City Seeks Shorter Trash Disposal Pact

Concerned about committing to a long-term trash disposal contract with a single dump, Camarillo city officials have decided to ask operators of the Simi Valley Landfill to cut in half the length of a proposed deal.

After a two-hour discussion late Wednesday about the future of trash in the city, a divided City Council told City Manager Bill Little to ask dump owners to agree to an eight- to 10-year contract.

“I think it’s still a reasonable deal,” Councilman Stanley J. Daily said of the landfill’s offer to take Camarillo’s solid waste. “But I’m not ready to go with the long-term commitment.”

Council members voted 3 to 2 to ask Simi Valley dump officials to shorten their offer, which could extend as long as 25 years. But council members Charlotte Craven and Ken Gose said the deal was too restrictive and should be abandoned altogether.

“This ties the hands of future city councils, of staff and of future [trash] haulers to try and make a better deal,” Craven said.

Operators of the Simi Valley Landfill have offered to take garbage produced in much of western Ventura County for at least the next 18 years at about $27 a ton, with certain adjustments for inflation.

Most of that trash is now dumped at Bailard Landfill, which is scheduled to close this summer. Simi Valley dump negotiators gave Camarillo and other cities until March 1 to approve or reject the contract.

Several cities have balked at signing the contract, citing concerns over the length of time and the possible monopoly that it could create for the eastern Ventura County landfill.

Another site, the Toland Road Landfill near Santa Paula, could be expanded. And voters will decide March 26 whether a new dump should be allowed in Weldon Canyon, between Ventura and Ojai.

Camarillo will consider the agreement again Feb. 28.