Ramsey County Board Workshop: Solid Waste Governance Evaluation, April 28, 2026
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Ramsey County Board Workshop: Solid Waste Governance Evaluation – April 28, 2026
On April 28, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to approximately noon, the Ramsey County Board met in Courthouse Room 220 at 15 West Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, for a workshop on Solid Waste Governance Evaluation Workshop 2026-092, sponsored by Public Health. The workshop was live streamed over Zoom and no votes were taken. Ramsey Washington Recycling and Energy (RE) staff presented a review of the 50-year Ramsey–Washington solid waste partnership and requested direction on whether to form a joint study group to evaluate future governance structures.
Discussion Items
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RE Executive Director Martinson and RE planning staff led the presentation, describing the current joint powers agreement (JPA) between Ramsey and Washington Counties, RE's facility and program budgets, and RE's 10-year anniversary as facility owner. Staff stated the facility is 40 years old and the two counties have worked together for 50 years, with more than $50 million in public investment.
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The primary alternatives presented were: maintaining the current JPA; pursuing an enhanced JPA; and establishing a solid waste management district. Staff emphasized that the workshop was not choosing a model but seeking permission to conduct a deeper evaluation.
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RE staff highlighted recent achievements: 3.8 million pounds of waste divergence through Biz Recycling grants; 11.4 million pounds of edible food rescued; 19,000 mattresses recycled through a partnership with Second Chance; more than 2,000 people touring the RE Center, including every fourth grader in St. Paul Public Schools; and enough processed waste to power 12,000 homes. The current tip fee is $142 per ton and is scheduled to rise to $159 per ton in 2027; stressed staff said that tip-fee revenue supports the entire enterprise fund. The transcript includes both a statement of nearly 360 tons processed and a commissioners reference to 360,000 tons at $159 per ton, likely meaning 360,000 tons.
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Staff said Ramsey and Washington counties rank among the best in Minnesota for landfilling and recycling: in 2024, the two counties landfilled the lowest percentage of waste in the metro and the eighth-lowest in the state, recycled nearly 50% of discarded waste, and ranked in the top 25% of Minnesota counties for recycling rate. The counties also reported carbon dioxide reductions equivalent to about 20,000 cars per year. Staff shared a jobs comparator: 50,000 tons landfilled supports about 5 jobs; the same amount of organics recycled supports about 25 jobs; and the same amount of recycled materials supports about 100 jobs, translating to over 500 jobs supported by current management versus about 38 jobs under landfilling.
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Staff reviewed upcoming requirements: 2026 state rulemaking on construction and demolition and landfill; a 2030 statewide 75% recycling goal; 2035 organics recycling mandates for metro communities above 5,000 residents; 2040 carbon-free energy standard; and 2050 net-zero carbon emissions. By the end of 2026, every community in the service area is expected to have organic recycling available at no additional cost.
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Executive Director Martson said JPAs can be more fragile than other structures and gave the dissolution of the metro-area joint power body in the past as a cautionary example. The RE staff recommended further evaluation and a study group involving Ramsey County, Washington County, and RE staff to research governance options.
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Commissioner questions during the discussion included: whether a stronger district or alternative structure would be preferred; whether the current JPA limits liability; how Ramsey County would conduct its own risk and due diligence; whether the study could consider additional partners; whether a future district could expand beyond Ramsey and Washington counties; and whether the proposal is compatible with the counties own solid waste plans. Executive Director Martonors said future expansion partners would have to bring their own resources, and that other Minnesota counties are also conducting similar governance upgrades.
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County Manager Becker said Ramsey County would need its own internal work stream, legal and financial analysis, and follow-up as the evaluation proceeds. Commissioner MacGuire and others underscored the importance of considering risks, rising county autonomy, and regulatory compliance before deciding. Several commissioners expressed support for continued analysis while emphasized that no governance choice had been made.
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Staff also projected the process could take up to five years if all three governance options are fully evaluated, which is why they recommended starting now. They identified seven evaluation dimensions: governance structure, legal, finance, risk management, administration, community, and strategic partnership, with subteams from the counties and RE.
