Pocahontas Commissioners Agree to Purchase the County Landfill Site

On Thursday, April 18^th, the Pocahontas County Commissioners held a special session, meeting with the members of the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority and with members of the Fertig Family regarding the purchase of the County Landfill, which the Solid Waste Authority has been leasing from Renee Fertig-Hill.

Both the Solid Waste Authority members and the commissioners agreed that after the landfill reaches its capacity and closes in about two years, the authority will financially need the commission to purchase the landfill in order to be able to continue to provide trash disposal using a transfer station built on that site

Fertig-Hill and the commissioners agreed that $129,900.00 would be a fair price of the landfill, and both parties agreed that the recently surveyed boundaries of the 40.6 acres were acceptable.

The remaining issue was who would pay to build the fence around three sides of the 40.6-acre tract, which is required by the WV Department of the Environment (DOE.) as well as another fence to run on both sides of the ½ mile long roadway through the Fertig farm to the site. Fertig-Hill and her relatives said the fence along the state-maintained roadway is absolutely needed to protect her cattle from the vehicular traffic that will be traveling to and from the transfer station.

It was determined that the fence around the landfill property will cost $24,307,50, and an additional $19,900 will be required to construct a fence along both sides of the roadway. Commissioner Walker was willing to pay Fertig-Hill $24,307.50 for her to build the fence around the landfill by adding that amount to the purchase price. But he insisted that the Solid Waste Authority pay for the fence along the roadway.

The commissioners voted to pay Fertig-Hill $129,900 for the property plus the $24,307,50 for her to have the fence built around the landfill property, for a total of $154,207,50. The commissioners said it is easier for Fertig-Hill to build that fence than for the commission to have to go through the complicated process of bidding that job out.

Ed Riley, the Chairman of the Solid Waste Authority said they had already offered to build the fence along one side of the road, if Fertig -Hill would build the fence along the other side of the road, but the authority will still need to formerly approve that at their next meeting.

Fertig-Hill indicated that the commission’s offer appears to be acceptable.

Regarding the post-closure cost of monitoring the water at the landfill and of maintaining the cap for 30 years, Mary Clendenen said they have revised down the estimated annual cost of that from $75,000 per year to $50,000 per year. The commissioners indicated they might also be willing to help with that cost, as well as with some of the future costs of operating the transfer station since it is in the best interests of the citizens that the cost of garbage disposal in the County remain as reasonable as possible.