FAYETTEVILLE — A dispute between two solid waste districts in Northwest Arkansas about fees collected at the landfill near Tontitown is based on an invalid contract, according to court filings.
Tom Kieklak, attorney for the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District, told board members Thursday a trial against the Benton County Solid Waste District is set for Jan. 28.
The Benton County district filed a lawsuit in July after Boston Mountain board members voted in May to void a contract between the two districts. The contract called for the agreement to end May 1, 2016, according to court documents.
State law requires landfills collect $1.50 per ton of waste for solid waste districts. Districts that don’t have landfills, such as Benton County, must make agreements about how to split that revenue with those that do, such as Boston Mountain. The two districts must equally split the $1.50 fee when there is no formal agreement, according to state law.
At A Glance
Boston Mountain Solid Waste District
The Boston Mountain Solid Waste District is one of 18 in Arkansas. The district provides solid waste management in Washington and Madison counties. It operates a transfer station west of Prairie Grove where residents drop off solid waste and recyclables. The waste is taken to the Eco Vista Landfill near Tontitown and recyclables are sold. The district also works with cities to provide recycling programs for residents to reduce solid waste disposal.
Source: Staff Report
The contract allowed for 100 percent of the $1.50 waste assessment be given to the Benton County Waste District for trash that’s generated from that county and dumped into the landfill.
The Eco Vista Landfill near Tontitown had paid about $260,000 annually, or the entire $1.50 fee, to the Benton County district from solid waste generated in that county, officials from both districts said in May. The Benton County district would receive half that amount without an agreement.
The Boston Mountain board voted in May 2011 to authorize an agreement between both parties that would allow for an equal split, not the entire fee revenue to the Benton County district, according to court records written by Kieklak.
Instead, Maylon Rice, then-Boston Mountain director, wrote a contract dated May 26, 2011, that had different terms, Kieklak said Thursday. The board fired Rice in 2012 after allegations surfaced of financial mismanagement and personnel management problems.
“He (Rice) went to Benton County and made a different contract with his counterpart there,” Kieklak said.
Wendy Cravens, director of the Benton County Waste District, said Thursday Rice had said on more than one occasion the Boston Mountain board authorized 100 percent of the revenue to her district for trash generated in Benton County. Rice made those statements at the time of the contract signing, she said.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan. The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages. Boston Mountain filed a counterclaim asking the Benton County district to return Boston Mountain’s revenue portion since the date of the contract written by Rice, according to court records.
“There may be some discovery although the facts are pretty much set,” Kieklak told the Boston Mountain board. Attorneys for both parties are likely to ask the judge to rule before the trial, Kieklak said.