Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

At a virtual meeting Thursday night, the Auburn City Council heard the first reading of an ordnance allowing the issuance of $5.85 million in serial bonds to finance the landfill's closure. That ordinance is set to go in front of council April 8. The council also heard a presentation from Superintendent of Public Works Mike Talbot on the closure.

Talbot said in February 2019 the landfill had about two years of life left before it would be full and that garbage drop-off had to be reduced 50%. Design work for a transfer station — an area where trash is collected before it's brought to another landfill — started in winter 2018. The transfer station opened in November 2020.

Talbot said closures of parts of the landfill from 2007 to 2019 came to "roughly 49% of the landfill" and was paid out of fund balance, with around half of the landfill left, which is what the bond ordinance is for.

The said construction of the landfill's final closure phase has to be finished within 365 days of the its final waste receipt, which was on Dec. 8. 

"By Dec. 8, 2021, we have to be closed," Talbot said.

A background memo,  on the city's website, said the proposed closure includes closing around 14.4 acres of landfill, which requires a final cover system, installation of six new vertical gas extraction wells, gas piping and modification to the leachate sump infrastructure.

Leachate, the presentation said, are "any liquid that extracts solids or suspended solids from the material through which it has passed."

Also involved in the closure are upgrades to the current leachate system, the memo said, "that involves replacement of the monitoring system, replacement of all existing leachate pumping system, meters, controls and existing buildings." The memo said the work also includes replacement of the pumping station and outlet valve pit.

Construction bids received March 17 for the cost of the landfill closure, leachate system work and replacing the pump station came in at $5,802,000, according to the memo. City staff is requesting the council authorize funding to cover the costs.

In other news:

• The council's next meeting will be held in-person in April, but there won't be a meeting next week.

At the virtual meeting on March 18, City Manager Jeff Dygert asked the councilors how they felt about having in-person meetings in April. Meetings for the last few months have been virtual. Every councilor at that meeting — Councilor Timothy Locastro was not present — said they wanted to do in-person meetings again.

"I'm in agreement. Let's get back to normal — as normal as we can," Mayor Mike Quill said.

City Clerk Chuck Mason said after that meeting that council will resume public meetings at Memorial City Hall, 24 South St., in April. Members of the public will be able to attend, but COVID-19 regulations will be in place, such as wearing masks, social distancing and temperature checks. Capacity will be capped at 60 people. The meetings will still be livestreamed.

Council also passed a at that meeting to cancel the meeting for Thursday, April 1 — the day before Easter holiday break — and hold a meeting on Thursday, April 29. Council's next meeting will be 5 p.m. Thursday, April 8, at city hall.