City of Fallon seeks to buy garbage transfer station

In the wake of garbage service cutbacks in the county, the city intends to purchase the refuse transfer station owned by Waste Management to supplement its garbage and landfill enterprise.

The transfer station is located five miles northeast of town on Enterprise Way off Indian Lakes Road, one of two occupants in the Airport Industrial Park.

The Fallon City Council met in a special meeting Thursday morning to discuss the purchase of the four-acre parcel. City Attorney Mike Mackedon said the facility was appraised by Waste Management and reported its worth at $150,000 for the site and $60,000 for the buildings.

Mackedon added that the owners suggested it was worth more because the fully operational facility is permitted and had a steady business until it closed recently.

Waste Management closed the facility Oct. 1 when it scaled back its operation in Churchill County, citing rising fuel and labor costs. The company dropped service to 74 customers living in outlying areas of the county and closed the transfer station because it wasn't self-supporting, according to Dale Barry, Waste Management district manager for the Fernley and Fallon area.

"In the past, we tried to make the transfer station self-supporting through rate increases," Barry said in October. "It's not working for us."

Barry said in the three months preceding the station's closure, the facility was making $50 to $150 per day - not nearly enough to pay for mechanics, loaders and an outside hauling company.

Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. said the transfer station would benefit the city because it would cut down on transportation costs for city garbage trucks, which make a 36-mile round-trip to the city landfill south of Fallon on the Schurz Highway.

The mayor said he pushed city staff to pursue acquiring the transfer station as quickly as possible because he believes there may be an increase in illegal dumping since the station was closed two months ago. Landfill logs do not show an increase in business since the station closed, Tedford said.

Mackedon recommended the city issue a letter of intent to purchase the transfer station quickly and include an incentive to secure exclusive rights to purchase.

To that end, the council approved a measure authorizing the mayor to issue a letter of intent along with $10,000 in earnest money for the transaction. The city will also pay Waste Management another $10,000 in 30 days if the transaction is not complete by then.

"It shows goodwill," Tedford said. "We want to get this thing done for the good of the city and county."

Why is the city interested in the transfer station and not the county?

Councilman Bob Erickson explained that in the early 1990s, the county operated nine unmanned landfills and the city had one manned landfill. When the Environmental Protection Agency enacted stricter landfill regulations in the mid-1990s, the old landfills were closed. At a joint city-county meeting, it was decided the city would take the lead in the landfill business since it could staff the operation, and the city constructed a new landfill 18 miles south of town.

A representative from Waste Management could not be reached for comment. The acquisition of the transfer station will appear before the City Council again at a later date for approval of the contract.