Solid Waste Authority Vote Likely to Cause a Stopgap in Trash Disposal in 2027

On Wednesday February 18^th, the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (SWA) held a special 2 pm meeting to consider approval of one of the three proposals for future trash collection to continue after the landfill closes this December. These proposals had been presented to them at their February 4^th special meeting by Jacob Meck of the Allegheny Disposal Company.

The SWA members seemed most interested in Meck’s option number 1 which included Allegheny Disposal building a completely equipped transfer station, including a maintenance agreement on the structure and equipment, at the county landfill for a 15-year lease to buy. The monthly lease would be $15,952, increasing yearly by the Federal Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate (currently 2.7%) minus 2%. So, if the CPI remains the same the first year, the lease will only increase .7% resulting in a $111.67 monthly increase. The buyout at the end of the of 15 years would be $960,000.00.

The SWA members expressed concern with the CPI monthly rate increases because the CPI rate can fluctuate from month-to-month, and they felt they needed a predictable monthly charge. Meck came prepared for this concern and presented Option 4 which doesn’t involve using the CPI rate at all, instead using a fixed but little higher monthly lease payment of $16,759 for the full 15 years, and a little higher buyout at the end of the 15 years of $1,103,495.24. While this seemed to satisfy SWA Chairman Dave Henderson, members Phillip Cobb and Ed Riley expressed additional concerns that if they went with this plan, they would have to raise the green box fees to $310 per year and also raise the tipping fee in order to pay their operating costs and the lease payments. Meck said they could hold off raising the green box fees all the way up to $310 immediately and instead do a partial raise this year and the full raise for the first full year after the transfer station is operating. Phillip Cobb made a motion to accept option 4, but when the vote occurred, he voted against his own motion. Ed Riley, who attended the meeting by phone, then abstained from the vote, while members McLaughlin and Henderson both voted for it. It was announced that the fifth SWA member, Greg Hamonds who had recently been appointed to the SWA, had resigned after only attending 2 meetings. There was a question about whether or not a vote of 2 for; one against; and one abstaining from the vote constituted a majority vote or not, so the SWA called the WV State Ethics Commission right then and there to determine that. The Ethic Commission Chairman told them that an abstention from voting counted the same as a vote against, so the motion would have to be considered tied 2 to 2, and thus unapproved by a majority vote.

During the debate over this, Cobb had stated that he wanted the SWA to simply transport their trash to the Greenbrier County Landfill themselves to avoid having to raise the cost of the green boxes and the tipping fee., however Chris McComb, the Landfill Manager emphatically made the point that buying, servicing, replacing them after 4 or 5 years, and insuring  very expensive new trash trucks and hiring the drivers for them would be even more expensive then option 4, and would still raise the green box fees and tipping fees probably even higher then option 4 would. Henderson called for a re-vote on accepting option 4, but that vote produced the same results. With no other solutions on the table, Henderson, who appeared upset over the way the vote went, immediately adjourned the meeting.

After the meeting, Meck said that whether they realize it or not, the board just voted for a “Stop Gap” in trash collection service in the county that will have to occur when the landfill closes this December. He said that any other options – if there are any – will take time to be planned and developed, time for the permits to be obtained, and time to be implemented. Time that will definitely extend beyond the closure of the landfill. He wanted the public to know that he had spent many weeks, days and hours planning these options, to ensure they were as affordable as he could possibly make them for the county and its citizens. Apparently, all to no avail.