The Columbia County Executive Committee unanimously approved a $2.1 million upgrade to its solid waste recycling. The move is projected to increase annual revenue and per hour productivity while decreasing labor costs.
With the installation of new equipment and upgrades to the current facility, the recycling plant will be able to process eight to 10 tons of recycled material per hour, with only 7 fulltime workers, said County Solid Waste Director Greg Kaminski.
The current facility can process about four tons of material per hour with 11 workers, Kaminski said.
Prior to COVID-19, the facility relied entirely on labor from Huber Center inmates at Columbia County Correctional Institution. Because of virus restrictions, the center has relied on temporary workers, which required time-and-a-half pay.
Kaminski said with the upgrades, the facility could operate at 40 hours per week instead of the 50 to 55 it uses currently.
“I think we’re a good resource for services in the County,” Kaminski said.
Supervisor Barry Pufahl, of Pardeeville, said he is in favor of the upgrades to work towards getting the facility fully self-funded.
“We’ve been telling people for years that this was going to be a self-funded operation,” Pufahl said.
The committee considered the project earlier this summer, but tabled the idea until the fall, unsure of availability of county funds due to coronavirus.
The $2 million funding from the project would be a loan from the county, which would be paid back in annual installments of $300,000 over seven years.
Upgrades to the facility will include new feeding conveyors, automatic separators and sorters, and a new OCC screen, which automatically sorts cardboard out of recycling piles.
Other costs for the project include upgrades to the building and flooring, and startup and training costs.
County Board Chairman Vern Gove, of Portage, suggested the solid waste committee look at potentially raising service rate costs after the facility has been upgraded, and said he would support the project.
“I think it’s going to make it much easier for full time staff out there and make it much safer,” Gove said.
The current operational costs and revenue projections provided by Kaminski are based on the current service cost rate and the material’s market value as of November.
The project will go to the full county board for approval at its Dec. 16 meeting.
If the project is approved at the county board level, bids will go out in January, with work being completed by May or June, Kaminski said. The facility would close for about three weeks for the project.