Landfill board OK bid for Greybull transfer station

by bob rodriguezA final bid of $987,386 to construct what's known as the South Transfer Station at Greybull, replacing the current dump, was awarded to Diamond Point Construction Inc. of Buffalo by directors of the Big Horn County Solid Waste Disposal District.The board, meeting April 21 in the Lovell Fire Hall, voted 5-0 on the bid, which was outlined by Howard Johnson from Inberg-Miller Engineers of Riverton. Diamond Point was one of four bidders. Johnson told the board that "all aspects of the bid were checked out" and that "there is a margin for equipment too," as the district has some $1.7 million in hand through the State Loan & Investment Board. District Manager Gary Grant explained that the monies comprise a 75 percent SLIB grant, a 5 percent loan and a 20 percent "out of pocket" expenditure by the district.Following the board's unanimous vote for the bid, Chairman Ron McArthur signed the Notice of Award to be sent to Diamond Point. Johnson said that he'll bring the final paperwork to the next meeting on May 18.Once the 5-acre Greybull transfer station is built, beginning this year with completion by July 1, 2016, trash will be hauled from there to the landfill at Cowley. Eventually, the latter site also will become a transfer station and rubbish will be hauled elsewhere. Whether the dumping at that point will be in Cody, Billings or elsewhere will be discussed later.Johnson informed the board that he will meet with representatives of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality on Monday, May 4 to visit the landfill sites at Greybull, Burlington, Shell and Cowley. The intent is to determine what DEQ will require for closure measures. Director Carl Olson said that he likely will take off that day from his work and accompany Johnson on the site visits. There was some comment regarding a former DEQ representative, who 20 years ago told the district what would or would not be needed for vegetation reseeding at the sites. Johnson had a copy of the statement and directors said that they hoped it would be honored "instead of starting over from square one."In another matter during the 80-minute meeting the board discussed at length the pros and cons of either repairing the currently out-of-service Caterpillar 963D track loader at Cowley or finding a used Cat D4 bulldozer. After considerable commentary, on a motion by Olson with a second by Bob Graham, the board voted 5-0 to check the possibilities of a D4. Olson pointed out that a major savings ($240,000 vs. $50,000) could be realized by purchasing a used bulldozer instead of repairing the track loader which has more than 10,000 hours of use. He also said that a bulldozer would be more useful.The board also:

• Agreed that seeking a grant from SLIB to build a Cowley transfer station should be pursued after the first of next year. "You'll know your financial picture then," said Johnson, "including the amount of your reserve funding."
• Accepted the March financial report from accountant Cynde Braten, who was not present, but had an excused absence. Her report shows that the district has reserves of $1,149,528 with total reserves of cash on hand, checking accounts and investments totaling $2,080,479. Accounts receivable are listed at $72,886 as of March 31.