Landfill, city argue over trash

WILLIAMSBURG — An argument between the City of Williamsburg and the Iowa County Landfill is silly, City Manager Aaron Sandersfeld said during a council meeting last month.

Iowa County Landfill is concerned that Williamsburg isn’t sending all its waste to the landfill, Sandersfeld told the City Council in October.

The Williamsburg City Council discussed the situation in April and decided not to do anything about the complaint.

The City of Williamsburg signed 28E agreement with Iowa County stating that the city will take its trash to the Iowa County Landfill, Councilman Tyler Marshall said.

The landfill board is concerned that other towns will follow Williamsburg’s example, shorting the landfill on revenue, said Marshall.

ABC Disposal Systems takes 99% of the waste it collects in Williamsburg to the Iowa County landfill, ABC co-owner Chad Carter told the city council in April.

What doesn’t go to the Iowa County landfill goes to the transfer station and is taken to Illinois, said Carter. That amounts to about 20 tons — about $40 — a week.

Carter said in April that the trash route starts in Iowa City, moves through Williamsburg and heads back through Johnson County, so some Williamsburg waste goes back to Johnson County.

“Right now, this is the way the route flows,” said Carter. That could change in the future. The business is growing.

Altering the route to take all of Williamsburg’s solid waste to the Iowa County landfill would increase the time it takes to run the route, and that would increase ABC’s cost, said Carter.

The City of Williamsburg could pay an additional $40 to cover that loss, said Sandersfeld, or it could back out of the 28E agreement.

“What if someone hires a company that doesn’t use our landfill?” Sandersfeld asked the city council in October.

Marshall, who is on the landfill board, said Williamsburg has a fourplex with a dumpster that doesn’t go to the landfill.

ABC has already offered to pay for lost revenue, said Sandersfeld. ABC said it would scale when it comes to town and scale after it picks up the trash and pay the landfill for that weight.

What ABC doesn’t want to do is change its route to one less efficient for its drivers just to keep Iowa County waste in Iowa County.

Marshall said he’s heard no complaints about ABC, and companies the city has used previously have been “hit or miss.”

Given the difficulties with finding a waste hauler, Williamsburg may have to back out of the 28E agreement, said City Attorney Eric Tindal when the council discussed the issue in April.

The council is spending a lot of time on something that’s inconsequential, said Williamsburg Mayor Adam Grier.

The 28E agreement the city signed says all of Williamsburg’s trash will go to the landfill. The city could opt out of the agreement, but that would cause problems for residents who want to use the landfill, said Marshall.

“If we cut off the 28E agreement, they won’t accept any waste from Iowa County residents,” he said.

“I think for losing a ton of garbage a week its silly,” said Sandersfeld.

Sandersfeld said the last 28E agreement was in 1974. He speculated that the Landfill had Williamsburg sign a new 28E because of this.

A lot of things have changed since 1974, said Marshall.

“But this prompted it,” said Sandersfeld.

The City Council suggested that the city attorney meet with the landfill’s attorney to work out the disagreement.