County transfer station project nears construction phase
“The project kind of changed over time,” Dustin Hanson told WTIP. Hanson is the co-owner of North Shore Waste, Cook County’s only trash hauler.
Hanson explained how throughout the years, the effort to build a new transfer station shifted from a North Shore Waste project to a county infrastructure project.
The transfer station is slated to be constructed and maintained by the county, but the actual solid waste management will be done by a contractor, North Shore Waste.
Interim County Administrator Rowan Watkins said that the partnership approach makes sense. If a private company wasn’t filling the waste management role, the responsibility would fall on the county.
“If there’s the ability to have a partnership, and you have somebody like North Shore Waste who has the expertise and knows how to do that, and we can help facilitate that, I think that’s there’s value in that shared approach,” Watkins said, “It also makes sure that, you know, regardless, the county has that infrastructure that it needs, if that responsibility was ever to come back to it.”
Finalizing plans
After several years of slower movement on the project, over the past few months, much more rapid progress has been made. The design of the buildings is well underway, using work originally commissioned by North Shore Waste.
Hanson explained, “We had hired an architect, we had started putting together a design team of experts that really know how to put together a facility of this size. And so the decision was made to just kind of roll with that, since the money had been invested, and when we sat down with the county at the beginning, at least the outline of the plans was already done.”
The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted at the end of 2024 to continue on with the initial plans that North Shore Waste commissioned, and at the Jan. 21 Committee of the Whole work session, the commissioners saw a more complete version of the designs. The scope of the project has also expanded as the county has gotten involved, with additional infrastructure on the east and west ends of the county, and factoring in the potential of future recycling processing needs.
Funding the transfer station
The large scale of the project comes with an equally large price tag. Hanson said the current cost estimate for the project is nearly $8 million. He added that making the transfer station a county project opened up more funding options, like some state aid programs that target municipal infrastructure.
Hanson said that through a variety of state funding sources, North Shore Waste was able to secure $3.25 million in support so far. He said some of that money came through the state Mineral Tax Bill, and some came from funds secured by the Cook County EDA. The project was also the recipient of $450,000 in funding from the Iron Range Rehabilitation and Resources Board.
Watkins said that with more elements of the plan finalized, the commissioners have been able to identify where there are still funding gaps. They discussed options at a special meeting on Feb. 3, ultimately landing on a plan for a county-wide special assessment. The assessment would charge residential property owners $50 annually, and multi-family and commercial property owners $100 annually. On Feb. 11 the board set a date for a public hearing, after which they will vote on whether to make the assessment official. The public hearing has been set for Feb. 25 at 10 a.m.
While a funding gap is anticipated, Watkins added that the size of that gap will depend on the details of the bonds issued to cover the cost.
Moving forward
As additional details fall into place, Hanson and the county are looking at next steps. Funds from the IRRR and mineral tax program come with specific timelines, and the clock is ticking.
Hanson said Cook County residents could see construction starting in the next few months. He said, “We’ve been working really hard with the permitting process, with land services and through the state. And so I I see us still getting shovels in the ground before summer rolls around. And hopefully, a year from now, we’ll have a facility that can that can manage waste.”
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins and North Shore Waste co-owner Dustin Hanson about the transfer station project. Audio of that interview is below.
Note: during the interview Hanson stated that North Shore Waste had secured $2.25 million in state funds. He later let WTIP know that the total was $3.25 million. The correction is reflected in the text above, but not in the audio of the interview.
Kirsten Wisniewski February 11, 2025
