People who use the Glenwood Transfer Station could be taking trash and recyclables elsewhere within a few years. And if the current transfer station does stay where it is now on 17th Avenue off Glenwood Boulevard right by Interstate 5, it could look very different. The transfer station — one of 15 operated by Lane County and open to the public for self-hauling — needs rebuilding, regardless of whether it’s on the current site or somewhere else, said Jeff Orlandini, the county’s waste management division manager.
“We really are at the point where we need to build a new, state-of-the-art facility that can serve this community for 30-plus years,” he said. County staff have been “dumping money in to put Band-Aids on” until they have a clear direction for what will happen to the site, Orlandini said. In the 18 years that Dan Hurley, the county’s public works director, has been with the county, staff have been in limbo because they don’t know whether they’ll stay at Glenwood or leave.
Public works would prefer to relocate the transfer station to another site, Orlandini said, with staying at Glenwood being staff’s second choice. Creating two new locations or moving the transfer station to Short Mountain Landfill also are options, he said, but they’re lower on the list of preferences.