Transfer station changes OK'd

The Carlton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to make changes to the way the county operates the Carlton County Transfer Station.

Zoning and Solid Waste Management administrator Heather Cunningham presented a plan that would end a contract with private contractor Mahkahta Trucking and hire two full-time employees to run the processing of demolition refuse coming into the facility. The station would continue to have three half-time employees, two to run the office and one to handle the hazardous waste that is taken in by the county. Since they are half-time positions, no benefits are provided.

Mahkahta now hauls all the refuse to the landfill in Superior, which is scheduled to close in 2024.

Cunningham's plan is to hire two Local 49 union operators, purchase sorting equipment, and send 4,000 sorted demolition tons to the SKB landfill in Cloquet. SKB Environmental would haul municipal solid waste and mixed waste to the Superior landfill with a goal in a few years of keeping that waste to about 13,000 tons.

Savings in sorting demolition tonnage and the cost of two union employees to run the effort would result in an estimated increase of $82,280 from the current program costs. The more that is sorted as demolition tonnage and brought to the SKB landfill, the less has to be scheduled for a long haul to Superior. After the Superior landfill closes, the next-closest facilities for taking that waste will result in double the transportation costs.

In addition to repairing the scale, a new loader and other equipment to sort demolition waste coming to the facility would have to be purchased.

"I have seen the issues of handling demolition waste for the nine years I have run the transfer station," Cunningham said. "We have been buying time for a while by not sorting demolition materials and hauling all the tonnage to the Superior landfill. It makes sense to start making changes now because in two to three years the closure of the Superior facility will make the situation critical."

Construction and demolition waste is anything attached to a building. MSW is municipal solid waste - basically all other garbage that is not industrial. Mixed is both demo and MSW. There are different taxes and fees for all three waste streams.

Act funds add up

Economic Development director Mary Finnegan gave an overview of the impact of CARES Act dollars in Carlton County.

The economic infusion from the CARES Act funding has amounted to just over $8 million for those of us in Carlton County.

The $4.4 million designated for the county, cities, and townships covered increased staff time for a local response to the pandemic, costs of safety initiatives, creating a network to strengthen health care for those who got sick and a vaccine program as well as help to local businesses and nonprofits from the county. Another $1.1 million of county funds have not been allocated in an effort to see what areas need additional aid. An additional $700,000 has been allocated by the State Legislature to further help struggling businesses and nonprofits. The application is available at the County website and is due soon, by Feb. 16. Guidelines are different for this source of funds, and money will be released by March 15. Find out more at https://co.carlton.mn.us/762/COVID-19-Assistance.