NEWBERG, Ore. — After several appearances before the city council, Waste Management received a recommendation from the council to seek Yamhill County approval to add four additional inbound lanes to its Newberg Transfer Station, located at 2904 NE Wynooski Road, to prevent blockage on the road. The permit application also includes reconfiguring existing lanes and making additional site improvements, such as stormwater adjustments and sidewalk upgrades.
If Waste Management receives approval from Yamhill County, the project is slated to start construction in October 2026, with completion expected between fall 2026 and summer 2027, depending on how quickly the contracting fills up.
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Traffic has been backing up on Wynooski Road for some time, according to reports by Waste Management at both the July 20, 2026, and June 15, 2026, meetings. There is currently one inbound and one outbound lane, with the outbound lane occasionally converted to an inbound lane.
Newberg City Council members previously expressed dissatisfaction with the operations at the Newberg Transfer Station while approving its requested 3.74% rate increase.
“I had a family member sit down there this morning for two and a half hours before she had a chance to go in and just do a simple dump,” Councilor Mike McBride said at the June 15, 2026, meeting.
“The intent of the project is to provide extra space for vehicle queuing to reduce congestion and backup onto Wynooski Road during peak hours,” Waste Management stated in its Yamhill County permit application, submitted May 26, 2026.
The city’s recommendation is not a required condition for Yamhill County to approve Waste Management’s permit application, due to the transfer station’s location within the city’s Urban Growth Boundary and the Newberg Urban Reserve Area, even though the site is not within city limits. Yamhill County holds final jurisdiction over approval of the permit.
Since the June 15 meeting, Waste Management has made a series of adjustments to its procedures to improve wait times and speed waste processing.
“There were understandable concerns about the conditions at our facility, particularly as customer volumes have increased at our site,” said David Huber, senior manager of Waste Management of Oregon, at the council meeting. “We appreciate the council’s engagement on these issues, and we’re committed to being a responsive community partner as we continue to make improvements.”
Recent improvements include adding a new dumping area for smaller residential loads, which can accommodate up to six pickup loads at a time, allowing for quicker processing.
Another change was obtaining three additional trailers from the third-party hauling company that transports waste out of the transfer station, with five more to be added by the end of October. According to Waste Management District Manager Jason Willie, the station is currently five to six trailers behind per night on its waste hauling.
Waste Management also hired additional staff, including a scale house attendant and an operations manager. When the operations manager starts August 1, 2026, the transfer station will lengthen its employee operating hours to 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow more processing time. Current operating hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
McBride said that, as a frequent visitor to the transfer station, he has noticed lines have been shorter in recent months.
“I went to the dump last Friday with a small pickup load, and I was directed to go down behind the facility to this smaller area for residential loads,” McBride said. “For us that had smaller loads there, it was easier to get in, get it unloaded and then get out.”
Councilors expressed appreciation for Waste Management’s improvements while also calling for more data, such as more accurate wait times, competitor times from surrounding districts, and failed residential pickups.
Resolution No. 2026-4037, recommending that Yamhill County approve Waste Management’s land-use application for additional queuing lanes with conditions of approval requiring a sidewalk improvement and additional transportation mitigation measures, passed unanimously.
Also at the July 20 meeting
Newberg Urban Renewal Agency appoints Jeri Turgesen chair; Mike McBride re-elected vice chair
The Newberg Urban Renewal Agency met at the start of the city council meeting to nominate a new board chair and vice chair. Jeri Turgesen was unanimously elected board chair, succeeding Derek Carmon, while Mike McBride was re-elected vice chair.
Council adopts new library internet policy
The council approved the revised Newberg Public Library internet policy. First established in 1997 and last revised in 2019, the policy was updated to reflect current internet terms and usage.
The updated policy specifies inappropriate uses of library computers, such as violating other users’ privacy or damaging library equipment, and outlines the consequences for violations.
Urban Renewal Agency approves removal of 28.38 acres of land from the Newberg Urban Renewal Plan; City Council adopts ordinance
The Urban Renewal Agency approved Del Boca Vista LLC’s request to deannex 28.38 acres of land from city limits, after the Newberg City Council approved moving forward with the removal at its June 15, 2026, meeting.
The property, consisting of four separate tax lots, was originally annexed to the City of Newberg in 2006. At the July 20, 2026, meeting, the city council adopted Ordinance No. 2026-2945, giving final approval for the property to be officially deannexed from city limits.
Newberg Municipal Court will now provide services for Dundee
An intergovernmental agreement between the City of Newberg and the City of Dundee, effective July 1, 2026, made Newberg the operator of municipal court administration for Dundee. The role includes managing public records requests, processing fine payments, tracking compliance, and providing staffing for court hearings.
Newberg and Dundee already have an agreement in which the Newberg-Dundee Police Department operates full law enforcement within Dundee city boundaries.
The new intergovernmental agreement will run until June 30, 2031, when it can be perpetually renewed every five years.
Newberg will receive 30% of Dundee’s court fee revenue as compensation. No current adjustments are to be made to court staff’s FTE as a result of the agreement. Dundee’s estimated fee revenue for the first year of the agreement is about $55,000.
Councilors approved the agreement, while also discussing possible adjustments to staff FTE as a result and negotiating greater compensation for Newberg.
