The county is aiming to temporarily reopen two full landfill sections and vertically expand the cell currently in use, giving the solid waste department time pay off debt and build a new cell.
The Macon County Commissioners unanimously approved a recommendation from a review committee to go forward with pursuing the project, giving County Manager Derek Roland authority to start negotiations with McGill and Associates and Bunnel-Lammons Engineering (BLE).
“I need to buy some time, and this buys me some time,” Solid Waste Director Chris Stahl told the commissioners.
Stahl said a 2021 capacity analysis showed there was only two years of life left at the landfill’s Phase 3, Cell 1, the only current part of the landfill open. This analysis is due to construction projects increasing due to COVID-19 and other factors.
“We went from no growth to maybe 0.5% growth and four years of 7% growth in waste disposed, that just doesn’t happen,” Stahl said of the last four years of solid waste in Macon County.
To avoid the problem of still having the debt for the current cell, plus not having the time to build the next part of the landfill, Phase 3, Cell 2, before it is needed, Stahl said he came up with a contingency plan. That plan is to reopen Phase 1 and Phase 2 with a more vertical gradient, which would expand the overall landfill’s current lifespan from two years to six years. The same thing would be done for Phase 3, Cell 1.
“These four years of life will actually give us time to build a new cell and finance that cell after we finish paying for Phase 3, Cell 1, so that we’re not hit with two large debt service payments, which would be disastrous to the enterprise fund,” Stahl explained.
Last year, the commissioners awarded McGill and BLE a million-dollar contract for the closures of Phases 1 and 2. Since then, with the news of Phase 3, Cell 1 having only so much room left, the county put out requests for proposals to pause the closures and is petitioning the state to re-activate those cells.
Stahl said McGill and BLE were the only respondents to the request for qualifications.
The cost of re-sloping would be $100,000 to $150,000, which is miniscule compared to the cost of building new cells, which Stahl estimated at “conservatively…half a million dollars an acre.”
“Here, we have an opportunity to get four years, or two to four million dollars’ worth of landfill space for $100,000,” Stahl told the board. “That’s the cheapest space you’ll ever get.”
Stahl said previously, this was proposed in 2018, but never completed, so the paperwork is already ready.
This regrading will take “a year or so,” Stahl said, to get this done if approved by the state, which he feels confident about.
Other landfill matters
The board also voted to exempt engineering services for groundwater monitoring and services. Previously, BLE had been approved for consulting services related to the semi-annual groundwater monitoring program at all Macon County landfills. This allows the company to produce a Corrective Action Evaluation Reporter to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality on behalf of Macon County.
The county also approved going forward with constructing a right turn lane at the future Carson Convenience Center at the old Cartoogechaye School. Stahl said the solid waste department had come to an agreement with the NCDOT for the project after a while because it’s a commercial site in a residential setting. Additionally, the county is now asking McGill Associates to provide a scope of services and contract for permitting and construction of the required turned lane on eastbound Highway 64. McGill’s fee for the project is $43,650.
Commissioner Josh Young said the current site is a “nightmare” for traffic. Commissioners Gary Shields asked about a name, to which Stahl said he wasn’t sure where the invisible line between Carson and Cartoogechaye is. Shields believes out of respect of the Cartoogechaye community, he believes the new convenience center should be named after that area.
During the turn lane discussion, Commissioner John Shearl asked why McGill is seemingly the contractor on every solid waste job. Shearl said he’s dealt with McGill before in his work.
“How does another company become our friend if we link into McGill every time something comes up,” Shearl asked. Young said he likes the idea of competition, specifically on larger projects.
Stahl said McGill is based out of Asheville and typically the lowest or only bid compared to companies east of Statesville, in Charlotte or in Raleigh.
“For landfill stuff, it makes sense to stay with the people who know the landfill as much as I do,” Stahl said. “For these small projects, I don’t know of anyone else that would even try to.”
Additionally, Stahl explained that McGill has 20-plus-years of knowledge of the county’s landfills.
“It’s hard for somebody to be more qualified to work on my landfill than the company that’s worked on my landfill for 20 years,” Stahl said of McGill.
Additionally, the county received $275,266 in insurance funds for a solid waste building that burned in October. Stahl said that building was the center of their operations, so they will rebuild it.