Avoyelles Police Jury ok’s Phase I of solid waste plan

Improvements at the Parish Barn and dump site were given a green light this past Tuesday when the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury approved a request to complete plans and seek bids for Phase I of the “Parish Modernization/Maintenance Plan.”

The initial estimate for the project is $2 million. That could change once Parish Engineer Ron Bordelon completes the design so the project contract can be advertised for bids.

The cost will be paid out of the $5.5 million accumulated reserve in the Solid Waste Fund. The 3/4-cent sales tax that funds the solid waste program allows the jury to use any surplus from the tax proceeds for maintenance-related costs.

The proposed improvements include the Parish Barn facilities, a new access road to the dump and complying with state environmental regulations.

One improvement those taking trash to the dump will appreciate is a ramp that will enable users to throw their garbage down into a bin instead of having to throw bags up into a bin.

COMPLY WITH DEQ

Civil Works Director Kevin Bordelon said the project will also correct deficiencies cited by the state Department of Environmental Quality. Those include providing a covered area for waste tires and addressing concerns with the storage area for scrap metal.

Police Jury President Charles Jones said this is just the first step toward protecting the parishwide garbage collection/disposal program.

“Avoyelles Parish is one of the few parishes with a garbage tax that pays for parishwide pickup,” Jones said. “We believe that is a benefit to the public and we want to see that continue.”

However, he added, the cost of solid waste disposal is increasing. The last contract renewal increased by $250,000 and will probably make a similar jump at the next renewal in a few years.

If that happens, and sales tax revenues do not increase, the current sales tax will not be enough to pay for the parishwide service.

If that occurred, the parish would be faced with either reducing the level of service in the contract or canceling the contract and putting that responsibility on individual residents.

Jones said the Police Jury wants a third option: to take a more direct role in the future of its garbage program to control future costs.

Phase II would be the construction of a solid waste transfer station at the Parish Barn dump site. That phase would cost about $1.5 million.

Under that plan, the garbage trucks would dump their loads into large trailers that would then be carried to a landfill.

That plan calls for the jury to enter into a long-term disposal contract with a public landfill -- most likely in St. Landry Parish -- and have separate contracts for parishwide residential collection and hauling the large trailers of trash to the landfill.

‘CONTROL THE HOLE’

“Whoever controls the hole controls the gold,” Jones said. “If you don’t have a long-term disposal contract for a landfill, they can keep jacking up the costs and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Jones said the parish currently has one contractor that provides all three legs of the solid waste program -- collection, hauling and disposal. Splitting it into three contracts is expected to increase competition and control costs.

The contract cannot be divided into three parts unless the Police Jury has a transfer station and negotiates a separate long-term disposal contract.

Jones said the parish cannot create its own landfill for several reasons: DEQ is reluctant to grant permits for new landfills, the upfront cost would be high and the parish’s waste stream is too low to make the cost economically beneficial.

“Avoyelles Parish produces about 45 tons of garbage a day, which is not enough to make a landfill beneficial,” he said. “We would have to have three or four more parishes involved to make it worthwhile.”

The Police Jury had hoped to use an 8-mill property tax to provide the necessary revenue for the modernization plan and add a cushion to cover anticipated solid waste program costs should that plan be delayed.

Voters rejected the new property tax at the same time they renewed the 3/4-cent sales tax for solid waste and 1/4-cent sales tax for road maintenance.

Jurors had discussed the possibility of biting the bullet and spending the Solid Waste Fund surplus that has built up over the years. This action puts the parish on the road to pursuing that path to have some level of control on garbage disposal costs and to continue providing garbage collection as a public service to Avoyelles residents.

It was noted that residents in neighboring parishes must pay for their own garbage pickup. Some larger towns and cities add a garbage collection fee to the monthly utility bill. Those living in unincorporated areas must hire a garbage company to pick up their trash.

One person in attendance from Rapides Parish said he pays about $400 a year -- $100 every three months -- for garbage collection for his rural home.