Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Solid Waste Groups Discuss Partnership

Members of two solid waste groups met in Prescott Friday, April 25, to talk trash, literally.

Representatives of the Southwest Central Regional Solid Waste Management District, composed of Garland, Clark and Hot Spring counties, met with members of the Upper Southwest Regional Solid Waste Management District.

The groups discussed the possibility of joining forces with their garbage problems.

The Upper Southwest has been working with Georgia Pacific on a concept to pelletize garbage to be used as fuel pellets for the GP plants.

The Southwest Central group currently has a contract with the Saline County landfill, but it expired in Sept. 1998. In addition, the Southwest Central had to sue Saline County after it violated the terms of the contract and raised its tipping fees a few years ago.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor, a member of the Upper Southwest board of directors, said the Southwest Central group was given a proposal on what the Upper Southwest thought would be best for the long term of both entities.

Basically, he said, the idea is for the two agencies to merge and join forces, thereby combining the amount of garbage generated.

Part of the problem for the Upper Southwest in the GP deal has been the district does not currently generate enough waste for the amount of pellets the company would need.

However, if the Southwest Central District merged with it, there would be no problem with the waste stream generated.

Jim McAllister, Arkadelphia City Manager, said the Southwest Central generates 80,000 tons of garbage annually at this time.

Taylor said if the Southwest Central district merges with the Upper Southwest, the Upper Southwest will need a 20 year commitment so the pellet project will be viable. However, he said, the representatives from the Southwest Central group were more interested in discussing a three-year contract.

Currently, the Upper Southwest charges a tipping fee of $25 per ton. The Southwest Central group is paying $14 per ton under its contract with Saline County.

McAllister said the Southwest Central district will meet with Saline County landfill officials to discuss a possible extension to the contract. However, he said the tipping fees at Saline County could be raised more than is being charged by the Upper Southwest.

At this point in time, according to McAllister, the Southwest Central district is simply in the discussion phase, looking to see what's in its best financial interest.

However, Taylor expressed confidence the group would merge with the Upper Southwest to form one massive entity. "I expect to hear from them when they meet next," he said. "They were told they would be part owner if they joined with the Upper Southwest."

But, McAllister ventured no such comments. He said while the Southwest Central district is exploring a possible merger with the Upper Southwest and is looking at renegotiating a contract with Saline County, these are not its only options.

The district, he said, is also pondering building its own landfill. He said with the combined volume the three counties generate, a new landfill is a viable option for the Southwest Central district.

"A lot of people have pessimistic attitudes toward solid waste," he said. "I don't. I was in the solid waste business and it can be lucrative."

According to Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith, the best land in the Southwest Central district for a landfill is in Clark County near Gurdon. This, he said, is because of the midway clay formation.