Shingles bring more fees to Mitchell landfill

• Shingles

Shingles and other roofing materials removed from a house on Ridge Road sit in the back of a truck, ready to be hauled to the landfill, as a crew from Mueller Lumber reshingles the house earlier this month. (Chris Huber/Republic)

Talk about it

The May 5 hail storm that pummeled area vehicles and rooftops cost Mitchell residents and insurers millions of dollars in claims, but it may also stabilize tipping fees at the city’s landfill next year.

Mitchell Street and Sanitation Supervisor Ron Olson said the extra business created by dumping old shingles has increased landfill tipping fee revenues by at least 50 percent since the first of the year.

“It’s been significant,” Olson said. “And we’ve taken that into consideration when we were looking at budgets. Because of the extra business, we believe we can stave off a landfill rate increase for another year.”

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 10, Mitchell collected about $769,000 in tipping fee revenues. Revenues for the same period were $510,000 in 2011, and $513,000 in 2010.

The city charges a $39 per ton tipping fee at the landfill, with $36 going to the city, $2 to Davison County and $1, plus tax, going to the state.

“We’ve had a steady stream of customers coming in,” Olson said, “but in the past week or two the number of roofers coming in has let up a fair amount.”

He didn’t know whether to attribute the slowdown to roofers getting caught up with roofing jobs or merely taking a break before they plunge into new projects.

Meanwhile, errant roofing nails that have fallen on roads from old shingles have created brisk business for area tire shops in recent months.

Travis Cheeseman, service manager at Graham Tire, 720 N. Main St. in Mitchell, said repairs from nail punctures — typically a half-dozen a day — probably doubled since the hail storm. “The extra business was noticeable in June and the first part of July, but things have slowed down in the past two weeks,” he said.

City crews regularly run a powerful, 7-foot-wide magnet over the landfill roads, as well as the road approaching the site, said Olson, who believes tire punctures haven’t been out of the ordinary near the landfill.

Still, he cautions anyone using the site to remain vigilant.

“Any time you get off the road and start backing into trash piles you’re more prone to pick something up,” he said.

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