San Marcos Trash Plant Pact Signed : Builder’s Payments to Go in Fund for Civic Improvements

The builder of the trash-to-energy plant here will pay the city $2.75 million next year, and $245,000 annually thereafter, according to a contract accepted Tuesday night by the City Council.

The money will go toward such civic expenses as road improvements, park development and campaigns to educate the public on how to dispose of household toxic wastes, officials say.

The builder of the $200-million plant, North County Resource Recovery Associates, previously had agreed to pay the city “mitigation money” to help offset the plant’s negative impact. The new contract represents the terms negotiated between the company and city representatives.

Because of various conditions on the plant’s approval previously decided on by the City Council and problems disclosed in an environmental impact report, there was not much left to negotiate, said Richard Chase, the firm’s president.

“Rather than specify, for instance, that we should improve a particular stretch of road from point A to point B, we decided it would be easier to give the city the money up front and for it to decide how it should be spent,” Chase said.

A nonprofit foundation of the city will receive $1 million of the money and will spend the income from that fund on various charitable and civic events, such as youth and senior citizen activities.

An additional $1 million will be spent on road improvements, $500,000 on park improvements and the $250,000 balance will be spent at the city’s discretion, officials said.

The annual $245,000 payment, to begin when the plant is operational, will cover the cost of monitoring the plant’s emissions and the cost of public education campaigns on recycling and household toxic waste disposal.

Virtually nothing stands in the way of constructing the controversial trash-burning power plant, which is designed to handle most of North County’s garbage by recycling some of it and using the rest as fuel to produce enough electricity for 40,000 homes.

Of a handful of lawsuits filed against the trash plant’s construction, all have been rejected at the Superior Court level and only two remain alive, awaiting appellate court decisions.

Amendments to a contract between Resource Recovery Associates and the County of San Diego are expected to be approved by the Board of Supervisors next week, and Chase said private financing of the project should be secured before the end of the year.

Construction will begin in the spring, and the plant is expected to be operational in mid-1988, he said.