Stanislaus Supervisor Dick Monteith poised to give state-of-the-county address
Board of Supervisors Chairman Dick Monteith will deliver the state-of-the-county speech Tuesday, which will lay out this year’s priorities for Stanislaus County government.
The noteworthy speech is held every year, soon after the appointment of a new board chairman. Monteith will speak at Tuesday’s 9 a.m. meeting in the board chambers at Tenth Street Place in Modesto.
The county is expected to wrestle this year with groundwater, a state plan to take river water from local users, and solid waste problems tied to the waste-to-energy plant near Crows Landing.
Following the speech, supervisors could approve a consent item to hire legal experts for upcoming negotiations with Covanta Energy over the waste burner.
Senate Bill 350, a landmark climate law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, takes away the special renewable energy status of the waste-burner, though it was extended until January 2017.
The Covanta plant won’t be able to sell electricity at premium rates and will pass a percentage of the losses to Modesto, the county and other cities that are partners in the solid waste system. That’s expected to trigger negotiations to amend a 15-year agreement with Covanta or possibly write a new agreement.
Another bill in the Legislature could raise the fees imposed on garbage disposal facilities from $1.40 per ton to $4 per ton in 2017, with almost 40 percent of the funds allocated to promote recycling. If it passes, the legislation would increase disposal fees for ash from the waste-burner from $26.53 to more than $30 per ton.
Supervisors could approve a five-year legal services contract with Sidley Austin LLP. The global firm assisted the county and Modesto with previous negotiations with Covanta.
The legal expenses, billed at $680 an hour for an attorney and $295 for paralegals, are not to exceed $450,000 and will come out of a waste-to-energy fund. The contract also requires approval from the Modesto City Council.
According to a staff report, the current agreement with Covanta allows no more than $3.75 million in losses from reduced energy sales to be passed to the cities and the county.
The Covanta plant could continue with the renewable energy sales if the company and its local partners convince lawmakers in Sacramento to extend the designation.
Under an agreement through June 2027, Covanta burns at least 243,000 tons of garbage for the county and Modesto annually, and other cities in the county receive a credit that helps them meet a state mandate to reduce their landfill wastes.
The future of the countywide partnership was threatened when cities, such as Turlock, explored sending their garbage to lower-cost landfills outside the county. In July 2013, the Turlock council approved a 120-day trial program to send its solid waste to the Merced County Regional Waste Management Authority.
In an agreement with the cities last year to keep the partnership from unraveling, Stanislaus County lowered the Fink Road Landfill fees from $33 to $26 per ton and discounted the fees on municipal garbage hauled to the waste burner. In exchange, Turlock, Ceres, Hughson, Oakdale, Riverbank, Patterson, Newman and Waterford agreed to send a guaranteed amount of garbage to the landfill and Covanta plant.
Ken Carlson: 209-578-2321
At a glance
The Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., in Modesto. The following items will be considered:
▪ An agreement for Waterford to be part of the Turlock Groundwater Basin Association. Waterford, which took over the Hickman water system, formerly operated by Modesto, asked to join the association. The consent item also would revise the method for other agencies to join.
▪ Approval of agreement with Telecare Corp. to provide mental health crisis stabilization services at a new unit in Ceres.
This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Stanislaus Supervisor Dick Monteith poised to give state-of-the-county address."