They also agreed to have County Manager Tony Brown begin working on preparing bids for the engineering on the project.
Board Chair James Pierce said the decision to move ahead with the project doesn't exclude Roanoke Rapids from joining the county. “This in no way eliminates discussions between these two boards. We've got a strict timeline to adhere to.”
The vote also does not exclude Waste Industries from coming in and making an offer that the county could live with, Commissioner Rives Manning said.
Mark Myers, eastern North Carolina division manager for the company, said following the meeting Waste Industries has tried to talk with the county, “And they denied us. We're always willing to sit down and talk. We would be open to further discussions.”
As he opened the meeting, Pierce said the issue of the county building a transfer station was pressing.
Brown said the county has 21 months to make the project start happening before its contract with Waste Industries expires on June 30, 2013. “We need to stay on that time frame.”
Manning said getting the engineering on the project does not exclude continuing the talks with Roanoke Rapids.
Answering questions presented by Commissioner Vernon Bryant, Brown explained there are two options for the city coming in on the project, one would be a 50-50 ownership of the transfer station while the other would be an ownership based on tonnage, which would give the county 60 percent ownership of the facility.
Throughout the meeting the timeline was a constant theme, with the county insisting on moving forward and Brown explaining details of a partnership could continue to be worked out or the county could work on an agreement which would give the city a better rate.
Pierce said the county already has between $275,000 to $300,000 invested at the landfill which would reduce its costs. The estimated cost of the project is between $1 million and $1.7 million.
Manning said the landfill site is somewhat closer to the center of the county than the sites Roanoke Rapids had considered. “Personally, I'm looking out for the best interest of Halifax County.”
Manning said he was not against Waste Industries bringing in an another offer. “We need to have options. We've got to do the engineering. If Waste Industries comes up with an offer we can't pass up on, the engineering is done.”
Manning made the motion to go with the county landfill site and Carolyn Johnson cast the second. Johnson made the motion to put the engineering work to bids, with Marcelle Smith adding the second. Both motions passed unanimously.
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