Garbage still an issue in Sundance

Trash disposal is still causing headaches for the City of Sundance – and now, according to one concerned resident, it’s having a financial impact on businesses.

Amy Goodson, owner of Cowgirl Pizza and Laundromat, made an appeal to Sundance City Council members on Tuesday that they remain open-minded about finding a better way to tackle the issue.

“Help us find a way to make this affordable and fair, because in my professional opinion, right now, it is not,” she said, asking council members to keep an open mind.

“I think there’s a solution there, please don’t give up because it doesn’t look like there is one.”

Though Goodson said her main purpose in attending Tuesday’s council meeting was to gather information and ask for clarification, she admitted that she does have a long-term purpose to enact change to the current garbage system.

“I believe it’s not serving, especially the businesses, as intended,” she said.

For its part, the council and city representatives were more than willing to accept Goodson’s offer of assistance as a “fresh eye” on the problem.

Though Goodson tackled other problems with the garbage system during the meeting, she said the main issue is rising cost of garbage disposal for business owners in Sundance. She presented her own figures from the same month in 2019 and 2022, telling the council that her garbage costs multiplied by three in that time, whereas her sales climbed much more modestly.

“I can’t pay my bills. I don’t make enough money,” she said, later adding, “That doesn’t feel fair and it’s hurting me as a business.”

No matter the reason, Goodson said, there is no justification for the same service for the same amount of trash costing three times as much.

“It’s not sustainable – you’re going to lose one of us,” she said of Sundance’s businesses.

Council Member Joe Wilson told Goodson that he understands, which is why he has spent years looking for a better solution. The failed attempt to form a solid waste district for the county was one such effort.

Responding to a question about how the city calculates garbage costs for individual customers, which Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz confirmed is according to volume, Mayor Paul Brooks said the overall fees are based on a rate study performed several years ago.

“It takes so many dollars to run our garbage system,” he said. He added that it’s tough to raise garbage rates on residents because it hurts senior citizens and those on lower incomes, so, “The people in business probably carry more than their share.”

Just because solutions haven’t been found, Goodson pointed out, doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. She implored the council to think outside the box and be willing to hear ideas from the community.

For example, she said, what if businesses paid a flat fee to the city each month to cover what the city needs covered, but took responsibility for disposing of their own garbage? According to her calculations, it would be cheaper for her business, while still covering the city’s needs.

“It would be nice to have a pathway…to be able to seek out an alternative to our trash disposal,” she said. “…There has to be something in the middle that we can call compromise and that we can involve public opinion on.”

Though city staff and council members pointed out several problems with the suggestion – and with the garbage situation overall – Wilson responded that he would be happy to accept ideas. If you can come up with them, he said, he would love to see them.

Lenz agreed, reiterating that the city has been working on this for years. City Attorney Mark Hughes later stated that he, too, has heard from a concerned citizen, “so there is growing concern about what we are paying for those services.

“People are starting to pay attention to it and it’s becoming a problem,” he said.

Other Problems

Goodson also asked about a couple of problems specific to her own business that she felt highlighted wider issues. The pizzeria has two trash cans all year round, she said, but only uses the second in the busier months.

She asked if it would be possible to pull one of the cans during slower times. Lenz said that could absolutely be done – Goodson need only contact the city to ask.

Garbage truck drivers are usually the ones who alert the city if a garbage can is showing a trend over time of becoming over-full and a second one may be needed, Lenz said. Goodson asked if there was a formal logging system for this, to which Lenz responded that there is not.

“It would be great if we could get a little more accountability if they are going to be responsible for that information,” Goodson replied.

Goodson noted that her second garbage can hasn’t been used for four months and “nobody said a thing”, but she didn’t want to be a bother and so hadn’t contacted the city. She suggested letting businesses know that options like returning a can when it’s not in use are possible.

“The amount of money I pay for this service, I’m just looking for a little bit more love from your side,” she said, to which Lenz replied, “We’ll be glad to help you – anything we can do.”

