WATERLOO -- City Council member Ron Welper is renewing his push for the city to develop a transfer station for garbage, recycling and other waste disposal.

He orchestrated a lengthy presentation Monday during a bid opening for the city's drop site recycling program to lay out what he believes to be a need for a central operation for residents to dispose of unwanted items.

"I think it's time we all started thinking green," said Welper, who asked his colleagues to support a feasibility study for the transfer station similar to what Cedar Falls provides its residents on State Street.

While it's not the first time Welper has promoted a transfer station during his seven years on the City Council, he believes a growing problem with illegal dumping at the city's current drop site recycling sites, especially the former Chamberlain Manufacturing Co. site on East Fourth Street, and continued problems with dumping at social services agencies, makes matters more urgent.

He invited David Boyd, president of Goodwill Industries of Northeast Iowa Inc., and Pat Russo, director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, to explain problems those agencies are having with people discarding unusable items at their facilities.

"Illegal dumping is the items they're finding outside their fence when they come to work in the morning," Welper said.

Both Boyd and Russo said many people donate items that can be reused by others. But Boyd noted his agency is also spending $56,000 this year disposing of items at the landfill.

"There are some folks who take advantage of the fact that we don't have after-hours supervision," Russo added.

Welper noted a transfer station would allow the city's five garbage trucks to avoid making periodic trips to the Black Hawk County Landfill south of the city. Instead they could dump the waste at the transfer station to be compacted and hauled in a larger vehicle. Currently, the city spends about $500 a day in fuel and another $200 in staff time to make the round trips to the landfill.

The transfer station could also help the city meet expected future regulations for e-waste, such as computers, and hazardous household waste.

Waste Management Services Director Larry Smith said he believes such a facility would be valuable to residents and "would have the possibility of reducing roadside dumps."

Funding a transfer station would be a key stumbling block, which could be addressed in a feasibility study.

Other council members generally said they could support the feasibility study, providing funding could be identified before their vote.

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.