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Sierra County weighs fees, trailers and composting after fourfold surge in green‑waste deliveries
Summary
A county task force described receiving roughly four times the usual green waste, discussed charging per‑load fees, partnering with the Sierra County Fire Safe Council'operated trailers, and exploring composting or burner options to manage costs and capacity.
Sierra County's solid waste task force told supervisors that the county is receiving roughly four times more green waste than historically and is considering a mix of short‑ and long‑term fixes, including per‑load fees, Fire Safe Council trailer collection, seasonal pricing and exploring a composting or organics processing operation.
Brian Davie, director of the county's public works, summarized work by the task force and contractors and said the system is receiving so much green waste that three receiving sites are closed to new green deliveries. He said the county is likely to adopt a charge for green waste similar to neighboring Plumas County's rates.
Davie said processing options include turning material into compost under an organics program, contracting with Intermountain Disposal to take loads to processing facilities, or using contained curtain burners. He cautioned that "grinding it is not a really good solution because the chips that come out aren't gonna be accepted by most processing facilities... because it has a lot of pine needles in it." Davie said early planning numbers under consideration mirrored nearby counties: “probably 10 to $15, for a large load, 5 to $10 for a for a regular, like, truck size load.”
The county and the Sierra County Fire Safe Council are discussing use of county‑purchased trailers that can be delivered to residents to gather green waste and then moved to transfer sites. Davie described a pilot process on the east side where neighbors can order a trailer, fill it and have it hauled to the county facility; the west side lacks an operator. The board previously authorized a $74,000 resolution of intent to support Fire Safe Council work and Davie said a final resolution allocating funds and the agreement will return to the board on Oct. 7.
Board members and Fire Safe Council advocates emphasized tradeoffs. Supervisor Sharon Adams said increased green‑waste volumes indicate property owners are doing defensible‑space work but warned the $74,000 allocation will not sustain long‑term operations. “It's a temporary solution,” Adams said. Davie and task‑force members said the county must evaluate options to create an enterprise model that could reduce per‑load costs over time if the county invests in processing equipment.
No final fee or ordinance change was adopted at the meeting. Davie said the solid‑waste ordinance updates will remove references to a "dump/landfill" and consolidate fees into an annually adopted resolution; further fee proposals for green waste and processing will return to the board when the task force finalizes costs and operations.
