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HOUGHTON - Houghton County's plans to abandon the transfer station on Technical Drive in Houghton are progressing.

Board of Commissioners Chair Paul Luoma, controller Eric Forsberg, station operator Jim Zerbst, county building inspector Gerry Juntunen and Douglas Dernberger of Waste Management recently toured transfer stations in Iron River and Marquette to see what the operations had to offer.

"We've been looking at different waste management systems and processes," Luoma said.

The county could be looking at making a change from the current hopper and compactor system to one called an "open-top" system.

In that process, waste is loaded from the top as opposed to the end, Luoma said. The open-top system would be less maintenance-intensive than the current system that uses a hydraulic ram to pack waste into a trailer.

Luoma said the county is looking into multiple pieces of property to house a new transfer station. A new station would likely be bigger than the current facility, and would have concrete walls and footing, he said.

The current 2,666-square foot transfer station, built in 1988, began to show signs of decreased structural integrity almost immediately. According to a 1993 report prepared by Traverse Engineering, cracking was noted in the south wall of the tipping floor area as early as 1991. The footing of the east wall of the container building was subsequently excavated and backfilled with concrete in May, 1991. Additional supports were added in 1992.

"It was built on a mine site, and it's a pretty well-known fact that it's settled enough now that it's constantly sinking," Luoma said.

According to the Traverse Engineering report prepared in 1993, Moyle Construction prepared plans for the building using design and foundation criteria provided by U.P. Engineering.

Luoma said a subsequent lawsuit was filed and settled with both the contractor and the engineering firm, but meanwhile efforts to stabilize the building have not provided a long-term solution.

"Instead of putting more money into stabilizing it, which hasn't worked, we've decided to put the money into a new building," he said.

County commissioners at their July 15 meeting authorized up to $8,000 for Traverse Engineering to assist with site selection and prepare proposed building layouts.

"We were advised a couple of years ago to get a new building within five years," Forsberg said.

Luoma said the county is investigating cost estimates and financing options.

"We're going to try to finance it without a millage," he said. "It should be strictly self-supporting."

A new station would likely be bigger than the current facility, to allow indoor maintenance of equipment and vehicles over the winter.

"It's something we don't have now," Luoma said. "All the maintenance has to be done outside, which isn't good for the equipment."

Increased recycling facilities are also being addressed, he said. Currently, it's cheaper to take waste to a landfill than to recycle materials, Luoma said.

"It's unfortunate, but being 500 or 600 miles from a market has made recycling less of an incentive," he said.

However, he predicted recycling options would be a state mandate in the future.

"Someday along the road, it's going to be mandatory, and we need to prepare for that," he said. "We know it's going to come, so we're putting it into the plans."

Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com