Key Outcomes
- No formal action and no votes. This was a discussion-era workshop.
- Staff recommended forming a Ramsey County–Washington County–RE study group; however, board gave no formal directive and no final decision the today's workshop.
- Several county commissioners expressed support for the deeper evaluation process, while asking that county-specific risks, legal exposures, and compliance questions be included in the eventual report.
- County leadership noted that a possible three-prong internal structure, with each county doing its own work before joint recommendations, is under consideration.
Meeting Transcript
Ready? We're ready. All right. Welcome to the Ramsey County Board Workshop. Today's workshop will be a presentation on solid waste governance evaluation. Courtesy reminder that this board workshop is recorded and is live streamed on Zoom webinar. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. Let's start with introductions of commissioners and presenters around the table and then rest of the room. I'm Kelly Miller, Ramsey County Commissioner District 7. Well, hello, very good district. Mary John McGuire, Commissioner District 2, Tarzan Singh Commissioner District 1. Lee Barron's planning manager Ramsey County Director of Public Health. Yeah. I will read the environmental house. All right. So over the past decade, Ramsey Washington Recycling and Energy has marked a significant milestone in the shared ownership and operation of the RE Center in Newport. A partnership that has guided more than 50 million dollars in public investment with substantial future investments on the horizon. As the counties continue advancing ambitious goals for waste prevention, diversion, and sustainable materials management. This discussion will help inform whether Ramsey, Washington Recycling and Energy Center, and County staff should jointly evaluate future governance structures, including maintaining the current joint powers agreement, pursuing an enhanced JPA, or establishing a solid waste management district to ensure nimble, sustainable and strategic framework for the next generation of waste. This workshop does not decide what the future governance structure should be, but rather determines direction on evaluation and review. And with that, I will take it over to turn it over to Executive Director Martinson. Thank you so much, Commissioner. And it's so great to be with you all today. Um about half of you know us super well, and a few of you don't know us quite as well, so we're gonna do just some quick background of on our work to ground us. So let's start it. So um, as you know, and we mentioned we are a joint powers board of the two counties. We have three commissioners from Ramsey County and um two from Washington County, and then alternates, of course, that serve on our board. We also have ex officio members from the Minnesota Pollution Control and the City of Newport. Um, and we have two main budgets that uh you all have heard in years past uh that you approve that are incorporated. Our facility budget uh is maintained and operated as an enterprise fund, and then our program budget comes from the county CEC funds. That's when we come here, usually in June and present our budgets uh on joint programming. That is the upstream work that we do. Um we have it is our 10-year anniversary, so we have a quick 10-year anniversary video. We are celebrating all year long. Thank you. So we're celebrating, as I mentioned, our 10-year anniversary of owning the facility. But I will say the facility is 40 years old. And the two counties have actually been working together for 50 years on processing waste through through the work that we do together. So in that spirit, we're here to really think about the work that we do not only now and celebrate, but looking forward, how do we maintain uh that really strong partnership, but also uh secure a taxpayers' dollars uh to make sure we're doing the best thing in governance. So here's some of the quick recaps just from last year. Uh we diverted uh 3.8 million pounds of waste uh through our Biz Recycling grants. We uh we um rescued 11.4 million pounds of edible food. So if you think about food rescue and the importance of making sure it's getting back to our community, we're doing that through RE and through our grants programs and partnerships. Uh we began mattress recycling last year and we recycled 19,000 mattresses just last year, and the numbers are looking significantly higher already this year. And again, that's uh through a partnership with second chance. Uh so it's also a jobs program uh hiring those coming out of incarceration to then recycle the mattresses. So it's preventing waste, but it's also a jobs program. Um we are recovering building materials. We had over 2,000 people tour the RE center, uh, and that included every fourth grader in St. Paul Public Schools came through the RE center because we know if we teach them young, they will go home and shame their parents into doing the right thing.
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