COUNTY WILL TAKE LEAD IN SOLID WASTE DISTRICT

JACKSON - The Cape Girardeau County Commission agreed Thursday to become the lead county in setting up a Solid Waste Management District that is required under a state law passed two years ago.

As part of state and federal legislation, cities and counties are required to reduce the amount of refuse they send to landfills. They must reduce solid waste by 40 percent by 1998.

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer, Jackson City Administrator Carl Talley and Tom Tucker, director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, met with the county commission to discuss the impact of the state law passed in 1990.

Fischer asked the county commission to consider taking the lead in establishing the district in this area. He recommended that Tucker be used to coordinate the process.

Fischer pointed out that districts must be initiated at the county level and that much of the responsibility for complying with the law rests with counties.

"Formation of a district will be a way of cities and counties adopting a plan to show how they will reach these goals," said Fischer. Once plans are approved by the Department of Natural Resources, the district is eligible for state funding for carrying out the plan, he added.

Cape Girardeau County does not operate a landfill, although the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson do. Some independent trash haulers operating in the county take waste to the city landfills.

"By your helping at this level it may keep the county out of the landfill business," said Fischer.

Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep, who complained he is wary of the solid waste law and does not want Cape County left in a position to absorb expenses for other counties, acknowledged that under the law, the county has some obligation to help Jackson and Cape Girardeau comply.

"This county is not going to subsidize another county government," Huckstep said.

Tucker said he would contact the other six counties in this region that could go together and form a district to determine their interest. If there is no interest, then Cape Girardeau County could proceed on its own or with only a few of the other counties.

Tucker stressed that if Cape Girardeau County takes the lead in setting up the district, he would "carefully craft the bylaws so the county's interests are protected."

By forming a district, the cities and counties in the district would be eligible for $45,000 a year for the next two years to assist in establishing a regional solid waste plan. Having a district will enable the entities to work together to increase the effectiveness of the management plan and the viability of other alternatives to landfills.

Fischer, who served on the county commission for 20 years before becoming city manager in 1987, told the commissioners that there is no way the county or cities can get around compliance with this law.

He compared it to the statewide reassessment and equalization that hit counties years ago.

"All of us were scared to death about the implications of that law, but we decided to approach it here in Cape County in a professional way and do the job right," said Fischer. "That is what I'm suggesting here."

Throughout the discussion, all parties conceded the law is unclear.

"I really don't know what the plan is saying," said Talley.

Tucker added, "I think the law is saying that we will reduce the amount going into landfills next year and have a 40 percent reduction mandate."

But Talley said he wondered what the bench mark date for the reduction is and how the guidelines will take into account growth of cities.

"I plead ignorance on this, but I have some real fears because I am ignorant about this," said Huckstep.

Tucker noted, "There are some complicated issues here. I know we're dealing with the Department of Natural Resources and there will be fights ... there are a lot of misconceptions here."

Fischer pointed out that by having a district, "We can at least plan part of our destiny."

Huckstep agreed. "If we do nothing, we are setting ourselves up for future troubles," he said.

Associate Commissioners E.C. Younghouse and Leonard Sander agreed the county has little recourse but to work together to establish a district.

"It looks to me like we have to make some effort here," said Younghouse.

"I don't think we really have much of a choice," said Sander.

The other counties that would be in this solid waste region with Cape Girardeau County are Bollinger, Perry, Madison, Iron, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve.