Española to take over trash collection from solid waste authority

Nicholas Gilmore, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·3 min read

Oct. 6—After months of trash collection delays and a worsening financial crisis at North Central Solid Waste Authority, Española officials have decided to take over garbage collection in the city.

In a Wednesday news release, Española Mayor John Ramon Vigil wrote while the city is already performing garbage collection for more than half of residential accounts, sanitation services will transition completely from the solid waste authority to the city over the next 30 days for city residents and commercial accounts.

"The decision to bring sanitation services back as a city department was a difficult choice for the City Council," Vigil wrote, "but upon further review of the current financial state of NCSWA, it was determined that this is the best option for the city in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community as a whole."

The Española City Council also voted unanimously Tuesday evening to authorize the city's attorney to file "any and all legal actions necessary to protect the interest of the City of Espanola with regards to NCSWA and the City of Espanola."

Vigil said Wednesday no legal action had been taken yet.

The city placed an order for garbage bins and three garbage trucks Wednesday morning, Vigil said, spending $513,000.

Though the city has not officially exited the joint powers agreement, Vigil said, it will cease to pay the solid waste authority for collection services. The city will continue to collect fees from city residents.

"There are no plans at the moment to increase any rates," Vigil said.

The solid waste authority was formed by an agreement between Rio Arriba County, Española and the Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara pueblos, and it has been providing garbage collection services since 2004. In June, the authority suspended commercial garbage pickup for several days while its front-end loading trucks were all inoperable.

For months, residential customers of the organization have also complained of delayed service, and, in early September, the authority asked residents to move their garbage bins to the nearest major road or highway for collection instead of receiving curbside pickup.

Española City Manager Jordan Yutzy listed details of the solid waste authority's spiraling finances at Tuesday's council meeting, including a drop in revenue and stable expenditures despite many open positions.

The solid waste authority's revenue from Rio Arriba County residential fees, Yutzy said, dropped from a monthly average of $30,000 to $11,675 in September, indicating county residential customers are not paying their bills, likely because of delayed or suspended garbage collection services. After the first three months of the current fiscal year, Yutzy said the organization had only made 10 percent of its projected revenue instead of 25 percent.

"At this current time, I don't know how they would pull themselves out of the hole they're in," Yutzy told the council. "Somebody will have to step in with an influx of cash. I would not feel comfortable asking y'all to do that given the current situation."

Yutzy estimated the organization would need a cash injection of $1.1 million plus $60,000 per month to stay afloat. Staff said at a solid waste authority board meeting last week that the organization might be unable to fund payroll within three months.

At that meeting, Española Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Sue Martinez moved to hold Rio Arriba County responsible for its residents' unpaid fees to the solid waste authority. The four other board members rejected her proposal.