Solid waste district sees revenue growth

FAYETTEVILLE -- Residents of Washington and Madison counties are rapidly expanding their use of the waste disposal services of the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District, Robyn Reed, the district's director, said Wednesday.

"Our revenue stream has been really strong this year," Reed said. "I don't anticipate that changing."

Reed briefed the members of the Personnel and Finance Committee of the district's board on the 2021 budget. The committee voted unanimously to send the budget to the full board to consider next month.

Reed is expecting revenue to grow about 13% next year.

The district receives revenue from service fees and grant money from the state.

Service fees from the district's transfer station in Prairie Grove generated almost $1.4 million in 2019 and was projected to bring $1.5 million this year. The fees have generated just over $1.6 million so far this year. Reed budgeted fee revenue of $2.1 million for 2021.

Reed said the use of the transfer station has grown about 25% annually since 2012. In 2019, the volume of waste material increased by about 47% and in 2020, Reed said, the increase has been about 51% over the same period in 2019.

The transfer station accepts residential and commercial solid waste; construction debris; recyclable material and tires.

The transfer station is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday hours are usually 8 a.m to 11 a.m but Reed said the facility closes when it reaches the capacity of waste it is permitted to hold. The Waste Management landfill in Tontitown is closed Saturday and solid waste brought to the transfer station has to be stored until the landfill is open.

"We can only accept as much as we can hold," Reed said. "One day we were only able to be open for an hour-and-a half before we had to close."

Reed said the increased volume of construction material has been noticeable this year. She said much of it appears to be from home repair.

"We've been seeing a lot of shingles," Reed said. "We did have two hailstorms and a tornado in the last year."

The committee also approved a contract with Fayetteville to expand an environmental education program.

Peter Nierengarten, the city's environmental director, said a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay for a full-time environmental educator. The grant amount is $73,870, Nierengarten said, and the city is putting up $22,500 in matching funds and the district is putting up $21,870 making the total available for the program $118,240.

Nierengarten said the person will work on the city's food waste composting program and other waste reduction education programs for the city and the district.

Sandy Smith, the district's deputy director, told the committee the 2021 budget also has about $150,000 being added to the fixed asset fund, which is money set aside for equipment replacement.

Smith said the district needs to replace a backhoe and may need to buy a truck. The district is considering building a scale house at the transfer station, Reed said, to weigh the loads brought in quicker.