Proposed Sale of the Little Mountain Landfill to NURLA

Public Open Houses, Tremonton City, and Brigham City

December 5, and December 6, 2007, at 6:00 p.m.

Information Provided by the Box Elder County Commission

 

INFORMATION ABOUT NURLA

 

  • The Northern Utah Regional Landfill Authority (NURLA) is a not for profit interlocal (quasi-governmental) entity formed by; Box Elder County, Logan City, Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District (Davis and Morgan Counties), and Weber County.
  • NURLA is controlled by an eight member Governing Board.  Each member entity appoints two voting representatives to the Board.  Each member entity has equal representation, regardless of size or waste delivered to the system.
  • As a public entity, NURLA operations, budgets, and meetings will be open to the pubic for inspection and controlled by rate payers through their elected representatives.
  • By combining waste streams, all participating communities will see the benefit of reduced landfill costs (through the economies of scale) and avoid unnecessary duplicated overhead and administrative cost.  The tipping fee for Box Elder County residents and businesses could be reduced by more than half. 
  • Box Elder County also benefits by receiving a host fee of $1.50 per ton for all waste delivered to a NURLA.  This is approximately $900,000 per year when the facility is utilized by all members! 

 

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

 

  • The current “tipping fee” (the per ton cost for waste coming into the landfill) of $26.25 per ton is no longer sufficient to cover costs of the Box Elder County operation at Little Mountain.  The increase in unit cost is a result of a portion of our waste stream (Perry City and South Willard) being hauled to Weber County.  In order to meet current budgetary shortfalls we will need to increase our rate by at least $5.00 per ton! 
  • In 2006, NURLA completed an engineering study which identified six potential sites for a Regional Landfill.  The sites evaluated were Little Mountain, West Hills (also known as Whites Valley), Rattlesnake Pass, Bulls Pass, Promontory Point, and Monument Peak – Little Mountain was ranked as the number one site.
  • In 2007, Zion’s Bank Public Finance conducted an independent study to rank the six identified sites for NURLA based upon cost.  The study included the following criteria: transportation, land acquisition, permit costs, infrastructure, upgrading of roads, and royalties.  Only differential costs between sites were considered.  The Little Mountain landfill site was ranked number one. In addition to being ranked as the number one preferred site, Little Mountain is ALREADY a functioning, and viable landfill.  Why should we maintain two landfills in our County when one will do the job?

 

 

 

LITTLE MOUNTAIN’S HISTORY, OPERATION, AND DESIGN

 

  • In the early 90’s Box Elder County was operating numerous landfills from Brigham City and Bothwell to Yost, Grouse Creek, and Park Valley. NONE of these landfills were being closed due to the fact that they had reached capacity, in fact the combined total lifespan would equate to over 500 years if allowed to stay open. The County consolidated these operations to a centralized location with the siting of Little Mountain landfill in 1996. The consolidation of operations to a regional Little Mountain operation helped to achieve an economy of scale that made waste management more cost effective. 
  • During the siting of Little Mountain landfill; several other sites were evaluated including: Whites Valley, Howell, Blue Creek, and a transfer station in Bear River City. Little Mountain was the preferred site in 1996 and remains the preferred site today.
  • Changing Little Mountain to a regional landfill will:  1) result in the relocation of all waste (currently on soil) to a lined landfill thus reducing Box Elder County’s environmental liability, 2) increase the funds available for additional residential services such as household hazardous waste disposal and expanded recycling programs.
  • The redesign of Little Mountain will increase the useful landfill life from approximately 47 years to at least 80 years.  The increased capacity will provide low cost solid waste disposal for residents for years to come.
  • Utilizing Little Mountain as a regional landfill will continue to provide Box Elder County businesses and residents direct haul to the landfill.  This direct haul will eliminate the need to construct a Transfer Station in Box Elder County.

 

SUMMARY

 

Little Mountain is the only site in Box Elder County that:  1) Serves the needs of local businesses and residents by having direct access, 2) Eliminates the need for Box Elder County to construct a Transfer Station, 3) Provides accessible household hazardous waste and recycling services, 4) Provides the economy of scale necessary to remain cost competitive with out-of-county alternatives, 5) Eliminates the County debt associated with the existing Little Mountain operation, and 6) HAS A COMMITTED WASTE STREAM (which means a committed revenue to the County). These benefits are only possible through the cooperative participation of member communities through NURLA.