Riley County Commissioners tabled a proposal Thursday to increase the tipping fees at the transfer station.
Assistant County Engineer Evan McMillan requested taking the current $55 rate per ton of solid waste to $64 or $65 per ton.
McMillan estimates repairing the transfer station’s tipping floor would be about $200,000, while a fire monitoring system and scale replacement are both estimated to cost $90,000 each. Commissioner John Ford motioned to table the fee increase, favoring a more fluid payment system for users, who are currently only able to use a credit card.
The Transfer Station moved away from cash payments during the pandemic but also for safety and security purposes, to avoid having large sums of cash on hand. The motion to table was unanimously supported.
In other business Thursday, Riley County commissioners voted to move into a month-to-month contract with Howie’s Trash Service until it can successfully re-bid its contract for trash removal.
The move comes after the county was hit with an $8,300 increase on those services for the current year, through March 31, 2024. Ford says it makes sense to re-evaluate the county’s options.
McMillan noted it may take a couple months to re-bid the trash removal sevices. While it may give the county more options, it also may result in higher overall costs. Commissioners unanimously supported re-bidding the contract.
