Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Brownfields Cleanup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Carter County to pursue EPA Brownfields funding, move ahead on old hospital abatement
Summary
Commissioners voted unanimously to pursue EPA Brownfields funding through the regional development center and to have Great Northern/EMDC manage subgrant and loan options, after staff laid out a roughly $432,000 abatement estimate and available regional subgrant support of about $161,000.
Carter County commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with an EPA Brownfields-funded cleanup of the old county hospital site, authorizing staff to work with regional development partners to prepare subgrant paperwork and procurement documents.
County staff told the board the most recent abatement estimate prepared for the site was about $431,980. Great Northern Development/EMDC staff said their program has about $161,000 in subgrant funds potentially available for the project, leaving an outstanding county share that varies depending on final bids and any loan terms developers or GNDC can offer. Commissioners were explicit that the numbers are estimates and said costs could change once bids are solicited and QEP (Qualified Environmental Professional) reports are finalized.
Under the motion approved by the board, GNDC/EMDC will administer the EPA subgrant process, prepare bid documents for QEP services and abatement contractors, and streamline invoice processing with a single contract model. The county also agreed to explore a low- or no-interest loan through GNDC to cover any remaining balance after subgrant awards. GNDC staff identified typical next steps: advertise for a QEP, produce an ABCA (analysis of brownfield cleanup alternatives), present options for public review, and, if awarded, oversee invoice drawdowns and issue a DocuSign award letter for the county to sign.
Commissioners discussed local contractor participation. Board members asked GNDC staff to make sure the bid list includes regional firms that have worked on similar projects—several local contractors and abatement firms were named in the meeting as potential bidders. GNDC staff listed candidate QEPs and contractors the county could include in the procurement process.
The board also discussed site history and environmental monitoring: earlier work uncovered monitoring wells and evidence of a heating-oil tank removal in the 1990s; staff advised that some wells have not shown new contamination since prior remediation, but they acknowledged uncertainties about undocumented tanks or buried infrastructure and said the QEP procurement and early site testing would address those questions.
Next procedural steps set by commissioners: GNDC/EMDC will submit the subgrant application to the regional board, prepare bid documents, and email the county the list of QEPs and the schedule for a land survey and easement descriptions ahead of the bid opening. The commissioners asked that one county commissioner be the primary county contact for DocuSign award approvals and that signed minutes be scanned to GNDC once available so the application process can proceed.
