Joshua Sebold
Staff Writer
5/12/2010

    The Quincy Community Service District board of directors agreed at its April meeting that General Manager Larry Sullivan should continue working with Public Works Director Bob Perreault on the possibility of transfer of the district’s solid waste powers to the county. 

   Sullivan told directors he asked Perreault what he thought about the idea after a previous meeting where the board discussed whether dropping those powers would simplify a consolidation with East Quincy Service District.

    The manager said Perreault was very open to the idea, as he was hoping the county could get all the trash pick-up contracts outside of Portola into one countywide deal for a smoother transition towards all trash going through Intermountain Disposal’s planned materials recovery facility in Delleker.

    In a telephone interview, Perreault explained having all solid waste narrowed down to two contracts, one for the county and one for the city, would allow the two entities to do business under a limited joint powers agreement.

    He said having service districts involved would force the groups to work under a typical JPA, which would force each entity to answer to one board, which would set solid waste policies for the county, city and districts.

    Perreault said the limited JPA would allow the county and city to retain more autonomy and set their own policies while still getting some advantages in bargaining by having the largest possible group of customers.

    Back at the QCSD meeting, director Denny Churchill asked if the MRF would be a sorting facility, where all trash could go into the same bins and truck, with recyclables filtered out at the transfer site. Sullivan confirmed that would be the case.

    Director Ruth Jackson asked if giving up the solid waste powers to the county would void the district’s current contract. Sullivan said he wasn’t sure.

    Board president Kim Kraul voiced her concern that urban areas like Quincy would end up paying more to subsidize more rural areas of the county, where trash pick-up is more expensive for the company.

    Director Dick Castaldini asked how committed the county and IMD were to getting the MRF.

    Churchill responded, “They want to build this thing, and my understanding is they have the funding to build this.”

    He added, “It’s a money maker in other areas and that’s why they want to get into it. It employs ‘X’ number of people and it’s a good deal.”

    Churchill also mentioned that QCSD had enough issues on its plate without keeping track of solid waste anymore.

    Director Jim Bequette commented that it was sad to give up the powers after spending years fighting for what he said was about a 10 percent discount for QCSD customers compared to other parts of the county, but he felt it was the best move.

    The other board members agreed and gave Sullivan the go-ahead to cooperate with the county as it moved forward.

    Perreault explained the preliminary work he had done to the county Board of Supervisors later in the month and got their approval to keep the ball rolling.