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Sundance backs countywide garbage district

The Sundance City Council has agreed to lend its weight to renewed efforts to create a countywide garbage district with its landfill based in Moorcroft.

Dick Claar, Mayor of Moorcroft, again visited with the council on Tuesday ahead of his scheduled presentation to the county commissioners on December 2.

“I’m asking for you to write a letter to the commissioners, either in support, which is where I assume you are, or if you’re not [then to] state that,” said Claar.

Claar was not sure if the commission will decide whether to support the district idea on December 2 or will take some time to consider it.

“At this point, it’s going be two years before we go on a ballot with it anyway,” pointed out Mayor Paul Brooks, referring to the next scheduled elections in 2022.

Maybe so, responded Claar, but Moorcroft needs to reassure the Department of Environmental Quality that plans for a regional landfill are moving forward. The DEQ is willing to allow another vertical expansion at the Moorcroft landfill, but on the condition that it sees the county make progress on forming a solid waste district.

Claar would like to see all four towns and the county come together to create a solid waste district that would take on the burden of trash collection, using Moorcroft’s landfill as a dumping site. This idea was first discussed several years ago, when the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) began to mandate the closure of unlined landfills across the state, forcing towns to transfer their garbage to regional landfills instead.

However, the idea has been on the backburner since around 2015, when it proved difficult to reach a consensus that each of the county’s entities felt they would benefit from equally.

“You do have my support,” said Brooks on Tuesday.

Claar invited Sundance representatives to join him at the December meeting of the commission to support the presentation.

“Hopefully, we can get this thing worked out and move forward,” said Claar as he expressed his thanks for Sundance’s support.

The council passed a resolution to support a landfill district in Crook County and to issue a letter of support for the effort.

 
 
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