Billings will cash out $22 million in bonds to fund a new drop-off facility for the public to use at the landfill.Â
The bonds sold at a lower interest rate than what public works officials had budgeted, saving the city roughly $650,000 on the project.Â
"A lot of good competition resulted in good rates," said Chris Kukulski, the city administrator.Â
Billings scored high on its credit rating, receiving a AA-3 for the project, which made the city attractive to lenders. Bids went out Monday morning for the bond sale, and 11 lenders responded with interest rates between 3.09 percent and 3.29 percent.Â
In the end, the city selected financial services company Robert W. Baird & Co. out of Wisconsin, which offered a 3.09 interest rate.Â
Early in the meeting Monday night, talk focused on the landfill drop-off project. Gary Buchanan of Buchanan Capital addressed the city council with a letter he had prepared, offering support for the project and expressing frustration at how long it's taken to get this far.Â
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"Slow and stubborn leadership is the issue," Buchanan told council members.Â
The drop-off facility will be built at the landfill's entrance and will allow residents who are dropping off loads to dump them inside the new facility and then immediately leave the landfill.Â
Currently, residents drive all the way into the landfill and drop their trash or green waste at designated spots. That can be a safety concern as city crews with heavy equipment are often navigating the same roads, said Dave Mumford, public works director.Â
A Billings municipal garbage truck dropped a load of trash on Rimrock Road after materials ignited and caused an explosion Monday morning, cau…
It also creates issues with scattered trash. Buchanan expressed frustration that garbage regularly blows well beyond the limits of the landfill, cluttering the roads and the bridge leading up to the dump site, and littering the Yellowstone River.Â
He pleaded with the council to demand better enforcement of the city's tie-down ordinance. Trucks with large loads are required by city law to cover them or tie them down.Â
"Tie-down commitments have not been kept," Buchanan told the council. "Another wind event blew significant trash out of the landfill last night."
Mumford explained that while the city enforces the tie-down rule, the landfill sits in the county and the Yellowstone County sheriff's office has told him deputies won't cite drivers unless there's a serious safety risk.Â
Instead, Mumford is looking at following Butte's example, something Buchanan suggested in his remarks to council. Butte passed a measure that would fine vehicles $10 if they arrived at the dump without their loads covered or tied down.
Mumford said his department is looking at setting up a similar measure. On the first offense drivers would pay the $10 and then receive a new tarp from the landfill that they could them use on subsequent visits to cover their loads.Â
Also at the meeting, the council selected Mike Yakowich to serve as deputy mayor for the coming year and Chris Friedel as mayor pro tem.Â
A preliminary engineering report provided to city officials after a small landslide at the Billings Regional Landfill in late May raised the p…