Issues with the cost of treating storm run-off from the landfill, known as leachate, at the city’s waste-water treatment plant are being adressed by the city council.
In Monday night’s council meeting, Alderman Danny Washer’s motion to order a study to find the actual cost of treating the waste water was approved by the board.
The council can then decide what, if anything, to charge for the service.
The motion was seconded by Alderman Shawn Jacobs and was approved by the entire council, except for council member Steve White, who was not present at the meeting.
County and city officials got together recently to discuss the issue in a joint workshop at city hall.
The City of Smithville has apparently not payed tipping fees for the disposal of city trash in the county landfill since August 2008, and the county has paid for the treatment of leachate from the landfill since March 2009.
County Mayor Mike Foster has said that this was due to a verbal agreement between he and Smithville Mayor Taft Hendrixson.
The city mayor maintains that there was never any such deal.
Hendrixson said that the city does not  pay the fees is because it is his belief that city residents, as county taxpayers also, should not have to pay twice to use the county landfill.
Although the county has had the leachate treated at the city facility for many years, the issue apparently became a concern after the county opened a new five-acre dump area at the landfill in 2009.
A very rainy season caused more of the substance than normal to be produced by the new cell. The leachate must be removed and treated to comply with federal and state regulations.
Mayor Hendrixson said it was around that time that County Mayor Foster contacted him to discuss the excess liquid.
"Mr. Foster had come to me to discuss the new landfill,” the city mayor said.
“He said until it got enough garbage in there to soak up most of the leachate, he needed to haul the leachate to the sewer plant. I told him to go ahead and put it in our sewer system. We did and it has continued on since then. So that's where we are."
Foster said that he sent Hendrixson a letter earlier in the year asking that the  verbal agreement be renewed in writing, and that if Smithville were to refuse to accept the leachate, the county would immediately be forced to close the landfill until some arrangement could be reached.
"The landfill is a nasty place. I'll acknowledge that, but without being able to haul leachate, we would have to close the landfill that minute," said Foster.
Jacobs, who asked at a recent council meeting that the workshop be held with county officials to discuss the issue, said he felt the matter should be solved.
"I think there was some question on the city's part if we truly did have an arrangement,” Jacobs said at the workshop.
“This issue seemed to keep brewing. To keep it from turning into a political football, we ought to bring it out in the open and deal with it publicly the way it should be dealt with," Jacobs concluded.
City Attorney Vester Parsley said at the workshop that the city's sewer use ordinance not only allows the city to treat the leachate, it makes room for city officials to charge whatever amount they see fit for the service, including treatment of the water free of charge if they so wish.
"In looking at the ordinance that we passed in 2002,” Parsley said, “we have the capability of treating things that are brought in under certain circumstances as long as it is not contaminated with something that would cause problems to our sewer system. It’s not an issue about something we couldn't treat," he said
"We can't give water away. Are we legally required to charge?” Jacobs asked. “Can we legally treat leachate without charging for it?"
“It says that the city council may adjust or vary the various rates and or formulas at its discretion," Parsley answered.
"So the city council has the discretion of what charge you make. There is a formula in here about the treatment but the city council can adjust that or say we're not going to charge anything if they chose to."
"My concern is the water and sewer fund has to be self-supporting," Jacobs continued.
"It has nothing to do with city taxes. Any money that the city might pay as a tipping fee at the landfill, that's city tax money. But the water and sewer fund comes out of a different pot. My concern is that we're being fair to our ratepayers. Are we making them subsidize the landfill?" Jacobs inquired.
The question of whether the city should pay the landfill for the disposal of city waste remains up in the air.
The city paid tipping fees of $25 per ton until August 2008, but neither city nor county officials have been able to locate a written agreement on the arrangement.
Foster said that according to his research the city had been paying the fees since the 1970s, and that some official agreement should be reached on the matter.
Hendrixson again made clear his opposition to any tipping fees.
"I still have a problem with the city having to pay anything as county residents to put their household garbage in that landfill," the city mayor said.