Back to the drawing board

The High Country Joint Powers (HCJPB) board met at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Hanna Town Hall to discuss the progress of the landfills closure destined for July 1, 2020.

Contractors had been out at the landfill earlier at 2 p.m. to get an idea of the land before bidding on the convenience center slated to built at the site.

After the agenda was approved, Toby Smith, chairman of the HCJPB, told the board that the building was going to cost much more than what had been originally estimated.

“After the figures were run through a computer, the cost is going to be about $420,000 for the convenience center and the dirt road running into it,” Smith said. “That is way beyond the scope of our budget. Astronomically, monumentally. It is a disaster.”

He said after talking over the options with contractors, a real alternative was put in the dumpster model that was in place in Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow.

“We proposed this over three years ago,” Smith said. “We gave the information to the mayor and the council and we were told the town wouldn’t accept it.”

The towns of Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow have steel containers located throughout the town. A truck picks up the trash and takes it out of the town. The savings of using this system would make it possible to go down on the size of the building needed for the convenience center.

Hanna mayor Lois Buchannan was in the audience and said, given how prices were going up for the landfill in a continuous manner currently, she was concerned about the cost a Hanna resident was going to pay when the landfill closed. She pointed out the town had a population of residents on fixed incomes and the rising cost of the landfill was becoming a burden.

“If we put in this convenience center the way we have it planned, there is no way we won’t be forced to go way up in price,” Smith said.

He said the cap to close the landfill might have to change because the rock was hard with little dirt around it. This lack of dirt could require a flexible membrane liner, which is impermeable but more expensive.

The board agreed that Smith should go to the Hanna town council on March 10 to explain the situation with the convenience center.

Because the HCJPB board was looking at the possibility of starting over in its way of collecting the garbage, it was agreed to table purchases of containers. Contractors will be contacted to let them know of the delay as the board decides the size of the convenience center.

It was decided that after the Hanna Town Council, a special meeting would be called before the month ended on a date to be determined.

The next scheduled meeting will be at 6 p.m. on April 2 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.