Director hopes site will go to waste

Kootenai County Solid Waste Director Roger Saterfiel isn’t expecting much stink over plans to put a garbage transfer station in an industrial area near Hauser.

Instead of homes, the $12 million transfer station would become neighbors with an asphalt plant and aluminum recycler.

“My favorite saying is: ‘Who’s going to smell us over the asphalt plant?’ ” Saterfiel said.

On a more serious note, Saterfiel said the new transfer station wouldn’t be much different than the county’s other garbage drop-off site on Ramsey Road, directly across from a city park and surrounded by businesses. He said the Ramsey station gets few complaints and the proposed site for the new drop-off center is an even better location. The 68 acres at the southeast corner of Pleasant View Road and Prairie Avenue is a prime location because it’s in an industrial area and has 3,700 feet of rail line access, he said. It’s also in one of the fastest-growing areas in the county.

Saterfiel is asking the county to change the zoning of the agricultural land to industrial. The Planning Commission is having a public hearing Thursday. The county commission has the final say.

If the zone change is approved, the Solid Waste Department would likely start construction this summer. The county’s second transfer station would open in fall 2007.

So far, only two neighbors – one on Prairie Avenue and the other on Corbin Road – have voiced opposition to the plan. Neither family returned calls.

That’s a radical difference from five years ago, when hundreds of people protested the county’s proposal to build a transfer station near Garwood, where Chilco, Ramsey and Diagonal roads intersect. The neighbors formed RAFT – Regional Alternatives for Trash – and rallied about the detrimental impact and cost of local roads.

After months of debate, the county commission voted 3-0 to scrap the plans and find another site. Saterfiel said people made it clear they would prefer putting the transfer station in an industrial area near Hauser.

The county’s soaring population brings with it an increase of trash. If a second transfer station isn’t built, Saterfiel is fearful the Ramsey station would fail or that the county would have to restrict when people could dump trash and recyclables.

“We cannot handle the waste or the traffic,” he said.

In 2004, the amount of garbage taken to the Fighting Creek Landfill south of Coeur d’Alene increased by 36 million pounds, which is the equivalent weight of about 13,333 passenger cars. A total of 272 million pounds of garbage went to the landfill.

The Ramsey station is designed for a peak of about 150 tons of garbage per day and about 250 users.

The station averages about 550 tons per day, and on some days the amount soars to 1,000 tons. That means anywhere from 900 to 1,700 people per day use the facility, Saterfiel said.

The county landfill is expected to last until 2037, but that’s based on a much slower growth rate than what Kootenai County is experiencing. Saterfiel said that means there is a possibility that the county may have to ship garbage in the next 20 years to preserve the life of the landfill, and that’s why it’s important for the new transfer station to have access to a rail line.

The new facility won’t increase taxes because the money comes from the $88 annual residential landfill fee.