County solid-waste director warns of limited bonding support; organics program expanding and reuse center designs move toward bid

The county’s solid-waste and environmental staff told the board that the county’s nine-county hub-and-spoke project received no funding from the recent $1.2 billion bonding bill, and that MPCA awards went to other projects instead.

Agency official (S10) told commissioners, “we were not allocated any funding from the, $1,200,000,000 bonding bill,” and said MPCA awarded $10,514,000 for cap projects that did not include the county’s proposal. S10 cautioned that counties must plan contingencies and continue regional coordination as rule changes and permit renewals remain uncertain.

Staff discussed potential permit-renewal timing tied to anticipated MPCA rule changes for construction-and-demolition (C&D) materials. S10 said current permits expire in 2029 and 2030 and that renewal timelines can be lengthy—past renewals were applied for in 2013–2014 and not approved until 2019–2020—making long-term capacity planning challenging.

On organics, S10 reported the residential program gained about 100 new households since the spring rollout and the county is approaching roughly 350 registered households. The six-county region received a Minnesota Composting Council grant to fund an advertising campaign this fall and next spring. S10 said commercial organics collection began last week in Hubbard County and that a new organics truck ordered in January 2025 “finally… showed up” and will be prepared for service.

Design and engineering for the county’s reuse-center construction project are underway with ICS; staff reported site surveying and soil borings are complete and the project is scheduled to go out to bid in July with construction targeted for August or September.

Jake (S7) reported environmental-program funds from a Mississippi-related phase include modest increases for county projects, and he identified a culvert-replacement project with about $32,000 set aside to address undersized piping and erosion affecting a private roadway and stream stability.

What’s next Staff will continue outreach and advertising for organics enrollment, prepare the reuse-center bid documents for July, and monitor MPCA rule development and permit timelines that could affect construction-and-demolition capacity and long-term operations.

Representative quotes “We were not allocated any funding from the, $1,200,000,000 bonding bill,” — Agency official (S10) “We've registered close to a 100 new households since our rollout this spring,” — Agency official (S10) “We have around 32,000 set aside specifically for that project,” — Jake (S7)

Ending Board members asked staff to continue coordination with regional partners and to return with updates on grant opportunities, permit timelines and the reuse-center procurement schedule.