Recycling means less trash, so the county is offering San Juan Capistrano $6 million to extend the lifespan of the Prima Deshecha Landfill

Orange County would give San Juan Capistrano $6 million to continue filling the Prima Deshecha Landfill with trash for at least a few more decades under a proposed agreement that could be finalized Tuesday, Oct. 30.

The city would also receive at least $800,000 annually for 10 years to continue hosting the landfill, with an option to extend the payment agreement for another five years. The agreement would delay the county’s plan to build a regional park at the site.

San Juan Capistrano City Council signed onto the deal Oct. 16. The county supervisors are expected to vote Tuesday.

The county planned to have filled the first section of the landfill by 2019 and turn it into the park. But recycling and conservation efforts have extended the landfill’s lifespan, officials said.

The rest of the landfill was expected to close by 2067.

The landfill is earmarked for 4,000 tons of trash a day, but it has been averaging 1,700 tons daily for the last year, said OC Waste & Recycling spokeswoman Kristina Hamm. She said the county’s other landfills in Brea and Irvine have also seen less trash than the county had once anticipated.

The first part of the landfill will now have an expiration date of 2050, and the rest could be in use through 2102, if the agreement is approved.

The landfill, which opened in 1976, received about 530,000 tons of trash in 2017.

The county pays San Juan Capistrano to host the landfill, in recent years it was $700,000 annually. San Juan Capistrano Mayor Sergio Farias said he had concerns that revenue would drop as recycling efforts slowed the landfill’s use.

By guaranteeing $800,000 a year – regardless of how much trash the landfill takes in – the agreement is a win for the city, Farias said. “I think the residents of San Juan Capistrano got a great deal.”

Brian Maryott, the councilman whose district includes the landfill, noted even if the first part of the landfill was to close by 2019, the county would still have been utilizing the rest of the landfill for years to come. Part of the landfill is on unincorporated county land.

“The trucks themselves are always going to be with us,” he said.

Maryott said he hasn’t heard significant opposition to the agreement from the neighboring residents.

Council members have expressed different ideas for how to spend the $6 million. But Farias urges caution, saying the city needs to build its reserves.

“We don’t have anyone we can lay off” when the city faces a financial difficulty, he said.

City Manager Ben Siegel said he will give a recommendation next year – after the elections for council.