Come January 2011, Orcas Island could be home to the only transfer station in our county.

It would be a huge burden for our small island, and a sad day for Lopez, which has sustained the “Take it or Leave it,” a service similar to our Exchange, for years.

Under Public Works’ preliminary 2011 budget, only the Orcas Island transfer station would remain open beginning next year. If that budget is approved by the council, those who live on San Juan or Lopez will have to either haul and dispose of their trash and recycling at the Orcas facility or rely on the county’s franchise hauler, San Juan Sanitation, to pick it up.

Has the county thought about the potential for long lines of cars on the road, waiting to dump their trash and recyclables on Orcas? Cars are already spilling out onto a busy road during dump days; an influx of even more vehicles will be dangerous. In all likelihood, most islanders will be forced to switch over to San Juan Sanitation. But local contractors will either haul their site debris to the mainland, or make the trek to Orcas.

Lopez is as proud of its Take it or Leave It program as we are of The Exchange. For decades, Neil Hansen has been managing the Lopez transfer station with a keen eye for recycling. We predict an uprising from the Lopez community if this budget is approved and the station is closed down. While it’s possible Lopez citizens could take over the service, a new location would need to be found.

The solid waste department relies entirely on tipping fees (the price of disposing of garbage). The council approved this year’s solid waste budget with the recognition that an additional $1.6 million in revenue would be needed to cover the cost of the operation. Despite this year’s fee increases and cutbacks in service, the solid waste division is roughly $630,000 in the hole. The council recently enacted a $5 fee that applies to “recycling-only” customers with an expectation of generating roughly $240,000 in additional income.

Councilman Bob Myhr wrote in last week’s Sounder:

I am urging the council to reconsider the ill-advised $5 fee. To pay for recycling, I advocate further cost cutting and a small garbage rate increase ($1 per can and $37 per ton) which would affect everyone. It would keep recycling free, bring more revenues from the curbside haulers (that still pay 50 percent less the self-haulers), and would be much more likely to raise what is needed for the stopgap measure of raising $240,000 for operations.

The San Juan Island Solid Waste Utility has scheduled the first round of a series of three public meetings.

The results of the recent county-wide survey will provide the focus for discussion at the meetings. Check out the survey here: http://sanjuanco.com/swmp/meetingnotes.aspx or pick up a copy at the library.

The meeting schedule is: Sept. 29: Orcas Island, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Eastsound fire station; Sept. 30: Lopez Island, 4 to 6 p.m., Woodmen Hall; Oct. 6: San Juan Island, 5 to 7 p.m., Mullis Senior Center; Oct. 7: Shaw Island, 10 a.m. to noon, community center.

We challenge you to come to any of the above meetings and show the county new ideas, if you have them.