Members of the Financial Management Committee discussed the life of the county’s current landfill as well as updated a purchasing policy on Wednesday.

During the business portion of the committee meeting, members voted unanimously to change the wording in the county’s policy regarding purchases over $10,000 but under $25,000.

Under state law, government entities are required to bid out any purchase or project that is estimated to cost more than $25,000. For purchases that fall below that threshold but are greater than $10,000, the state requires the county to get estimates or cost comparisons before making the purchase.

Carter County Finance Director Christa Byrd asked the Financial Management Committee to change the wording on the county’s policy for those purchases falling in between $10,000 and $25,000.

Byrd asked the committee to change the phrase “recommend where practical” to “require when practical” regarding the need to get three or more estimates or cost comparisons. She said the change would give more strength and enforceability to the policy.

There are some specialty or custom items which Byrd said the county might have difficulty in finding three or more vendors to submit a bid. In those cases, the department needs to submit a letter explaining the reason for not having three estimates. Those exceptions are one of the reasons Byrd asked the committee to leave the words “where practical” in the policy.

Members of the committee unanimously approved the policy change requested by Byrd.

During the member comments portion of the meeting, Commissioner Danny Ward spoke with his colleagues about information presented at a meeting of the Carter County Landfill Committee on Tuesday.

Kim Raia, an environmental geographic information systems consultant with UT’s County Technical Assistance Service, spoke to the Landfill committee regarding the life left in the current landfill.

“We’re getting closer and closer to phase three of our landfill,” Ward said. “The county has a real big issue we’re going to have to face in three years. That’s the date she gave us.”

The estimated three years is the life left for the county’s demo site, which includes brush, furniture, appliances and other items beyond normal household garbage.

At the end of the life for the landfill, the county would need to pay to close the landfill and then either open a new landfill site or build a transfer station and pay to have the waste hauled somewhere else.

“You need those numbers within the next three months,” Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey told the committee.

Humphrey said he felt the landfill issue was something that should be brought up before the full Carter County Commission at their meeting later this month. He also suggested the Commission ask Raia to give the same presentation to the full Commission that she gave to members of the Landfill Committee. He said he would contact her to see when she could attend a Commission meeting.

Commissioner Charles VonCannon told members of the committee the county must also pay consideration to the recycling center which is part of landfill operations. The Recycling Center is currently housed in a building owned by the City of Elizabethton, and VonCannon said the City could terminate the lease with the county at any time.