Dunn County Solid Waste Business Plan Makes Many Changes for Residents

Ed. Note - The hours originally reported here for Saturdays in Connorsville and Downsville were incorrect. The new hours are 8 AM - Noon on the first and third Saturday of the month. A printable schedule of the new hours is attached at the end of the article.

We previously reported that the Dunn County Solid Waste & Recycling department was considering making large changes to their business plan due to budget constraints. As reported in the Dunn County News, the changes were put into place at a meeting Tuesday night. Two major changes include changes to the transfer center hours throughout the county and the discontinuation of accepting some materials for recycling. All of the changes take place on Jan. 1, 2020.

The change in hours is likely to be confusing to residents. Previously most of the transfer stations were open two days per week, and the same hours every week. The new hours are somewhat different, and Saturday hours are now available only every other week. The new hours are listed below and will be added to our community calendar on the site for future reference.

• County Transfer Station on Highway 29: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 5:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesdays 5:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturdays 7 a.m.-noon.
• Public Drop-Off: Mondays 6 a.m.-noon; Wednesdays 1-6 p.m. and Saturdays 7 a.m.-noon.
• Boyceville, Colfax, Elk Mound: Wednesdays noon-6 p.m.; Saturdays 7 a.m.-noon.
• Connorsville, Downsville: Tuesdays noon-6 p.m.; First and third Saturdays 8 a.m. - noon.
• Ridgeland, Rock Creek: Thursdays noon-6 p.m.; Second and four: th Saturdays 8 a.m.-noon.
• Sand Creek:  24/7 unmanned recycling only.

Some of the materials that are currently accepted for recycling will not be accepted starting January 1. These include:

• Carrier Stock: this includes beer, pop, and pizza boxes and other water-resistant treated paper.
• Vinyl Siding:
• Coroplast: Corrugated plastic commonly used in political and real estate yard signs
• Woven Polypropylene: This is primarily dog food and bird food bags, etc. 

Although there were some proposals made to keep the collection policies the same and increase the fees charged per capita in the different municipalities, this proved to be unworkable because municipality budgets were already fixed for 2020. The change in business plan was quite suddenly introduced in November, making it difficult to make budgetary changes in light of the drastically decreased revenue for recyclables. As a result, the county will need to borrow to cover the losses for 2020, and will reconsider the per capita charges in 2021.