The Star-News McCall residents may soon be unloading their recyclable materials at a new site located on Industrial Loop next to Lake Shore Disposal. The move requires approval by Valley County Board of County Commissioners. The county holds the contract with Lake Shore Disposal. Currently, McCall residents use the facility on Jacob Street.
If the move happens, it will allow Lake Shore to monitor residents as they discard their recyclable materials.
Residents have been depositing recyclable materials and trash in the wrong bins, and site manager Adam Johnson told county commissioners last month that the company would no longer accept mixed recyclable materials as the contract with the county states.
If approved, signs will be posted with directions to the new facility with a telephone number for residents to call for directions, Johnson said.
The move could be a temporary move if the McCall City Council and the board of commissioners agree on a permanent site for a recycle center in McCall.
Possible locations for a future center are at the city’s wastewater treatment plant property on West Deinhard Lane or one acre of land the county owns on East Deinhard Lane in McCall.
Lake Shore Disposal has received one new recycling bin, and two more have been ordered. They will be distributed to three collection sites in the county at Cascade, Donnelly and McCall.
"We're moving in the right direction in the county," Johnson said. "It's what the people want, and that's a good thing."
Responding to Complaints
Recycle Partners, a local citizens group, had recently made several complaints to the county commissioners about the recycle program in McCall.
Most of the problems stemmed from a county owned , baler machine at the county's East Lake Fork Road site that did not operate properly for most of the year.
The new bins will take aluminum, tin and glass. The old bins will be used to collect cardboard, newspaper and magazines, office paper and plastic once the full recycle program is up and running. Currently, the county recycles cardboard, newspaper, aluminum and tin.
Recyclable materials, except glass, are taken first to the county-owned facility in Lake Fork; from there they are baled and shipped to recycling companies in Boise who buy the materials from Lake Shore Disposal.
Glass will be used by the Valley County Road Department for use in its asphalt mix.
The money from recycled materials pays for the recycling program in the county, Johnson said.
Lake Shore Disposal hauls trash in Valley, Adams and parts of Washington counties. Its 31 employees serve about 7,800 residential customers and 400 commercial customers.
The company charges customers in McCall $14.27 per month to haul trash from the curb to the county's transfer site located in the county southeast of McCall on Spink Lane. County residents are charged $14.93 per month for the service.
Cascade and Donnelly charge their residents a fee for trash service and send Lake Shore Disposal a check each month.
In Cascade, residents pay $9.59 per month if they use their own trash cans or $11.99 if they use a Lake Shore Disposal cart. Donnelly residents pay $8 per month, though an increase to $8.56 is planned.
The trash is then hauled to Idaho Waste Systems in Elmore County as is stipulated in the Valley County contract.
Lake Shore is paid $26.44 per ton to haul the trash in 48-foot trailers. Each trip to the Elmore County regional landfill takes about eight hours to travel the 350mile round trip, Johnson said.
Valley County paid Lake Shore $1.13 million during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Valley County can terminate the contract with Lake Shore Disposal if the contractor is found in default of the agreement.
If Lake Shore fails to collect trash for residential pickup schedules, then the county would notify Lake Shore that it is in default of its contract.
The contract could then be terminated by the county within 30 days of notification if the company fails to resume service or "take all steps reasonably necessary to address the consequences to its customers and the county."
Residents in Adams County, which has its own landfill eight miles south of Council, pay$13.29, in the cities and $13.87 in the county each month for collection service.
