The San Benito County Board of Supervisors has agreed to a
$43,000 contract with Intelliwaste, Inc. to investigate the
financial advantages of expanding the capacity at Jon Smith Road
Landfill.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors has agreed to a $43,000 contract with Intelliwaste, Inc. to investigate the financial advantages of expanding the capacity at Jon Smith Road Landfill.
The contract will allow Intelliwaste, Inc. to determine if the operating proposal made by Waste Connections Inc., the landfill’s operator, is beneficial to county.
The proposal is to cut money the county puts into the landfill, forcing the operators to spend more money expanding the capacity and reduce the franchise feet but expand the landfill’s capacity, Integrated Waste Management Director Mandy Rose said. In theory, the county would spend less money at the landfill, expansion and maintenance would be funded by the operators, and the county would receive more income because of the landfill’s increased capacity.
The proposal could free up money to go elsewhere and bring the county more revenue, Rose said.
In the proposal, the landfill’s capacity would be increased from 500 tons per day to 1,000 tons per day.
Despite the lofty amount of tons, it doesn’t necessarily mean the landfill would receive that much per day, Rose said.
“The community will never be compromised,” she said.
Even with the ability under the law to accept 1,000 tons per day, the landfill wouldn’t unless it had the capacity, Rose said.
The county has been searching for increased revenue at the landfill since the budget hearings earlier this year.
The board asked its staff to look at possibilities to increase revenue to curtail budget cuts.
Intelliwaste, Inc. will give the board more information to determine if an increased landfill capacity would bring more income to the county.
“The board asked for more information, and this will give it to them,” Rose said.
The report is expected back before the last board meeting of the year on Dec. 21.
