On July 1, the first truckload of Powell garbage headed to Billings, ending a years-long debate over what to do with municipal solid waste.

“It’s been many years, about eight or 10, really a lot the last three or four,” City Administrator Zane Logan said. “It’s nice to have a decision made, the council made a decision. We’ll see how it goes.”

Vance Naylor of Warren Transport hauled the initial 17-ton load load, driving 94 miles to the Billings city landfill, dropping the 17 tons, and returning the city’s trailer to Powell.

The city signed a five-year deal with Billings that included a 30-day opt-out clause, having been lured by a $26.07 tipping fee. That was in comparison to a $72 charge offered at the Park County Regional Landfill in Cody.

Warren Transport Inc., which has facilities in Warren, Mont., and Lovell, is paid $500 per round trip. The hauling contract will cost around $162,000 annually, with Warren Transport providing the insurance that Billings requires from its clients.

The Powell landfill closed to most municipal solid waste in 2011. The city had been taking its waste to a Big Horn County landfill in Cowley while it built a transfer station for $1.43 million — with half that money coming from a state grant — and made plans to buy two trailers to haul the waste.

The second trailer arrived this fall. The city spent about $370,000 on the two trailers.

Powell may someday haul its MSW to a Park County landfill, Logan said. But for now, it will keep sending the trash north.

— Tom Lawrence

See today's edition of the Powell Tribune to take a look back at some of the other major stories of 2014.