Votes at a glance: Mason County special meeting approves landfill deals, contracts and sheriff bonds

Mason County Fiscal Court conducted a special meeting Nov. 8 and voted on several routine and substantive items. All motions taken during the special meeting were approved by roll call.

Key votes and outcomes

- Vendor claims: The court authorized payment of vendor claims totaling $222,738.33 after Treasurer Kim Muse requested approval. A motion to pay was made (Speaker 6), seconded (Speaker 4) and the roll call showed affirmative votes from Commissioner McKay, Commissioner Hearn/O'Hearn, Commissioner Frame/Frank and Judge McNeil.

- Landfill office contract: The court approved a turnkey contract with D2S (design and project management) to replace the landfill's aging trailer office with an ADA-compliant modular building. The county will fund the building from landfill funds; commissioners discussed a 2,200-square-foot footprint and an estimated design/build budget in the mid-five-figure to low six-figure range depending on bids (presenter noted an estimate near $439,000).

- Landfill gas purchase agreement: The court voted to enter an agreement with Renewable Natural Gas Company LLC (presentation by Jeff Craig) for a company-financed landfill gas collection and processing project. The company committed to pay a 20% royalty on gross revenues, a $250,000 advance, and to complete key work on a 24-month schedule; the court approved entering the agreement by unanimous roll call.

- Jipsoil extension: The court accepted a four-year extension with Jipsoil (Trevor Sherman) for synthetic soil handling and marketing; the new contract rate is $2 per excavated ton. The extension continues baseline payments (reported as ongoing) to the landfill.

- Sheriff surety bonds: The court approved resolutions to reapprove surety on the sheriff's bonds (Western Surety Company, Travelers) and bond amounts including a $1,000,000 revenue-cabinet bond and a $395,000 advance bond; the court voted to approve those resolutions.

Procedural notes: All recorded roll-call votes during the meeting show affirmative responses from the commissioners present and Judge McNeil. Several items noted follow-up steps: contract exhibit finalization, state permitting for the landfill gas project and continued county oversight of landfill closure liabilities in coordination with contractor obligations.

What happens next: The county will finalize contract exhibits and proceed with permitting and coordination steps noted by staff. The court plans to reconvene for the regularly scheduled fiscal court meeting on Tuesday.