Commissioners approve $81,580 temporary engineering contract to start landfill compliance work

Burke County commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a temporary $81,580 contract with Garrett & Moore Engineering to begin environmental testing, monitoring and limited design work at county solid-waste facilities, the county manager said. The board approved the temporary agreement by motion and authorized the county manager to execute the contract pending county attorney review.

County staff said the contract will allow immediate compliance testing and regulatory tasks to proceed while the county completes a full procurement and a longer-term engineering services contract. The county has not changed its environmental engineering consultant in more than 30 years and staff said fresh technical review would help evaluate solid-waste operations, long-term capacity and potential alternatives for municipal solid waste (MSW) handling.

The manager said Burke County handles roughly 72,000 to 73,000 tons a year, with approximately 63,000 to 64,000 tons classed as municipal solid waste. Much of that MSW is transported off-site; the county runs a transfer program that saved about $1 million annually after bringing transport in-house. The county noted that a regional disposal facility owned by another entity has roughly 10 years of remaining capacity, which raises long-term planning concerns.

Engineering tasks described in the briefing include groundwater and gas monitoring, permit support, landfill-gas mitigation design and construction oversight for closed sites. The manager said two closed county landfills have required methane migration control work near property boundaries and that immediate testing and design work are necessary to maintain compliance.

Board members said they appreciated expedited action so regulatory testing could begin. Staff said the $81,580 is already budgeted and the temporary contract will be followed by a full annual contract brought back to the board for approval.