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Show ss council hears of bum plant time the rates could, and should, ' come back down." He explained to the council that it was a decrease in natural gas rates, combined with a drastic increase in interest rates, that necessitated the increase in the tipping fee (cost per ' : ton to dispose of garbage at the burn plant). , . -, -- . .. Mr. XJiry noted that there is a" variable interest rate on the bond money to finance the bum plant and - that this rate jumped from 5.5 to 7 J percent and could go as high as 9.0 percent - ' ' ; :-' He told the council that this hv crease necessitated a rate increase , of $5 per ton to offset the added interest in-terest being charged. A loss of $1 million a year-from $2.5 to $1.5 million-as a result of the decrease in natural gas rates (which reduced CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ... W03iUl , '"'.v . -- '''j- ;: ' " WOODS CROSS - It wasn't an easy' task for former Mayor " Lawrence Urry to explain to the i Woods Cross Gty Council the reasons for a $10 per ton tipping fee increase being imposed by the Davis County Solid Waste . Management District burn plant in : Layton.' V; The rate hike-from $25 to $35 per toiiis more than double the cost when the burn plant opened ; and nearly six times the cost Woods Cross residents were paying for i f. - garbage disposal at the nearby Bay Area Refuse 'Disposal (BARD) 4 : landfill less than two years ago. ; "And the new rate hike is barely - enough to meet existing expenses," Mr. Urry told the council, of which . he formerly served as mayor. "It . could go even higher if the " economy isn't right At the same Burn plant tale CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 substantially the amount of steam sold to . Hill Air Force Base) necessitated an additional $5 per ton to offset this expense. Mayor Ralph T. Argyle joked with the former mayor about approaching ap-proaching the council with such dismal information and not even wearing a flak jacket But Mr. Urry said there is a bright side to this (bum plant) situation: situa-tion: He noted that while homeowners are paying about $1 per month more for garbage disposal, they are paying pay-ing equivalent to SO cents per month less because of the decrease in natural gas rates. Plant officials have also done , , some positive things; Mr. Urry said.'. He explained that the plant is now recovering metals from the burn plant ash which result in a savings of $250,000 a year. Also, the board of directors approved negotiations with financing officials over a letter of credit which saved the district another $100,000. Mr. Urry said the increased rates are good for one year. "At that time, there will be an attempt to have the rates reduced. We don't expect to remain with the higher rates beyond next year,' ' he told the council. Asked about the current operation opera-tion of the plant, Mr. Urry ex-' plained that the plant is operating at about 75 percent of capacity-about 300 tons per day with a capacity of 400 tons. At this rate, isn't the plant losing money? he was asked. "Yes, we are losing money, but this should change soon," he responded. Asked by the press about concerns con-cerns of south Davis County residents having to have their garbage gar-bage hauled 20 miles to the bum plant, Mr. Urry said a transfer station "is still being considered." "At least that is my opinion," he added, noting that nothing will be done until the cities complete negotiations for automated garbage collection and all the costs of this operation are determined. |