Deputy mayor Ann Court said she and chief executive David Edmunds had met Northland Waste representatives earlier this month to continue discussions on where the facility should be built.
The alternative industrial site had "significant cost implications". Switching sites was expected to cost Northland Waste up to $800,000 more, so the company wanted financial assistance from the council.
However, that was not possible outside the annual plan or other council-mandated process, Councillor Court said.
The company was commended for its willingness to investigate alternative sites, and for spending a considerable sum doing so.
The waste station controversy was a lesson in the pitfalls of the rural production zone, a flaw in the district plan which had to be fixed, she said.
The planned transfer station would sort mainly commercial waste and some household waste.
The company says enclosing the operation in a large shed would eliminate smells, while vermin would be poisoned.
At present the company trucks waste to the Wasteworks depot in Kaikohe, then to Whangarei.
Turners & Growers has told the Advocate it is "vehemently opposed" to the transfer station and would do all it could to stop it going ahead.
