Board approves $130,000 for additional landfill testing after engineers cite DNR data requests

County staff requested a $130,000 line of credit from the general fund to pay for additional investigation tied to the landfill expansion feasibility study. Cassie explained the budget breakdown: roughly $42,000 for drilling two nested monitoring wells, about $63,000 for consultant sampling and on-site work, and approximately $24,000 for a Wisconsin DNR review fee. She said the DNR had issued a second notice of incompletion and requested further data.

Brian Kent of SE, the engineering consultant, told the board the DNR’s request was intended to confirm groundwater flow-direction assumptions and to ensure the agency could defend any decision if challenged. “They had asked...they’d like another event just to confirm it essentially to dot the eye,” he said, adding the DNR would not guarantee the next event constitutes final completion. Supervisors expressed concern about open-ended costs and an unclear end point; nonetheless, the board approved the line of credit by vote (13 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain, 3 absent). Staff plans follow-up reporting and to use future tipping fees to repay the line if the expansion proceeds.