Kingsport approves accepting large volumes of Hurricane Helene debris; council requires contractual payment assurances and extra equipment

The Kingsport City Council on Jan. 20 approved a resolution allowing Phillips & Jordan, Inc. (through a subcontractor arrangement) to dispose large volumes of Hurricane Helene debris at the city’s construction and demolition landfill.

City staff told the council the material is nonhazardous (brush, construction material similar to curbside pickup) and would not be placed in the municipal solid waste cells. Staff estimated the loads could consume about a year’s worth of capacity in a single cell but said the overall landfill has many years of remaining service life. Staff recommended the city require a performance or payment bond to secure contractor payment given the large volumes anticipated.

Council members raised questions about truck traffic and routing. Staff said the likely routes are from the interstate to John B. Dennis or Stone Drive to Brookside and that trucks would not be permitted to use Pavilion. Officials said the operation would not likely generate a continuous “platoon” of 40 trucks at once but that throughput could be significant during peak periods; they discussed equipment sequencing and the plan to have a second bulldozer on site. The council approved a separate resolution authorizing the rental of one dozer via a Sourcewell cooperative contract; staff indicated another dozer rental would be used specifically to manage the incoming debris.

Staff said revenue from the contract will be segregated into an account to fund future cell opening and closure costs, which benefits local ratepayers. The contract passed with unanimous council approval and includes authorization for the mayor to execute the agreement; staff said they will pursue payment/performance assurances before letting full operations proceed.