Goodson also asked the city to be mindful in its methods of communication, citing a recent post on social media to alert citizens about changes to the items that can and cannot be accepted for recycling. Goodson said she felt this was not a professional way to go about it and said sending something on paper is more respectful; what she reads online does not stick in her mind, she said, and efforts to ask questions on that social media post had not been answered.

Lenz explained that it was an accidental occurrence and the city had meant to run a newspaper ad on the same week. She apologized for the mix-up and said the social media post was not intended to be the only method of communication.

Recycling Program

Goodson also said she hasn’t had a recycling container at her business for a month, but is still being charged the mandatory recycling fee.

“I’ve had to give up on recycling because I don’t have a bin anywhere near,” she said, after confirming that it is against city rules to place her recycling in another customer’s receptacle.

“I’ve had nowhere to put my recycling without breaking the rules, but I’m still paying for the recycling.”

Lenz promised that Goodson would be credited for the month during which the container was missing, which she said might have occurred during the city’s attempts to clean up the recycling program if the bin had been flagged as being used to dump trash instead of recyclables.

Speaking further on the recycling, Public Works Director Mac Erickson said the city has tried several different avenues but some recycling centers are picky and rejected bags that contained just a single non-recyclable item. It’s problematic for the city when significant amounts of the recycling are turned away and have to be brought back to Moorcroft’s landfill, he said, which spurred the effort to clean up the program.

Lenz added that the recycling program might not even exist any more if it weren’t for the community’s passion for recycling. However, said Erickson, the program revamp is seeing success.

“I think we’re getting a lot closer on cleaning it up,” Erickson said. “Last week was the best we’ve been in months.”

Goodson enquired about the possibility of customers seeing their rates lowered once the city has the recycling under control and thus its associated costs. It seems only fair that business owners who put effort into solving the issue are offered the benefit of having done so, she said.

The problem, said Erickson, is that it costs the same amount for the truck to haul to the recycling station whether there are two tons on it or 20. Goodson acquiesced, but said that if customers are able to help wrangle the program into something financially functional, paid a premium to do so and put in the extra work, “A bit of a reduction would help immensely.”

Looking For Ideas

Goodson told the council that her purpose in attending Tuesday’s meeting was to encourage the city to look for alternatives and offer her assistance in whatever way might help. As the discussion came to a close, Lenz and Erickson offered to sit down with Goodson to go over the numbers.

Goodson stated that this could help her and other businesses understand the situation and the extra perspective could help illuminate a path forward.

“It might be all I can offer,” she said, but on the other hand it might be enough to lead to an answer.

City still looking for trash solution

Council Member Joe Wilson says he knows more about garbage these days than he ever dreamed there was to know. For the last few years, he has taken point on finding a way to fix the trash issue plaguing Sundance and many other communities in Wyoming.

It’s a long-running problem that stems back to the Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to close as many local landfills as possible in Wyoming after the discovery that some were leaking. Since then, a transfer station has been built and negotiations have been ongoing to establish the most cost-effective destination for Sundance’s trash.

Wilson acknowledges that the current set-up is not ideal, but says he’s been working on finding a long-term solution for several years. His bid, alongside then-Mayor Dick Claar of Moorcroft, to establish a countywide solid waste district was unsuccessful, but he has also been engaged in discussion with Weston County’s solid waste district.

“We’re getting closer. I hope to have an update on the Weston County solid waste district after their next meeting,” he says.

They’re still in the phase of deciding on their rates, he says, and the next meeting is scheduled for March 16.

What makes garbage a frustrating issue to sort out, Wilson explains, is that it’s an enterprise fund.

“No matter what happens, we have to make sure garbage pays for itself,” he says. “The thing that always has our back against the wall on that is that you have to pay for garbage with garbage.”

Wilson is thankful, he says, that previous councils worked to ensure that Sundance’s sewer and water infrastructure is sound, so, “The garbage is the one thing I have to worry about.”