Cass looks at plan for new garbage processing building

WALKER -- The Cass County Board on Tuesday referred back to architects and the board's capital improvement committee a construction plan for a new garbage processing building estimated to cost $886,800.

Chad Peterson, intern architect with Lightowler Johnson and Associates of Fargo, N.D., told commissioners they cannot build the type of facility the county needs for $300,000 as the board thought.

Peterson presented proposals for a concrete building and for a steel building.

"Its a lot of money for a building to load stuff," Board Chair John Stranne said.

The building will be built adjacent to the current county garbage transfer station building north of Pine River. It will accept only garbage for transfer to trucks to haul refuse to a landfill at Elk River or North Dakota.

The county's current, undersized facility accepts garbage and recyclables into one building. That building will continue to be used for recyclables collection and processing.

Environmental Services Director Paul Fairbanks told the board the proposed new building will have sufficient capacity that he does not see the need for a garbage storage area shown on design plans.

Dropping the storage area would cut at least $100,000 from the project, he estimated.

Garbage haulers would back their packer trucks into the proposed building and be able to tip their loads directly into two waiting semi-trailer trucks on the floor below them.

Cass County processed 14.5 tons of garbage at the transfer station in 2000. Fairbanks expects that to increase to 15 tons this year.

As the county health and human services building in Walker nears completion, the issue arose Tuesday of whether veterans service office clients will enter the building near that office on the ground floor or enter through a central reception area on the third floor.

Over objections from Commissioner Jim Dowson, the board voted to permit clients to enter on the ground floor.

Veterans service office will move from the old courthouse lower level to the health and human services building at the same time as health services moves there in late October or early November.

People coming either to health services or social services will enter the building through the third floor reception area presently used by human services clients.

Administrator Robert Yochum reported the conference room area of the former Pine River Shopping Block building the county acquired did not require re-roofing at this time.

The insurance company owning a portion of the building declined to have its portion re-roofed as well.

So, net cost for re-roofing the county share of the building will run $7,000 less than initially expected or a total of $14,800, Yochum said.