Fremont County Unveils Proposal to Reorganize Island Park Landfill

The February 25, 2016, the Island Park City Council meeting hosted a presentation by Brandon Harris, Public Works Director for Fremont County. Mr. Harris offered an alternative model of operation for the local landfill.

He proposed the following:

    

    Landfill assessments for property owners would be reduced below the rates in place before this year’s 150% increase    

    

    Scales would be installed and fees assessed by weight. Residents’ regular household garbage (approx. 3-5 bags) would be accepted for a modest per trip fee of one to two dollars.

    

    Recycle materials would be dropped off prior to any loads being weighed.

    A transfer station for household garbage would be installed and utilized from fall through spring. Brandon advised that during times of low utilization, the soil used to cover the household waste daily fills the garbage pit faster that the trash. This adjustment will extend the use of the landfill.

    This plan will require a modest expansion of the current landfill. Talks are currently underway with the Forest Service regarding this proposal.

Mr. Harris also announced that 13.2 miles of Yale-Kilgore Road from Elk Creek to Key Springs is slated for improvement in 2018. This includes a complete resurface of the roadway and the construction of an ATV/snowmobile trail along the entire roadway, with the exception of McCrea Bridge. The trail will be wide enough for a groomer to maintain in winter. This project has been made possible by a six million dollar grant that was secured by Fremont County.

The efforts by Fremont County to address the needs of the Island Park community and its visitors are welcome and constructive.

Keeping Our Water Clean

Last week I visited with John Brown, who is employed by Fremont County to oversee the Island Park sewer system. There were a couple of issues that will need to be addressed due to the increase in visitors and residences in the caldera.

The first issue is that the EPA is concerned with the amount of discharge emanating from the Last Chance sewage treatment operation. They are worried that excessive amounts of organic compounds will enter the Henry’s Fork, stimulating the growth of the river’s vegetation and damaging the river’s ecosystem. Their initial proposal was to impose a mandatory fifty percent reduction of treated waste water to the plant. This would present a serious problem to the Last Chance residents.  

John is exploring an alternative of planting trees, grass or some other type of harvestable crop in the sewage drain field. The concept is that plants would absorb the excess nutrients before reaching the water system. The plants would be harvested regularly and removed from the area.

The second issue he mentioned was that the growth in Shotgun will necessitate a sewer system within ten years. He indicated that pollution is becoming evident in the streams and ground water. He is in the process of searching for a federal source of funding for a possible sewer system.

Fortunately we have people like John who work to maintain the balance between the environment and those who love to spend time in Island Park.