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County staff weigh reservation pilot, camera feeds to cut 2–3 hour transfer-station waits
Summary
Cowlitz County staff and the contract operator discussed growing waits for tip trailers at the transfer station, possible short-term fixes including a reserved commercial window and pilot reservation system, and longer-term fixes such as a second transfer station and permitting constraints.
Mike Moss, public services director, told the Board of Commissioners that waits for tipping trailers at the county transfer station have grown to “2 to 3 hour waits” at peak times and that staff and the station contractor are testing short-term options to reduce queuing.
Why it matters: long waits affect residents and commercial haulers, increase calls to county offices and — staff said — may be driving some people to dump illegally in wooded areas.
Moss said the transfer-station building design places packer trucks, container trucks and tip trailers on the same tipping floor. “Twenty years ago, that worked out just fine because there was not so much volume,” he said, and added that volume increased after the COVID period when “a lot of people got trailers.” Moss told commissioners the county and the contractor, Waste Control, are trying multiple approaches, including a reserved morning window for commercial tip trailers, a small pilot reservation system with a few vendors and a live camera feed so drivers can check queue length before arriving.
Moss summarized prior steps and the most recent tests: “We went to the 07:30 to 09:30 for tip trailers, only commercial tip trailers, and we didn't hear any complaints for quite a while,” he said. The county’s contract with the transfer station includes “on average time of 15 minutes from scale to start tipping,” he added, but staff review of current volumes shows much longer waits for some customers.
Staff and commissioners discussed several other possible mitigations. Suggestions and constraints raised in the meeting included: - Trial reservation system: Waste Control will trial a reservations pilot with a few commercial accounts to see whether scheduled appointments reduce peak queues. - Live queue camera: the contractor discussed installing a live camera so drivers could see line length before driving to the facility. - Separate commercial tipping area: staff said reconfiguring the site for separate commercial access would require permitting and additional footprint the facility doesn’t currently have. - Rate adjustments: staff said the county plans to evaluate raising out-of-county rates this fall to reduce out‑of‑county traffic; many trailers come from neighboring Clark County. - Hours and staffing: commissioners suggested extended hours or a second shift, but staff noted permitted hours at the landfill/transfer station and that extending hours is not simply an operational change.
No formal motions or decisions were made; commissioners directed staff to continue working with Waste Control and report back. Several commissioners and members of the public described callers who arrived, were told expected waits of an hour or more, and turned away. One attendee said a gate attendant advised a driver the wait would be “at least an hour and a half.” Moss said the county is receiving complaints and “we take the heat for it” even though Waste Control operates the site under contract.
Ending: staff said a permanent solution could take years because permitting and construction of a second transfer station are long-range efforts; in the short term staff will pursue the reservation pilot, queue camera and rate adjustments and return to the board with updates.
