Oxnard Hires Firm to Design, Run Trash Recycling Center : Garbage: The City Council awards a 15-year contract to BLT Enterprises for a rubbish transfer station. It would reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Oxnard formally became the first city in Ventura County to enter the trash recycling sweepstakes on Tuesday when the City Council awarded a refuse company a contract to run and design a $25-million rubbish center.

The 15-year contract, which comes after three years of planning and negotiations, would pay BLT Enterprises an estimated $75 million over the contract’s duration, including about $5 million in 1996, city officials said.

BLT Enterprises would be in charge of managing construction and operation of the trash transfer station and recycling facility, located in east Oxnard on 16.5 acres at the corner of Del Norte Boulevard and Sturgis Road.

BLT is expected to begin construction in July and open the facility a year later, according to a city report. Oxnard is planning to pay for the construction with the sale of $25 million in bonds.

The City Council voted unanimously to approve the center, setting the stage for a heated rivalry between Oxnard and Gold Coast Recycling, a private company in Ventura.

Gold Coast officials said Tuesday they plan to open a plant that would compete directly with BLT for the west county’s trash.

“Our plans are moving forward,” said Richard Woods, Gold Coast’s controller, who attended the Oxnard council meeting with other officials from the company. “This isn’t going to affect us at all. In the end we’re going to have the better rate and that’s what’s going to matter.”

Gold Coast representatives predicted that their rates would be much lower than Oxnard’s and that west county cities would flock to their facility. “Tons talk and we’ll have more tons,” said company spokeswoman Nan Drake.

Oxnard currently generates about 180,000 tons of trash a year, more than any other city in the county.

The 118,000-square-foot Oxnard center would be able to process about 2,500 tons of garbage a day--recycling at least 18% and taking the rest to a dump.

The yearly payment BLT Enterprises would receive, estimated at about $5 million, would depend on how much refuse the center handled. The contract therefore gives the company great incentive to convince other cities to send their trash to Oxnard, city officials said.

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The trash center’s main purpose is to provide Oxnard with a waste transfer location to supplant the Bailard Landfill, expected to become full and close next year, officials said.

City officials have not yet determined how trash rates will be affected by the closure of Bailard and the opening of the recycling center.

“We’ve been at the mercy of the Bailard Landfill for too long,” said Councilman Tom Holden. “Once the [trash center] is established, we can send our trash anywhere.”

Another important goal of the facility is to reduce the amount of trash Oxnard sends to landfills, so the city can comply with a state law requiring that all municipalities divert 25% of their trash from dumps by 1996 and 50% by 2000.

Oxnard leaders also say the allure of becoming western Ventura County’s trash broker was also a consideration.

Luring other cities to take their trash to the Oxnard center would reduce the facility’s operating costs, and could even lead to profits. Revenues from recycled goods sold would be divided evenly between BLT and the city. But Oxnard officials say the center could survive with Oxnard trash alone.

“Obviously, the intention is to have [revenues] that will offset our total costs,” Holden said. “I think if we’re competitive, we should be able to attract other cities and meet our goal easily. . . . But we’re prepared to go at it alone if we have to.”

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Oxnard decided to build its own trash center in 1992 after negotiations with other west county leaders to build a regional facility broke down.

“The other cities may not be as anxious because they don’t have a dump in their back yard,” said Holden, referring to Bailard.

Oxnard had argued that the center should be built within its borders, since the city is located at the geographical center of the west county. But the other cities balked, and rival plans sprang up.

“We all had to live up to the [state] mandate, and we all knew what we had to do, but we could not come up with an agreement,” said Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez. “I don’t know if it’s personalities, the history between the cities or what, but there was never a real meeting of the minds.”

Bracing for Bailard’s closure, county cities have formed two joint-powers authorities to shop around and see where they could send their trash for the lowest fee.

Camarillo, which is not part of either group, has been negotiating with BLT Enterprises and other trash companies, said Camarillo City Manager Bill Little. The talks have been held in conjunction with other cities, he said.

“We’re looking for the cheapest disposal costs, and if we can get that next door that’s where we’ll go,” Little said. “We’re looking at a couple of options right now. It may turn out that [the Oxnard facility] is the best option.”