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Supervisor Roeser Holds Community Meeting in Big Pine, Talks Transfer Station’s Future and Business License Proposal

Supervisor Roeser Holds Community Meeting in Big Pine, Talks Transfer Station’s Future and Business License Proposal 

transfer station big pine
Photo: Inyo County

District 4 Supervisor Jennifer Roeser continued her tradition of holding Inyo County updates for her constituents. Last Wednesday was Big Pine’s turn, with locals particularly concerned about a potential closure of the Big Pine transfer station and the potential of a County business license. Neither prospect sat well with the meeting attendees. 

First, the transfer station. Assistant Public Works Director Cap Aubrey explained the cost of running the station was $80,000 a year. The County was losing money on the station largely due to the availability of curb side pick-up service. The station is currently opened Tuesdays and Saturdays and is under consideration for a closure along with Lone Pine’s station.  

With last year’s epic rain fall, tumble weeds have thrived and were the primary culprit. Pick-ups headed to the local transfer station, loaded with the noxious weeds, put a strain on the system. Burning off piles of the weeds isn’t a real option as burn permits are no longer easily available. Hauling a pick-up truck bed full of tumbleweeds is also problematic as the truck bed has to be securely tarped to avoid re-distributing the weeds between Big Pine and Bishop. 

The one ray of hope Aubrey offered the audience: there’s no time line on the closure decision. 

The prospect of a County business license was even less popular than the transfer station closure. Inyo’s Treasurer/Tax Collector Alisha McMurtrie presented the potential details, explaining the fee would tentatively be $25 to $40 annually, amounts that McMurtrie said would not fully cover the County’s cost of the licensing. She likened the license was more like a registry, simply informing the County of what businesses were operating in Inyo. In addition, McMurtrie said the licensing process would open up a line of communication with area businesses, assuring that businesses were aware of and compliant with new state regulations. 

She outlined the timeline assuming the Board of Supervisors approved the licensing in the next in early October: basically, a “soft opening” on January 1, 2025 followed by a July 2025 deadline for local businesses. 

Mono County, Mammoth Lakes, and Bishop already require business licenses, she explained. The licensing system would “open the lines of communication” with local businesses, assuring compliance with state regulations, provide a centralized data base and enhance consumer protection. Delaying the deadline until January would also allow her department to work the kinks out of the necessary software. 

Bishop’s licensing fees start at $44 a year, for businesses with four employees or less and a fixed place of business in the city, to $204 a year if the business employees 10 or more. Businesses without a fixed place of business within the city limits pay $54 a year; contractors and subcontractors pay $104 a year. 

The presentation was not well received. The owners of a Big Pine coffee shop explained the business was already subject to a raft of regulations and oversight. The same argument was also made by a landscaper. 

Stay tuned for future coverage of the business license as the proposal goes before the Supervisors in early October. 

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