MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – A noisy and sometimes smelly Snohomish County transfer station is due for $1.4 million in upgrades after neighbors complained.

This summer, the Southwest Recycling and Transfer Station will have new noise walls and giant retractable doors to contain noise and odors, county solid waste director Sam Chandler said.

The Snohomish County Council last week approved a $1.4 million construction contract with Razz Construction Inc. in Bellingham.

The station accepts and sorts garbage and recyclables, and was remodeled in 2004.

However, the new building has an open end that allows noise and the smell of garbage to drift to neighbors. There are about seven homes nearby.

Next door neighbor Charles Lewis said the improvements are late. He has had to listen to the noise for two years.

“They started operations at 5 a.m. and the biggest complaint that we had was the back-up beepers,” Lewis said. “I hear BEEP BEEP BEEP at five o’clock in the morning.”

Mountlake Terrace officials received numerous complaints, city manager John Caulfield said. That work is planned soon is good news, he said.

“I’m very pleased with the direction the county is taking on this,” Caulfield said. “They want to be good neighbors on this.”

The noise levels didn’t break any city rules, he said. “I commend them for doing the right thing here,” Caulfield said.

Still, the readings exceed noise levels preferred by the county.

“When we tested, we found above acceptable decibel levels at the property line which gave some credibility to the complaints,” Chandler said. “We embarked to close the building and extend the exterior sound walls along the property line.”

Chandler said the county is very sensitive to neighborhood concerns.

“We sometimes get a little used to the noise, garbage smell or traffic. When we encounter these kinds of neighborhood issues, we’re more than willing to make the corrections that make us a better neighbor.”

Loading up steel recycling into steel containers is “clattering,” Chandler said.

“It’s a very noisy process,” he said. “There’s no getting around that. It’s metal on metal. All that noise should be captured on site.”

Construction will be limited to daytime hours and will be completed this summer, Chandler said. The station will remain open during construction.

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.