Landfill forces extinction

Glenn County is moving ahead with plans to close or phase out its existing landfill.

The supervisors on Tuesday approved $220,000 for the consulting firm of Lawrence and Associates to conduct the first part of the project to be done by during the next two years.

The firm also will design future expansion of the waste facility.

Deputy Public Works Director Randy Murphy told supervisors the landfill has to be closed in about five years under state regulations.

However, hiring Lawrence and Associates to do this initial study would "eliminate the guess part" of waste disposal and provide the county with more concrete figures on how to close the section that is filling up, Murphy said.

He said the county does not know what the future costs of expansion will be on land adjacent to the current disposal site on Road 33, five miles of Artois, but Tuesday's contract should provide some data on where that might go.

The second phase of the contract — calling for $407,000 — would be paid to the firm to manage construction of the expanded landfill, he said. However, that would not kick in until it begins, and the contract for that service would come back to board for approval before money would be spent.

The winter of 2011 is planned to be the last season for dumping according to Mandy Kleykamp, manager of the county's solid waste program.

Down the road, the county

may look at developing solar, methane gas and wind energy out at the landfill, Supervisor Leigh McDaniel said.

Consultant Clayton Coles of Lawrence and Associates said those are possibilities, but they are beyond the scope of the current contract.

In the meantime, the county continues to negotiate a purchase of the landfill property on Road 33 in the courts, supervisors said.

They asked Finance Director Don Santoro if spending the $220,000 would impact those negotiations, and he said they would not at this point.

He also said he is comfortable doing the closure and expansion in steps since it provides the county with more time to study funding options and "not overstep what we need to do."

"I'm really nervous about this," Supervisor Mike Murray said, adding his constituents constantly ask about the county's tipping fee that was increased to $70 per ton last summer in anticipation of expanding the landfill in the future.

Public Works Director John Linhart said the goal is to get the firm on board, so it can give the county facts about the costs, so officials know what they will be.

"We have some huge issues," Linhart said. "We will bring things back as necessary."

Contact Rick Longley at 934-6800 or rlongley@tcnpress.com. Tri-County Newspaper Reporter Rob Parsons contributed to this report.