North County Cities Form Panel to Plan for Landfill

A group of North County cities considering a proposal to jointly operate a landfill agreed Wednesday to form a steering committee to investigate the idea.

Representatives from several cities throughout the region met at Encinitas City Hall to discuss the prospect of forming a joint-powers authority to oversee the selection of a landfill site.

The group also decided to require that all cities that wish to participate in the steering committee ante up $1,000 each to pay for work done by a consultant, who will be hired to determine the viability of such an agency.

The decision to go forward with the proposal came amid warnings that a joint-powers authority might prove infeasible.

County Warning

Ted Marioncelli, an administrative aide for County Supervisor John MacDonald, told the group that several “serious considerations” need to be addressed before further steps are taken. In particular, he warned that the agency might undercut the county’s responsibility to manage the disposal of solid waste in the region.

San Marcos Mayor Lee Thibadeau complained that landfills are “the worst alternative” for the disposal of waste, suggesting that a trash-to-energy plant approved this week by voters in his city is the most tangible solution to the region’s trash troubles.

Proponents of the landfill, however, say that even with the trash-to-energy plant on line, the landfill will be needed for the ash and trash that cannot be burned or recycled.

Encinitas Mayor Marjorie Gaines, who has spurred the effort by the cities, said a joint-powers authority represents the best way for the region to quickly find a site for a new landfill. With the North County’s prime landfill, in San Marcos, expected to be filled to capacity by 1991, Gaines and other area leaders contend that a new dump site should be found now.

“You have several study groups and one potential action group--that’s us,” Gaines said. “We’ve had studies and studies and studies and nothing has been done.”