Port commissioner questions customer service at Washougal Transfer Station

A Port of Camas-Washougal commissioner is questioning the quality of customer service at the Washougal Transfer Station, a solid waste and recycling center located at 4020 S. Grant St., in Washougal, that is governed by a contract between Clark County and Columbia Resource Company, a division of Waste Connections of Washington.

Spencer also referred to a claim made by East County Citizens Alliance County Citizens Alliance leaders, who told Port commissioners earlier this year that the transfer station’s employees inconsistently enforce a Washington state law that states that drivers are required to cover their trash loads with tarps and a county ordinance that establishes a surcharge for uncovered loads of garbage and/or recyclables delivered to transfer stations.

The Washougal transfer station is open to the public on Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“To their credit, when we asked about my complaints, Waste Connections replied quickly and said they are already working on plans to increase the hours ‘in the next couple years’ and would look into emptying the recycling more regularly,” Spencer said.

Washougal City Councilman Ernie Suggs said that the Port and Columbia Resources should try to work together and “be good neighbors.”

“I’ve worked with them off and on since they’ve been there, and they have been very open and very positive,” Suggs said during the Port Commission meeting. “I have also talked to them a little bit about their recycling and how sometimes it’s cumbersome. We want to be good neighbors, and they want to be good neighbors, and they want to be also good tenants, because they are part of your port. They represent the Port of Camas-Washougal. They may be a private entity and help the county, but they are part of the Port. They’re viewed by the people who go by there.”

Suggs added: “We need that to be a positive thing for the community. I would hate to see them leave because (people are) either going to have to go all the way to Vancouver or Skamania County to dump their stuff, and then you have more trash on the sides of the roads because of that. I would like to see more engagement with them and make sure that we’re all on the same page in regards to our community.”

Port commissioners decided to delay their vote to approve a lease amendment, proposed during their Dec. 5, meeting with Columbia Resources after questioning the removal of a clause that stated that they would receive annual tonnage reports from the waste disposal and recycling company.

“The Commission’s concern is about keeping some level of control on what’s happening in our industrial park,” Spencer told The Post-Record. “We want to assure smooth traffic flow in that area, assure good street infrastructure and assure that the facility doesn’t get over-used. This report helps give an indication of the level of activity.”

The amendment states that the parties desire to extend the term of the lease; allow for lease options; adjust the base rent; eliminate the annual overage adjustment and instead require a lump sum payment; and change the Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment to allow for a 3% increase if greater than the prevailing CPI.

“Essentially what this does is, once every five years, when you negotiate a new overage, you’ll see a decrease in the excess owed to be paid to the Port,” Port development director Derek Jaeger said during the meeting.

“By equalizing the standard base rate and increasing it, we are now stabilizing and setting an annual increase that occurs on a consistent regular basis. You’re not seeing this fluctuation if you have excess-owed or new base rate negotiated (totals), which would decrease — it would be lower by $10,000 to $20,000 if we continued under the current rate for this next year. We have a rate that’s actually more favorable and predictable, with less fluctuation.”

However, Commissioner Cassi Marshall said that she “would be more comfortable” with the amendment if it would allow commissioners to continue to receive annual tonnage reports.

“The old structure gave us some say or some negotiating ability every time (the tonnage overage negotiation) came back up,” Marshall said during the meeting. “The incentive in the old structure is to not go so far above the tonnage. The only thing I don’t like (about the new proposal) is that we don’t have the ability to monitor that moving forward if we don’t have that tonnage report. They are a for-profit company, so it’s not like a records request kind of thing, or it’s not the same collaboration as if we were working with another municipality.

“There’s a lot of change. This is a big amendment, and I know it’s a long-term lease, so it’s not like we’re deciding whether or not to renew the lease. This is a long-term tenant, and they’re going to be here for a really long time.. Everybody’s trying to figure out how to be good neighbors, because this (relationship) does impact our other tenants.”

Spencer said he expects the lease addendum would be approved during the commissioners’ Dec. 20 meeting.

“The staff did a great job of addressing our concerns,” he said. “I believe Columbia Resources has agreed to provide the reports and staff is finalizing the lease language right now. After their quick response, I am much more comfortable with the lease and the company.”

The transfer station could change ownership by the end of 2027, according to a regional solid waste systems study conducted by Clark County and a Portland-based consulting firm in 2023.

Four options for the county’s Central, West Vancouver and Washougal solid waste and recycling stations, currently owned and operated by Columbia Resource Company, were presented to the Clark County Council in July and to the Camas City Council Sept. 5.

Those options include: maintaining the current system of private ownership and operations; implementing a public ownership with a private operation; having a public ownership with limited public operation of scale houses; and switching over to a completely public ownership and operation.

“The current contract gives the county the option to purchase West Vancouver and Central stations for $1,” Joelle Loescher, program manager for Clark County’s solid waste operations, said during the Clark County Council’s July 26 workshop, “and it gives us the right to purchase (the Washougal Transfer Station) if the city of Washougal decides not to purchase it.”