REDMOND, OR -- Deschutes County opens its new trash facility in Redmond Monday. Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell says the Negus Transfer Station needed to be upgraded. "People were dropping materials from the beds of their cars, had to throw it over a gate into the top of a truck," he tells KBND News, "In the winter time, in the rain, what have you, that was a little onerous. And, to a degree, it created some safety concerns."

Now, people will drive directly into a 35,000-square-foot building, "They deliver materials onto the floor and then equipment will load those trucks. So, a much more efficient, much safer way to handle it." Find more information about the Negus Transfer Station, including hours of operation, HERE. 

Brownell says there are three new full-vehicle scales, changing how disposal fees are charged, "Instead of being charged by the volume of material that you have in your car, you’ll actually be going over scales and they’ll be weighing your loads." Vehicles are weighed again after unloading, to determine the amount charged. Click HERE for more on disposal fees and what materials are accepted. 

The $20 million improvement project also sets the facility up for future plans, "By doing this expansion, making the waste side of the equation a little more efficient and safer, it’s also freeing up additional space on the other side of the facility that people have been going to. So, over time we’ll be able to expand the types of materials that we accept there." In the fall, Brownell hopes to start accepting household hazardous waste once a month at the Redmond site. 

Recycling and yard debris drop-off processes haven't changed. "If you’ve been bringing your recycling or yard debris to that site, you’ll go to the same place you always have. So, you’ll bear off to the right, once you come onto the site," says Brownell, "However, if you are bringing garbage, you’ll be following the signs that will take you to the left and towards the new building." 

He hopes to make similar upgrades at the La Pine Transfer Station in about four years.