Ten months after the mayor axed plans for a trash transfer station near an Albuquerque neighborhood, he has a new plan for a different building on the west side.

The Keller administration’s new plan isn’t for a transfer station. Instead, they want to build a maintenance shop at the landfill to house west side trash trucks.

It’s a new plan for how the city will spend millions of dollars in trash fees.

“What this facility is going to do is primarily be a maintenance and dispatch center for a lot of our vehicles,” said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. “Because essentially one-third of our population – and therefore one-third of our waste – comes from the west side.”

Mayor Tim Keller announced Friday the city’s intent to build a first of its kind maintenance shop at the Cerro Colorado landfill. It will have an area for trash truck repairs and a place for employees.

“That means we are going to have a third less trucks out on the east side and on the Big-I,” Keller said. “And it means a third less emissions for the whole city.”

The mayor says it will cost about $1.5 million to build. That money comes from the axed Edith transfer station. 

The city raised about $4 million for that project over the last several years. With the new building only costing a fraction of that, KRQE News 13 asked where the rest of that money will go.

“That funding that we got, which is part of the cost of service, that will go to this facility, so it will be a big chunk,” Keller said.

The city says the remaining $2.5 million, as well as what is still being collected, will go towards building a transfer station on the east side of the city.

“We’re actually in the process of evaluating multiple sites, so I think sort of stay tuned with where we are going with that,” Keller said.

Counselor Brad Winter has been pushing the mayor to do something with the trash funds.

“I’m encouraged, “said Albuquerque City Counselor Brad Winter. “I’m encouraged because from what I’m hearing, it will take at least half of the trucks off of the Edith area and the Edith site and put them on the west side by the landfill.“

The city has not said or when it will break ground on the new westside building or when it will open.

While the city has not said yet where a future transfer station will go, they are saying it’ll be a lot smaller than the one originally planned at the Edith site.