Sisters recycling center gets temporary reprieve

The Sisters Recycling Center will continue operating for another year, while the City of Sisters develops a long-term plan for the facility.

At the conclusion of a lengthy and wide-ranging debate Thursday about how to cover the costs of operating the five-year-old Sisters recycling center for fiscal year 2012-2013, county commissioner Tammy Baney summed up the decision: "We are saying this year (FY12-13) we will make you whole at that number (approximately $36,000)." This will leave approximately $4,000 to be covered by the city, which Mayor Lon Kellstrom indicated the city would pay.

The lively debate included the Sisters City Council, the visiting Deschutes County Commissioners, and representatives from High Country Disposal (HCD). Mayor Kellstrom and City Manager Eileen Stein passed out a summary of 10 options for the operation of the $500,000 center, which included an option of shutting down the center and selling off the property.

Baney tempered the county commitment with the need for Sisters to have a long-term plan for the facility by next year at this time. Both Baney and Commissioner Tony DeBone noted their concern that the situation was "...exactly where we were last year." Alan Unger echoed Baney's support for the center, but commented on the need for Sisters to have a long-term plan for the center, including how to make the center more self-sufficient.

All parties agreed that the nature of recycling in the county has changed significantly since the center was built. The 800 city customers now have curbside recycling, and an additional 1,100 "close in" county residents have curbside recycling (except for glass). This leaves roughly 800 more rural HCD customers on their own for recycling.

An exit poll taken at the recycling center in November shows that 75 percent of the users of the center are from outside city limits. With this data in hand, city councilor Pat Thompson said, "Sisters residents have already done more than their fair share by paying to build this facility ... and in the last four years garbage rates for the city have gone up roughly 16 percent ... and on this sheet here (the mayor's analysis, if there are no subsidies from the county or HCD) it says $40,000 divided by the 800 city residents. This is a 21 percent increase in their bill. I'm totally against this."

Thompson noted that there are 2,000 residents in the city and roughly 10,000 residents in "Sisters Country" and with 75 percent of the usage coming from the county, there needs to be a way to spread the cost more equitably.

Commissioner DeBone noted that the county has already provided a no-cost local recycling center on Fryrear Road, which, along with HCD's curbside recycling makes the Sisters recycling facility a "premium" service.

While agreeing that the Sisters depot has evolved into a premium service, councilor Sharlene Weed said, "I think the community would like to see the depot open and accessible. I think that most people would say that the 24/7 was great. I think there is still good community benefit even though we have the curbside."

Commissioner Baney countered "...but needs and wants in government are two different things... I'm not sure you can afford to do these things (wants)."

Councilor Holzman said, "This is not just a question of cost, but we also need to be thinking about the public good... it is important that we recycle, it is important that we don't put things in land fill... it (the depot) is part of the community... it is a valuable service for our citizens."

HCD reported that at current rates, unlike in times past, the recycled material was actually returning a small profit. Councilor Thompson noted and HCD agreed that glass recycling by itself was a significant part of the cost of the operation, and not profitable.

"Does it make sense to even collect the glass, or does it make more sense to just haul it in the trash?" he said. "That is a tough environmental question, but if it is the difference between keeping the depot open or closed, that is a question that ought to be answered."

To get citizen input on the future of the recycling depot the city, county and HCD agreed to work together to get a survey out to county-wide users of the depot to determine what level of support there is for the depot, and to determine what Sisters Country residents are willing to pay to keep the depot operational. This input will become part of a plan for the future of the facility.