A meeting that should help to gage the county's intent to partner with the city on its proposed solid waste transfer station will be held Tuesday, the same day city council will later hold a public hearing on the final three sites for the proposed facility.
The city announced today the public hearing will be held at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Lloyd Andrews City Meeting Hall. The public hearing is scheduled before council's regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Whether the county joins the city, the city is prepared to move ahead with the project, Public Works Director Richard Parnell said today.
Having the county join in, Parnell said, would add more tonnage ad give the governments more leverage in price negotiation at landfills. "The county hasn't guaranteed us anything."
Should the county join the city, that would would bring the total tonnage to around 56,000 tons, Parnell said. It could also bring another location option to the mix, possibly the county landfill site in the western end on Fire Tower Road.
County Manager Tony Brown said officials are still trying to figure out their options. "We're trying to determine what our options will be."
The meeting between the two government will not necessarily mean a commitment, the county manager said.
Brown does believe a partnership would mean lower costs. "The higher the tonnage the better price we can get."
Meanwhile, the city has narrowed its potential sites to three:
Highway 158 off Deep Creek Road, the old landfill site, which contains 10 acres of land the city owns. Early evaluation lists this as the top site although there are wetlands issues and the soil must be examined.
The industrial area behind Kennametal, a 30 acre parcel, which has access issues and would possibly need road improvements.
Highway 158 at the old airport opposite the former Harley-Davidson dealership. This site is 50 acres and the biggest issue is sewer.
In a recent memo to council, Bill Dreitzler, North Carolina projects director for ms consultants, told council none of the sites need to be rezoned but would require conditional use permits, which do require public hearings.
The Deep Creek Road site, however, would require a roadway, which is estimated to cost $260,000 and $40,000 for water extension.
The industrial area in the Becker Industrial Park would require an access road estimated to cost $39,000.
The site near the old airport is in what Dreitzler described as a fairly residential area in which subdividing is not an option. “The city would have to buy the entire property.”
These three locations were narrowed down from seven finalists. While cost estimates for the transfer station are between $700,000 to $750,000, land acquisition costs remain unknown.
According to a memo from City Manager Paul Sabiston to city council, the initial projections for revenues and expenses are based on a total volume 28,000 tons of solid waste per year.
The city’s own residential solid waste and debris accounts for approximately 7,200 tons per year, the remainder an estimate of the commercial waste in the city, the memo says.
The city estimates an increase in revenues over expenses with a transfer station of $102,071 to $282,814. “This gain in annual net income is greater than the original memorandum provided to you as a result of the interest rate for a loan has dropped from 4 percent to the new market rate of 3.05 percent and the term of the loan for the repayment of the facility was extended from 10 years to 20 years in accord with traditional loan terms for such facilities,” the memo states.
