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City warns Lancaster County transfer-station costs, equipment and safety strain service as growth continues
Summary
City staff said a 2009 agreement has not kept pace with rising operations and equipment costs; the transfer station can accept current volumes but equipment and tipping fees are rising and staff warned of safety and contract changes.
City and county officials told the joint meeting that growth is increasing waste volumes and that the city's transfer station arrangement with the county — established in February 2009 — needs updating to reflect higher operating and equipment costs.
City sanitation director Matt Berry and city presenters said the county currently pays $45 per ton under the 2009 agreement; private haulers pay roughly $60 per ton for municipal solid waste and about $56 per ton for construction and demolition. The 2009 contract rate was described in the presentation as $29 per ton. City staff said the transfer station's permitted capacity is about 315 tons per day and that current average daily loads are roughly 61.6 tons per day, leaving room for more volume but increasing wear on equipment.
City staff outlined sharp equipment cost increases since 2018: examples given included a walking-floor trailer that cost about $75,000 in 2018 and is now estimated at roughly $160,000, and an over-road tractor that rose from $106,000 to a budgeted $225,000. Staff said lead times of several months for specialized equipment are likely and that maintenance costs and safety issues at the county's contracted landfills increase operational risk for drivers and mechanics.
Matt Berry described field safety hazards encountered at the current landfill, including drivers sinking in mud and mechanics finding syringe needles embedded in tire sidewalls. City staff said they are exploring alternative landfill options (one named informally in the meeting as "Screaming Eagle"), which may be closer and better maintained but could carry higher tipping fees; any change would also require county bidding and contracting decisions.
City officials said the transfer-station agreement automatically renewed after initial terms and that the city will ask the county to renegotiate how equipment and operational costs are shared. The county said it has requested a solid-waste study and that staff will sit down with city counterparts to determine whether to change landfills, adjust tipping fees, or share equipment costs; county staff noted they have renegotiated the arrangement in 2013 previously.
Ending: Both councils said they will continue discussions; city and county staff agreed to pursue a solid-waste study, cost-sharing proposals for equipment, and updated contract terms.
