Two Fort Collins City Council members are questioning the speed with which Larimer County wants to partner with private waste management company Republic Services to build and operate a new landfill north of Wellington.

Assistant County Manager Laurie Kadrich and Solid Waste Director Duane Penney briefed county commissioners Tuesday on a memorandum of understanding with Republic Services to build and operate the landfill and transfer station north of Wellington for about the next century.

On Thursday, they updated the county's Solid Waste Policy Advisory Council, which voted 6-1 to have the technical advisory committee work with county staff if there are further negotiations on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or contract. Former Loveland City Council member Don Overcash cast the lone "no" vote.

Neither the policy advisory council nor the technical advisory committee, made up of city staffs, have "been used appropriately through the process" in the last 18 months, said Fort Collins City Council member Kelly Ohlson, who sits on the advisory council. "We shouldn’t have to do a motion to direct the county to do what it should be doing anyway in dotting the i's and crossing the t's. The more people that develop something this specific the better," he said.

Ohlson told the Coloradoan he was skeptical anyway of the 100-plus year agreement for the landfill. "We want to make sure to get it right. If this ship is sailing, I want to try to make it the best possible for the people who live here and for the planet."

Under the MOU, the county would own the property and retain control over rates and how they would impact residents, but Republic would pay to build and operate the facility, handle all the permitting and be responsible for any contamination that might occur.

Republic Services, a publicly traded national trash hauler, moved into the local market in January 2021 after buying locally owned Gallegos Sanitation. It serves 14 million customers and operates 71 recycling processing centers in 47 states, according to its website.

City council member Susan Gutowsky, who also sit on the policy advisory council, questioned the county's preference for partnering with a private company.

Trashy issues:A regional landfill diversion plan is behind schedule. What does that mean for Fort Collins?

"How do we know that Republic will be in business in 75 years?" Gutowsky asked.

Kadrich said Republic's longevity, goals and financial stability made them the best of three interested companies. "Their company's set up to do this work for the long haul, even more so than we are as a county."

Ohlson said he doesn’t understand why there’s such a rush on this vote, saying the process hasn’t been good, was rushed and is “very funky” to understand.

He asked for “a couple more months” to ensure that the technical advisory committee for the project is more involved and that “the communities are brought along,” adding that he’s “not trying to stop what you're trying to do, I’m delaying it."

“Right now, I guarantee you that the vote of Fort Collins would be ... we're not supporting this, so I don't know why we can't tap the brakes a little bit,” he said.

With regard to the public versus private element of the decision, Ohlson said it feels as if the conversation of a public landfill was “upended.” He told the committee that in his experience “the private comes out really well and the public not so well.” He recommended that if the county moves forward with this, that they have outside legal review on documents from people who aren’t “just representing industry.”

A county representative told Ohlson they’ve had outside legal guidance for about a year that “have had eyes on this process … and helped define what a request for proposal would look like,” adding they’d assist with the development of any contracts.

Gutowsky echoed Ohlson’s remarks.

Commissioners in July approved the site for the Larimer County North Landfill, at 14855 N. County Road 9, 2 miles west of Interstate 25 and 7 miles north of Wellington. The roughly 600-acre site is expected to open in time to take over operations from the Larimer County Landfill on South Taft Hill Road, which will likely reach capacity in 2024.

The county chose Republic from among three competitive bids, said Kadrich, who told commissioners she initially resisted a public/private partnership. "I felt strongly the county would be in the best position to operate the landfill forever," she told commissioners Tuesday. "That we would have the most influence over what happened on the property. I've learned there are ways to do that with a private partner in a way that leverages private-partner resources. Resources that we don’t have."

Three years ago, the county estimated the new facilities would cost about $65 million, but it only had $50 million in reserves. Partnering with the private sector "enables the transfer station, landfill and half of new recycling facility to be constructed with private-sector money," Kadrich said.

The county will pay for half the recycling center and roads in and out of the facility, and county employees would become Republic employees.

The new landfill is part of a regional effort across Northern Colorado to build more infrastructure for solid waste management and diversion. Larimer County North Landfill will open in phases, allowing it to take waste from the current landfill before it reaches capacity. Once this is complete, the new landfill will receive trash only from a central transfer station, which sorts waste into various categories. With two separate operating units, the North Landfill has enough space to take on municipal waste for the next 100 years.

What's currently included in Larimer County's waste plan

The planned sites and upgrades include:

• A new county landfill near Wellington to replace the existing landfill on Taft Hill Road

• Facilities for composting food scraps and yard waste (these may be combined into one site)

• A facility where construction and demolition waste will be sorted for recycling

• A central transfer station where trucks and residents will drop off trash to be trucked to the new landfill

• An upgraded facility for sorting recyclables

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Larimer County, Republic Services will work together on new landfill