Transfer turnaways

It was a quick meeting of the Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District (UPRSWDD) at the Riverside Town Hall on March 6. The majority of the board was in attendance, with Riverside representative Leroy Stephenson absent. While the meeting was brief, the board held continued discussion around cardboard recycling and approved the installation of an evaporation tank for the Saratoga transfer station.

As Ron Munson, owner of Evergreen Disposal and current operator of the Saratoga and Encampment transfer stations, was giving site reports, UPRSWDD Chairman Randy Raymer brought up the issue of cardboard recycling in cold weather. Due to the recent dips of the thermometer and the fact that the building is uninsulated, running the bailer has proven difficult.

“You and I talked about the cold weather cardboard recycling because Steve isn’t able, the machine isn’t able to run when it’s been cold, so he’s been turning people away. Apparently, he’s been turning a lot of people away because we are now starting to get some complaints,” said Raymer.

According to Raymer, both himself and board member Sue Jones had fielded complaints in the last week about users of the transfer station being turned away. The cardboard discussion then centered around the bailer itself, with Raymer stating that the board had approved the purchase of a bailer that could be loaded with a piece of equipment such as a skid steer or mini excavator instead of being loaded by hand.

“We bought a machine, specifically, that could be loaded with a piece of equipment and, apparently, we’re not doing that. I think we need to come up with a way,” Raymer said.

Discussion later in the meeting saw Raymer inform Munson that he was interested in testing out a mini excavator owned by Raymer Construction in terms of using it to load the bailer with cardboard.

The UPRSWDD board also approved the construction of a sump evaporative tank, which had been originally discussed in June 2018 (see “Building, water and road” on page 5 of the June 13, 2018 Saratoga Sun). Currently, a 2,000 gallon holding tank holds washdown water from cleaning floors. That tank, however, is now at capacity and means that the attendant is unable to wash the floor.

Raymer asked the board to consider approving the purchase of the tank in hopes that the ground would begin thawing and allow the installation of the tank come spring. The board approved the purchase of the tank unanimously. Kopasz informed the board that most of the tank would be above ground, with approximately one foot of it buried, and have fencing on top to prevent animals from getting into the tank.

The next meeting of the Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District will be at 7 p.m. on April 3 at Saratoga Town Hall.