Sunday closure stays

The Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District (UPRSWDD) addressed their pursuit of consolidated billing during their Aug. 7 meeting in Saratoga as they listened to a proposal from Alysson Sneddon. The board was also presented with a petition from Saratoga Town Councilmember Steve Wilcoxson addressing the Sunday closure of the Saratoga Transfer Station.

Board members Leroy Stephenson and Schelby Merrill were absent.

Bills, Bills, Bills

As was previously reported (see “Billing, hazard” on page 1 of the July 10 Saratoga Sun), the UPRSWDD appointed Sneddon as a project manager to pursue different routes the board could take in regards to consolidated billing. At the August meeting, Sneddon presented the district with “a quick, down and dirty report” that gave the members options they could consider pursuing.

Sneddon told the UPRSWDD that the possibility of finding a third-party billing company, which Chairman Randy Raymer had expressed interest in, was very slim.

“I don’t think we’re going to find a third-party billing company. They’re just not out there. Basically, you’re biggest third-party billers are for medical because that’s where the money is,” said Sneddon.

The three proposals presented to the board included keeping all accounts with the three Valley municipalities, contracting a billing manager to reconcile the accounts on a monthly basis or hiring an accountant to handle the billing.

“In my opinion, we got the same little problem that has plagued this area forever. We’re too small for anybody to really be interested in it and we’re too big for it just to be a really simple deal,” said Raymer.

Sneddon also pointed out that, if the UPRSWDD were to remove their accounts from the towns of Saratoga, Riverside and Encampment, they also risked losing the ability to collect on accounts that were behind on payments. She added that the system currently going with the three municipalities was one that worked and was efficient.

“From what I see, I see a system in place that’s very good. They’re all aware of those customers that fall behind and they’re very good at collecting those monies,” Sneddon said.

Sneddon stated that she was very impressed with both Encampment and Riverside and their billing process. Raymer raised his concern with the Town of Saratoga, stating that he was aware of several past due accounts that had not been collected.

Without two members to comment on the issue, the attending board members asked Sneddon to continue looking into possible alternatives for billing and to report during the meeting in September.

Closing the Petition

During the July 2 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Wilcoxson had informed both the council and the public that he was placing a petition at Saratoga Town Hall for the purpose of attempting to reverse the UPRSWDD’s decision on Sunday closures for the Saratoga site. Wilcoxson had informed Raymer of this petition during the July 3 UPRSWDD meeting.

A month later, Wilcoxson presented the petition to the board, noting that the main purpose of the petition was to prove to Raymer that complaints he was receiving were not from numerous, nameless faceless constituents as had been stated during the July meeting. Raymer noted that he had been approached by two residents expressing their interest in the transfer station being open on Sunday.

The other two UPRSWDD members, Sue Jones and Hank Jewell, stated that they had not been approached by anyone regarding the Sunday closure since the previous meeting. 

“I went through this and I numbered these. There are many of them that are man and wife, living in the same household I assume, but there are 38 names on this list, which is roughly one percent of our service population,” said Raymer.

The board did not take action on the Sunday closure.

The next meeting of the UPRSWDD will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4 in Riverside. The district will also be holding a public hearing for their 2019/2020 budget.