The Barton County Commission Monday morning took another step to ensure the longevity of the Sanitary Landfill when it approved Monday morning a proposal for phase four construction quality assurance services for the phase four cell construction at the facility.

“The KDHE has very extensive requirements for how this cell in constructed,” County Administrator Phil Hathcock said of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s landfill guidelines. Among these is having an engineer on site during the building process.

SCS Engineers of Wichita submitted a proposal to provide CQA services during the construction period. Proposed work includes documentation and testing for compacted low permeability soil liner, geosynthetic components and leachate collection system, as well as survey and data review, CQA report preparation and engineering support/project management. 

Total estimated cost of services is $160,000. 

The cost is not out of line with what county officials had expected for a project of this magnitude, Hathcock said. The landfill has been setting aside use fees for five years for this development.

As for the building of the cell, Barton County accepted proposals for construction (approximately 6.3 acres) until Feb. 28, Hathcock said. This project consists of earthwork and composite landfill liner installation for the cell. 

A start date has not been determined, but the requests for proposal require the work be done by Oct. 31, Hathcock said.

“Barton County is fortunate to have a landfill like this,” Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said. Increasing regulations make it even more challenging.

“This is a large project and it seems like a lot of money,” Hathcock said. But, if the county had to pay to have waste hauled to another facility, it would cost the county more.

The landfill is currently placing waste in the phase three of the facility. It is permitted to handle up to eight phases, or cells.

Phase three is not full. Improved compaction of the waste and ongoing recycling efforts have helped extend its life.

But, they are looking to the future, Hathcock said.

SCS Engineers submitted a proposal to prepare a set of construction plans, and specification and bid documents for use in the bidding and construction of phase four. The cost of $48,500 was approved in September of this year. 

That was just the first step, and not the actual construction. That will cost around $1.5 million, an expense that is budgeted for 2020.

“We’ve planning for this,” he said. “We have plenty in reserves to cover it.”

Since phase three was added in 2011, the department has been setting money aside in anticipation of phase four.