SUBLETTE COUNTY – Following the Aug. 1 termination and Aug. 4 criminal charges filed against former Waste Management lead operator Ron Gordon, his former department is now under the umbrella of Road and Bridge, which was tasked with getting it back in shape.

“It’s going pretty good, kind of trying to address some issues,” said Road and Bridge assistant superintendent Billy Pape.

At Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Sublette County Board of Commissioners, Pape gave commissioners an update on the progress he’s made at Waste Management, covering everything from its bailer to personnel problems.

“We’ve got some serious employee issues,” Pape reported. “Right now, the way they’re running it, you’re going to have a lot of overtime with as many people as they’ve got.”

He went on to explain that because specific people are required for specific functions – like the scale house, bailer, etc. – during operating hours, the resources get stretched thin, which often results in overtime hours and the associated costs.

“Right now, the hours are what’s killing us,” Pape said.

He pointed to one small step that could be taken to help alleviate the personnel problem.

“They spend a lot of time coming and getting the recycling here (in Pinedale) and they send two guys and they make trips back and forth,” Pape said. “It puts everybody in a bind there (in Big Piney).”

Pape wondered if it might be cheaper and more beneficial to hire a private contractor to haul the recycling from Pinedale down to Big Piney, saying it would “save a lot of time” and money.

Commissioner Tom Noble wondered if, instead of hiring a contractor specifically for that task, “it’d be cheaper to have another employee” at the department.

Equipment

Pape also reported on the state of equipment at Waste Management.

“It’s all in pretty good shape,” he said. “A lot of the annual services haven’t been getting done on it but they have been changing the oil.”

However, Pape added they’ve been using 10W-30 oil, which “you’re not really supposed to use on that equipment.”

Pape said that Road and Bridge will take over the servicing of the department’s equipment, and using Road and Bridge’s oil.

“Instead of paying top dollar for plain oil, we’re saving way more to just go down and service (the equipment),” he said.

Garbage and refuse

The county may start charging more for disposing of tires after Pape discovered the county – which currently charges up to $3 – pays up to $5 to get rid of them.

“That’s not good business to take them for $3 and it costs us $5,” commissioner Dr. David Burnett said, adding that the public needs to be informed “that the price is going up on tires.”

Pape is looking at a company based in Salt Lake City that comes and hauls off the tires. He’s also talking to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to see if digging a trench and burying them at the landfill is an option.

Pape also said that a local resident is willing to come and pick up the old polyethylene pipe – and pay for it too.

“We are getting a little money for it now and it does seem to save a lot of time,” Pape said.

He added that there is also a company that will come clean them up, grind them up and haul them away.

“But they don’t give you any money for it,” he said.

Looking ahead

The commissioners wondered, given their Aug. 8 decision to appoint Pat Johnson as the interim lead operator at Waste Management and put Road and Bridge in charge of operations for 90 days, if Pape would have enough time to get things squared away at the department.

“I would think there’s a number of concerns that need to be addressed, Billy, and I think we can work through those,” said commissioner Dr. David Burnett. “There’s a lot of looseness that needs to be tied up.”

“The 90-day timeframe that we wanted you to waive your magic wand and get this all straightened out, is that enough time?” asked commissioner Mack Rawhouser.

Pape said that it was.

For more from the commissioners’ Aug. 22 meeting, see Tuesday’s Examiner.