N.R. Hamm Quarry, the city’s landfill contractor, wants a new contract that helps cover the higher cost of diesel fuel.
Hamm’s agreed to the contract in 2000 and is in a five-year extension that runs through 2010. The company gets $26.07 per ton, adjusted for the Consumer Price Index, the most common measure of inflation. But diesel prices have gone up faster than that, leading Hamm’s to ask for either a fuel surcharge or a different way of calculating prices.
“We’re using a lot of fuel moving garbage up and down the road, covering it and keeping it safe,” said Charlie Sedlock of Hamm’s. “We buy 50,000 gallons of fuel a month. We’re willing to take our lumps in the short term, but believe me, we’ve taken a lot of lumps.”
Diesel prices were about $1.50 a gallon when Hamm’s signed the contract. The company now pays $2.48 a gallon.
Emporia city commissioners said they’d be willing to consider making some allowance for fuel costs. The company and the city each have the option to pull out of the contract each year, but neither has wanted things to go that far.
“We don’t want to damage each other in any way,” Commissioner Tom Myers said. “It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship.”