VENTURA : Council to Vote on New Trash Agency

The Ventura City Council will vote today on a proposal creating a new agency to decide what to do with the trash from western Ventura County after the Bailard Landfill closes.

Ventura would join with at least one other city to form the West County Waste Management Authority.

The authority would contract for the disposal of solid waste and would also support recycling and waste reduction efforts.

Under the proposal, the new authority would contract for services, such as shipping the trash out of the county, rather than opening and operating a new landfill. However, the authority would reserve the right to own and operate solid waste facilities if the agency’s board of directors decided to do so.

The Bailard Landfill outside Oxnard is the sole dump site in the western half of the county, but is set to close as early as the spring of 1996.

Efforts to put a landfill at Weldon Canyon, which lies between Ventura and Ojai, ran aground last year after opposition from the County Board of Supervisors. A ballot measure aimed at circumventing the board was declared illegal in August.

In a report to the council urging support for the new agency, a city official said the solid waste industry is rapidly becoming more competitive.

Approving the authority would “position the west county to be a significant player in the emerging marketplace,” said Steve Chase, assistant to the city manager for legislation and regional affairs.

Creation of the authority was endorsed by the council’s environment committee Sept. 26.