Colfax searches for new yard waste site

At last week's regular monthly meeting, the Colfax City Council approved the sale of the current yard waste site by the old Monroe Table Company in exchange for the soccer fields. Now, the city is searching for a new yard waste site.

In 2017, citizens of Colfax checked out a key to deposit limbs and brush in the lot by the old Monroe Table Company 780 times. By the end of September, Colfax had recorded 400 check-outs this year. Access to the site is a vital service to the community and the new site must be able to accommodate the volume of brush the old site handled.

Last week, the city council discussed four different locations — the Southeast corner of the cemetery, an area located between McDonalds and I-80, Quarry Springs Park and the top of the levee south of the wastewater treatment plant — for a potential new site.

“My comment is we’re dead set against taking it to a park, especially Quarry Springs,” said council member Curtis Small at the meeting.

Small moved that, pending the approval of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the city create the new yard waste site on the top of the levee.

“We want to make sure Quarry Springs is a go-to place in central Iowa,” Small said in a later interview. “We have people clocking thousands of volunteer hours out there cleaning and sprucing it up. They’re very dedicated. The other site was by the cemetery, which is the same thing. We don’t want chipping and burning next to the cemetery. That was a no-brainer. The other option, behind the Kum & Go, that’s close to Quarry Springs as well, so we’re working to clean that up. It seemed very logical to go out by the wastewater treatment facility. The city already owns that property and I think the DNR would prefer it out there, too.”

Small’s motion carried unanimously.

On Oct. 11, three days after the successful motion, Bill Gross, an environmental specialist senior of the DNR’s field services and compliance bureau, visited Colfax to view the potential site.

Although a city has the latitude to determine the size of its yard waste site, Iowa law dictates a municipality must restrict access to the site, place the site at least a quarter of a mile from inhabited buildings and ensure weather conditions in that area will not carry harmful smoke from brush pile burns to residents. The DNR recommends yard waste sites also sit on high ground to avoid flooding hazards.

Mayor David Mast and Gross bundled up on the chilly Thursday morning and drove to the levee. When they arrived at the site, Gross examined the groundwater pooled against the levee and asked questions about flooding.

“This looks like a pretty good site,” Gross said upon first inspection. It’s higher, so it’s not going to flood.”

Concrete pillars for construction, the same type placed around the arena for the demolition derby during Mineral Springs Days, lie stacked atop a portion of the levee. Gross explained restricting access to the yard waste site does not require erecting a traditional fence. The city could choose to use the concrete pillars instead of investing in new material.

“As far as fencing goes, the proof is in the pudding,” Gross said. “If there are people dumping materials other than limbs and trees, then the fence isn’t working out.”

Mast explained the city would install cameras on the wastewater treatment plant to monitor activity if the city moves forward with selecting that area as the yard waste site.

At the end of his visit, Gross told Mast his first preference is that the city establishes the new yard waste site on the levee and uses chipping to diminish waste. If the city does not use chipping, Gross indicated the city could continue with burns.

If the city chooses to employ chipping, they may consider charging a small fee, currently estimated at $2, to check out the key to the yard waste site to cover the cost. Hiring a chipper costs between $80 and $100 per hour.

Contact Phoebe Marie Brannock at 641-792-3121 ext. 6547 or pbrannock@newtondailynews.com