Board approves $130,000 line of credit for additional landfill monitoring and DNR review fees

The Vernon County Board approved a budget amendment authorizing a $130,000 line of credit from the General Fund to the Solid Waste Department to pay for additional work tied to the landfill expansion feasibility study.

Sponsor Stacy (speaker 25) outlined the request: $42,000 estimated for drilling two additional monitoring wells (one to the perched aquifer and one to the regional aquifer), roughly $24,000 for the Wisconsin DNR review fee, and approximately $63,000 for SEH engineering services that include multiple months of sampling and on-site work. SEH engineer Brian Kent (speaker 10) told supervisors the DNR had asked for extra data to confirm groundwater-flow direction and that additional wells would "dot the i's and cross the t's" but the DNR did not promise that another round would be the definitive end of review.

Several supervisors questioned the point at which the county would stop funding additional investigations and whether further rounds could become a recurring cost. Brian Kent said the extra wells are intended mainly to confirm flow direction (water-elevation monitoring) and that some older wells near the proposed expansion would ultimately be abandoned and grouted as part of construction. Cassie (speaker 16) said the DNR expects the county to supply defensible data because the DNR must be able to defend any approval; she noted that the county is "unique" in the state regarding underlying groundwater conditions and that the DNR believes the burden of proof for the feasibility evidence is on the county.

On the question, the clerk recorded 13 in favor, 2 opposed (Kilmer and Taylor), 3 absent, and 1 abstention (Stanek). The motion carried. Sponsor Stacy said repayment of the line of credit would come from future tipping fees if the expansion proceeds; if expansion is not pursued, assets from the Solid Waste Department could be sold to repay the loan.