By Jeremy Weldon

Board of Supervisors President Cole Flint was the lone nay vote at the Batesville Courthouse Tuesday morning on a motion to move forward with the conversion of an old gravel pit on the northeast corner of I-55 and Hwy. 315 in Sardis to a Class 1 Rubbish Site.

A motion by James Birge, and seconded by Donald Phelps, would have given county officials the authority to order an environmental study of the property – at a cost of $97,430 – to determine whether the site is eligible to be converted into a Class 1 Rubbish Site (Solid Waste).

Supervisors voted 2-1, with John Thomas abstaining and Vernice Avant absent.  Although it was a legal vote, County Attorney Gaines Baker said he would be more comfortable with at least three yea votes, and urged the supervisors to table the matter until Avant, who has shown support for the rubbish pit in past discussions, returns from her trip.

“Once again this board is being asked to spend money, lots of money,  on something the county doesn’t own,” Flint said. “My question to other supervisors is why do we need to spend money on private land that will never belong to the county when we already own land just like it?”

Flint was referring to the large gravel pit the county has on Viney Creek Rd. There are similar areas at that gravel pit that are no longer actively dug and could be used for a rubbish site.

Thomas abstained because the owners of the property are part of his extended family. He has not taken part in the supervisors’ discussions about the matter since it first came up earlier this year.

The supervisors were given a quote from Environmental Compliance & Safety, Inc., which is based in Sherman. The company said the cost of drilling for soil samples and paying geologists will be $41,350; the cost of having the county’s current Solid Waste Management Plan amended would add $10,890.

Permits would be $13,300, landfill design drawings would cost $12,500, and completing the Solid Waste application process would be $19,360.

The permitting process is costly and time consuming generally requiring assessments by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

It is this quote of almost $98,000 that three of the supervisors – Birge, Phelps, and Avant seem ready to accept – making a motion to proceed a near certainty, especially with Thomas abstaining. ECS’ proposal also states that costs could increase if unanticipated hurdles are encountered in the permitting process.

The property was operated as a gravel pit for several years and now lies dormant with most of the gravel having been removed from the property, leaving deep pits that fill with rain water. The property has little commercial worth because of the gravel excavation, but would be ideal for a rubbish pit some say.

Proponents point to the cost of labor, wear and tear on garbage trucks, and fuel expense hauling solid waste to Pontotoc County as reasons to open a rubbish site locally.

The owners of the property have reportedly agreed in principal to lease the 45 acres to Panola County for $1 a year, or some equivalent, as long as the site was used by the county.

If the county does not accept the offer the owners would presumably have to pay the cost of land reclamation and return the area to its basic condition before the gravel was removed from the site.

This, too, would be costly to the landowners because it would also require similar testing, sampling, and oversight by the Department of Environmental Quality.

Flint said he is against the idea of making a rubbish site because of the cost to taxpayers and the threat that the property could be considered for a fully functional landfill taking all types of waste in the future.

He also cited the proximity of the site to I-55 and said he believes a rubbish site, and especially a landfill there, would be detrimental to the county’s efforts to attractive industries and businesses to nearby available development sites.