Board presses Manila over landfill fees and state reserve requirements

Daggett County Municipal Building Authority members reported efforts to press the Manila Town Council over higher contractor landfill fees and to clarify the facility’s remaining capacity and state-mandated reserve requirements.

Speaker 1 told the board that at a Manila Town Council meeting they "pushed as hard as I dared" to ask the town to adjust rates contractors pay to dispose of construction waste from the clinic project. Speaker 1 said the town charges contractors "$80 a ton" while private residents are charged "$40 a a ton," and questioned whether Manila uses a state-certified scale to measure weight. Speaker 1 said they raised the concern that a differential could be "arbitrary and capricious."

Aaron (Speaker 3) provided technical context, noting prior landfill studies and that revising the closure plan at the state’s request could require a larger reserve account. He said earlier work showed there is additional capacity in less-easy areas of the site but that extending use in those locations may require excavation and carry implications for the reserve account. "If you say you've got too much capacity left, then they make you have 1,000,000 dollars in the bank," Aaron said, describing the difficult balance between reported capacity and reserve sizing.

Board members discussed potential unintended consequences of using fees to deter contractor use, including increased illegal dumping outside town limits. Board members said they will continue conversations with Manila officials and with Sunrise Engineering to better quantify capacity and costs before making further recommendations.