Santa Fe elected officials are inching toward a vote that would allow the local landfill to accept trash from Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties.

The idea passed a hurdle Monday night when members of the Public Works Committee approved a proposal that will be on the agenda for the City Council next month.

City officials have been taking their time with the decision. Since the landfill is operated by a joint city/county agency and was built with an investment from both local governments, they must agree on major policies such as contracting with outside entities to accept waste.

The County Commission voted earlier this month to approve the plan with little fanfare. Before the hearing Monday at the Public Works Committee, however, it was debated at least three times this autumn at City Hall.

The proposal would bring in about 30,000 tons annually from the North Central Waste Authority, which includes Española, Rio Arriba County, Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara Pueblo, and about 20,000 tons annually from Los Alamos County.

While some have hinted that the landfill is solely in-county today, it's not. About 2,000 tons of trash from Pecos, which lies in San Miguel County just over the Santa Fe County line, already comes there. For comparison, Santa Fe residents send about 200,000 tons of garbage to the landfill each year.

Landfill staff say revenue from the other counties will reduce future increases to the cost of dumping trash for city and county governments. A trade-off, however, is that the contracts could decrease the life of each landfill cell by about 20 percent, meaning it could shorten the designed life span of the landfill from 100 years to 80 years.

Previous plans aimed at saving money for future capital needs at the landfill were inadequate, according to Randall Kippenbrock, executive director of the Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency. In order to put aside about $31 million that will be needed in about 10 years, Kippenbrock said either he needs to increase costs for the city and county or enter into new contracts, or possibly a combination of the two.

Officials considered similar proposals to accept more outside waste in 2001 and 2003, but stopped short on both occasions.

Only one person testified during a public hearing Monday. Joni Arends, director of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, said she opposed the acceptance of waste from Los Alamos County because of the dangers posed by trash originating at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Lab waste is screened for radioactivity at the lab and at the Los Alamos tipping station, where it would be stored before moving to Santa Fe, according to Regina Wheeler, county environmental director.

That county has a contract to take its waste to other facilities at a cheaper price but wants to use Santa Fe's landfill because it would reduce the county's carbon footprint created by fuel used to transport the trash.

Councilor Patti Bushee, chairwoman of the committee, said she does not intend to vote in favor of the plan, an idea shared by Councilor Matthew Ortiz, who chairs the Finance Committee.

Councilors Chris Calvert, Miguel Chavez, Rosemary Romero and Ronald Trujillo have voted in favor of the plan at the committee level.

An independent analysis on the costs and revenues is also expected soon from the city finance director.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.