Are we a trashy society?
Do we waste too much?
As the population of Volusia County grows, there will be a greater need for a place to put the used-up, broken, and otherwise unwanted items, along with items that have a short shelf life and are now decaying.
Volusia County is now on track to create another place at the Tomoka Landfill to receive and retain what households and businesses cast off as part of living in a modern society.
“We’re talking about building a 100-year cell,” County Manager George Recktenwald said, referring to the expected useful life of the new space for discarded stuff.
That discarded and unwanted volume of waste includes household throwaways.
That new cell at the landfill will cost approximately $31.6 million to build, and it is scheduled to be ready to receive waste by the end of 2026.
To cover part of that expense, the County Council has approved a $10 million bond issue.
“It’s intended for a 20-year repayment period,” county Chief Financial Officer Ryan Ossowski said.
Volusia County will have to pay $150,000 to float the bond issue.
S&P Global Ratings will rate the bonds. The bonds will charge a 4-percent interest rate, and that means the county’s total repayment for the bond issue will be approximately $15 million over the term of the debt.
The county will back the bonds with revenues from the non-ad valorem assessments charged to those households and businesses that are charged for mandatory solid-waste disposal. Those special charges appear on the tax bills mailed to property owners Nov. 1.
The terms of the bond issue troubled Council Vice Chair Troy Kent.
“This needs to happen. I don’t like paying back $15 million when you borrow $10 million,” he said.
Kent described the financing arrangement as “too rich for my blood.” He was the only member of the County Council to vote against the bond issue.
Though the contractor for the construction of the new cell itself has yet to be selected, the county has chosen T&K Construction LLC, of Vinemont, Alabama, to build the stormwater-management system for the expansion. T&K Construction was the only respondent to the county’s request for proposals for the stormwater system. The cost of the stormwater system is currently estimated to be $24.8 million.
Volusia County opened the Tomoka Landfill in the mid-1970s.
During the county’s recently ended 2023-24 fiscal year, the Tomoka Landfill became the repository for more than 1.5 billion pounds of unwanted solid waste. Most of that refuse, some 932 million pounds, was household garbage, according to figures logged by the county’s Department of Public Works. Other waste included scrap metal, asbestos, construction and demolition debris, and yard waste.
