After months of heated debate about where North Central Solid Waste Authority should construct a permanent garbage station, the Authority’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Sept. 23 to build on Rio Arriba County-owned land in Alcalde.
The Board had to choose between three potential sites —in Española, Alcalde and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo — for the $5.8 million facility. Board members, including Española Mayor Joseph Maestas, have bickered about the location, and Maestas said in March the city might not help pay for the project if the building wasn’t built in Española.
But the Board members spent only a few minutes discussing the issue at a meeting last week before voting to accept Manager Joe Lewandowski’s recommendation to pick the Alcalde site. The estimated construction cost in Alcalde is less than at the other two locations — the estimation for Española was $6.2 million and Ohkay Owingeh’s was $6 million — and the Alcalde site is most compatible for future growth, Lewandowski said.
“It seems like a good place to put something,” Ohkay Owingeh representative Curtis Aguino said.
Trash will be collected and brought to the new station prior to being shipped to a landfill in Rio Rancho. The new station, which is to include a recycling center, will replace the Authority’s current locations in Española (on Industrial Park Road) and Alcalde. The agency’s third station, in Tierra Amarilla, will remain open.
The 9-acre site is on a 171-acre property that was transferred to the County in February 2007 by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The enclosed, indoor garbage station could eventually be located adjacent to a proposed Alcalde Elementary School, a County recreation building and other undeveloped facilities.
Lewandowski said the construction will be paid for primarily with revenue from the environmental services gross receipts tax collected in the County and Española. The 0.125 percent tax in the County brings in about $330,000 annually and the 0.0625 percent tax in the City brings in about $260,000, Lewandowski said.
The money from the taxes are allocated specifically for capital outlay projects, he said, so it can’t be used to pay outstanding bills or day-to-day costs. Solid waste fees will not be used for the construction, he said. Maestas said in March the city might not allow the Authority to use the city’s tax revenue for the new transfer station if it was built in Alcalde. Maestas did not return calls for comment.
Especially in light of the Authority’s dire financial situation, Lewandowski said he hoped the new station would help the Authority operate more efficiently. The Authority owes nearly $200,000 to the city, and it has stopped paying many of the vendors it buys from.
If all goes as planned, it could be 15 to 18 months before construction begins at the site, he said. A permit process, during which public meetings will be held about the site, must be completed first, he said.