Three proposals for a transfer station have been evaluated and today the Waitaki District Council's assets committee will consider recommending the council enter a joint venture with private partner Waste Management Ltd, an overseas-owned company.
It ranked the highest in an assessment undertaken by a selection panel, ahead of the Dunedin City Council-owned Delta and the community-owned Waitaki Resource Recovery Trust, which operates the resource recovery park in Chelmer St.
Much of the detail has not been revealed because of commercial sensitivity, but Waste Management ranked better in terms of cost-effectiveness, qualification-experience-quality with a proven track record, but similar to the others in terms of a fair and environmentally appropriate proposal and risk to the council.
Its proposal also supported the resource recovery trust, which had the backing of the community in the past when it came to recycling and minimising waste.
Waster services and waste manager Martin Pacey said in a report for today's meeting the resource consents for the Oamaru landfill expired in 2016, and waste would no longer be accepted there.
Waste would then go to a transfer station in Oamaru and be transported to a landfill outside the district.
Waste Management already handled about half the district's waste and its proposal was a 50/50 joint venture with the council, to develop an enclosed transfer station on Chelmer St, beside the Waitaki Resource Recovery Park.
Two site layout options were offered for Chelmer St, and a further five potential undeveloped sites considered as viable alternatives.
Selection of the final site would be done by the joint venture.
It is recommended the council approve this proposal and develop with the company an implementation plan that ensures the transfer station is ready by the time the landfill closes.
Further approvals will be needed from the council as the project progresses, including resource consents.
The Delta proposal, which came in second in the rankings, was for an enclosed transfer station on a new site at the Oamaru Industrial Park on the town's northern boundary, which would include a satellite Waitaki Resource Recovery Trust facility to recover recycleable material.
The proposal offered three alternative sites, including relocating the resource recovery trust in total to the industrial park or setting up beside it in Chelmer St, the final decision being made by the joint venture.
The Waitaki trust's proposal was for a council-community joint venture to develop an open air transfer station on Chelmer St to receive and process waste.
No alternative sites were proposed and the trust's proposal excluded consent issues and costs.
