bertels.
Bertels says privatization would allow the city to get out from under the replacement costs of the equipment. Currently, the the dump site is making a little more than $20,000 in profit. But he says that doesn't account for the money still owed on this grinder and paying overtime.
"They can argue it's a money-maker, but they'd be wrong. It's not," says Bertels.
But Bertels cannot guarantee that the cost to dump will stay the same. That's about $15 dollars a car load.
Could the cost to dump go up?
"It's going to have to be a negotiation point. I don't know at this point," answers Bertels.
Bertels says it's too early to know how the new operation will work. He hopes to keep the free dump days it currently offers.
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