Council approves bid to close, cap landfill cell

The Kimball City Council approved a bid from local company Z & S Construction to close and cap the cell at the Kimball landfill during its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The board approved the bid with the caveat that bond insurance will be purchased.

Funds for the process to close and cap Municipal Solid Waste cell 1 (the eastern most cell) are already accounted for since the NDEQ (Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality) mandates that to open a cell, municipalities must have the funds for closure and capping in reserve.

“Whenever you permit or you open a new cell, NDEQ requires that you do a financial assurance, which is a calculation done by our engineers and approved by NDEQ,” City Administrator Daniel Ortiz said. “We have to set aside a so much money every year to put into this closure fund which is held in a CD at one of our local banks.”

Ortiz said the city’s closure fund currently holds roughly $1.5 million and those funds are split between each cell that is started and will eventually need closed and capped, as well as continued post-closure testing.

May 19 was the last day waste was disposed of in that cell, though the timetable for completion is currently unfinished.

“That started the time clock to get that cell closed in compliance with NDEQ,” Ortiz said.

A pre-bid process was begun, but ultimately Z & S was the one bidder that completed the bid process and the bid submitted was within the engineer’s estimate for cell closure.

In addition to approving the contract for cell closure at the local landfill, the council approved purchase of a track loader and a new garbage truck.

“This current (loader) has been out there since the landfill has been operated by the city, around 1996,” Ortiz said.

The current track loader at the landfill has an open cab, allowing the heat, cold and rain into the cab and poses additional health risks, according to Ortiz, due to the dust and debris inherent at a landfill.

The city has approved the purchase of a 2007 John Deere unit with approximately 6,900 hours for a total of $94,500.

The issues that have been noted on the machine will be repaired by the seller prior to purchase.

“Jim (Schulte, landfill manager) and I have had great conversations in terms of the amount of hours those machines are going to last. We are confident that they are well maintained,” Ortiz added.

The capital improvement committee approved the purchase of a new garbage truck for the city. The existing garbage truck, purchased in 2001, has cost the city more than $23,000 in repairs and maintenance in less than a year, according to Ortiz.

“This piece of machinery gets used five or six days a week,” he said. “Over the past three months we have had it in for service five or six times, if I’m not mistaken, for one thing or another.”

The current truck has a 38-yard capacity, while the newer one is slightly smaller, with a 30 yard capacity.

That difference means the new truck will fit easily into the current garage though it may require a few extra trips each week.

“Usually on Wednesday he has two loads anyway, but the second load isn’t to capacity,” Schulte said. “The reason we are going with (this truck) is to get down to the single axle to save on tires and maintenance. Eight yards is not that much difference.”

The new truck is a single-axle vehicle also comes with universal grabbers so it can be used for the large dumpsters in the alleys as well as the rolling bins that some residents use.

The cost for the new truck is $168,950 with an expected delivery from Southwestern Equipment Company out of Texas as early as December.

The board also:

- Approved the purchase of the Elgin Pelican street sweeper discussed at the last council meeting. Though the cost of the equipment was previously quoted at $158,045, it is actually $167,527.

- Sold the 50 feet of right-of-way located on lots 1, 5, 6 and 7 of the Ideal Addition of the City of Kimball to Challenger, Inc.