PORT ANGELES — A request for proposals to design, build and operate a garbage transfer station will go before the City Council next month after being reviewed this week by the city’s Utility Advisory Committee.
Public Works Director Glenn Cutler said the city hopes to advertise the project until about August and award the contract in October.
Construction could start in early 2005 with the transfer station — through which most of Clallam County’s garbage will pass — operating by mid- to late 2006.
The Port Angeles Landfill must stop taking garbage by Dec. 31, 2006, because it will be full and because scavenger birds at the site pose a potential hazard to aircraft at nearby William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The city’s request for proposals includes garbage transportation and disposal; operation of a drop box at Blue Mountain; co-composting and recycling functions; 30-year post-closure maintenance; and moderate risk waste transport and disposal.
Where the garbage will end up and how it will get there is being left to the contractor who operates the transfer station, Cutler said.
“We’re not specifying whether it goes by barge or truck. It could be a combination,” he said.
“We are going to leave it to those who are experts to see what is the most cost-effective.”
On landfill property
The transfer station is proposed for the southwest part of the current landfill property.
Cutler said the location was selected because the city already controls the land and it will be much easier to get government permits given the current use.
He is not anticipating a problem with scavenger birds because the transfer station will be fully enclosed, Cutler said.
A proposed agreement between the cities of Port Angeles and Sequim remains a subject of negotiation.
