Governments Join Forces to Find Answers to Trash Disposal Problem : Sanitation: County, Ojai, Ventura and Fillmore to form waste management authority to pool garbage, negotiate with outside landfills.

Trying to end the political stalemate over trash disposal, county supervisors Tuesday agreed to join Ventura, Ojai and Fillmore in setting up a new waste management authority that could ship garbage to landfills out of the county.

The supervisors also encouraged other west county cities to join the group and pool their trash so they can collectively command lower prices in negotiations with landfills and waste disposal firms.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee, who brought the issue before the board, said it’s too early to determine how the proposed Western Ventura County Waste Management Authority will dispose of west county trash once Bailard Landfill near Oxnard closes in 1997.

But she and other supervisors expressed hope that participating cities would figure out a solution before Bailard shuts down. And they said this new approach may save local residents money because of the bargaining power of numerous cities with a huge volume of trash.

“The bottom line is going to be a cost savings for everybody, and a cost savings for an individual homeowner,” Kildee said.

Other public officials see the new waste authority as an avenue to avoid a landfill proposed for Weldon Canyon, located between Ventura and Ojai. With the west county’s trash whisked off to remote locations, they reason developers would have no financial incentive to open a landfill locally.

“I’m very confident that this will help us find another way than opening another landfill,” said Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley, an opponent of a dump in Weldon Canyon.

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But the success of the new organization may depend on the ability of city leaders to work together, something that has bogged down past cooperative efforts. What’s different this time, supporters say, is the changing nature of the trash disposal industry.

Landfills in Los Angeles County and even those in Arizona and Utah are actively recruiting new customers to bolster business, offering new ways to get rid of garbage.

Fillmore Mayor Pro Tem Roger Campbell said he and his city’s leaders are excited about the idea of joining forces with other jurisdictions under a west county waste authority.

“It has only one purpose: to oversee negotiations to find a landfill for residual trash,” he said. And he predicted it could be very successful.

Campbell said he recently asked for price quotes from nearby landfills and discovered that Chiquito Canyon landfill off California 126 near Magic Mountain was cheaper per ton of trash than Bailard near Oxnard. The extra cost of trucking trash was inconsequential compared to the lower rates, he said.

As it is conceived, the waste authority will contract for services, such as shipping the trash out of the county, rather than opening and operating a new landfill.

But the waste authority reserves the right to own and operate a landfill if its board of directors determines it necessary. It will also help arrange recycling and waste reductions efforts.

Ventura County supervisors and city leaders decided to try the west county waste authority after years of failing to establish a similar countywide organization.

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Local officials asked lawmakers in Sacramento to set up the countywide authority with broad powers that would resolve thorny issues and end the political bickering that has dominated the debate over trash policies for years.

But the Legislature gutted the bill, forcing local officials to hash out their differences among themselves. The concept of the countywide authority fell apart last year as local leaders squabbled over the prospect of a Weldon Canyon dump, the concerns about sending west county trash to the Simi Valley Landfill and a delay in opening recycling centers.

Since then, the eastern Ventura County cities of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Moorpark set up a smaller waste authority that meets regularly to resolve trash disposal issues in those communities.

Supervisor Vicky Howard of Simi Valley, a member of the east county’s Wasteshed Task Force, said she supports a west county waste counterpart that resolves what to do with the west county cities’ garbage after Bailard closes.

“They have been having problems finding a place for 23 years,” she said, “which says that they are not trying too hard.”