Yadkin landfill to be updated, redesigned

The Yadkin County transfer station on Landfill Road is getting in line for a major redesign, just as vehicles line up at its narrow, curving entrance to wait their turn to drive across the precariously functioning scale or pull up to bins that require some brawn for hefting trash bags inside.

Prior to the pandemic, county officials began the process of preparing for a major capital gains expenditure to update the transfer station. Back then, the station processed about 25,000 tons of household solid waste per year. Since the pandemic, that amount has jumped to 55,000 tons of solid waste annually.

“With the volume we have now, it’s really shined a light and shown we have a problem and we need to solve it,” said Assistant County Manager Drew Hinkle. “Quite frankly, it’s more than Yadkin County Solid Waste has ever managed. Just that sheer volume of municipal solid waste has really impacted traffic, and we want to make the facility more user-friendly so people don’t dread having to take their trash there.”

The jump in usage since the pandemic is attributed to more residents and contractors undertaking clean-up and home improvement projects, Hinkle said. But even prior to the pandemic, the station’s design flaws had landed it on the county’s to-do list.

The curving entrance to the facility is narrow and does not safely allow for two-way traffic. Instead, the entrance operates similar to a one-lane bridge, where vehicles line up to allow one at a time to enter or exit. Also, Hinkle said the site has drainage problems that contributed to the malfunction of the station’s aging single scale last spring. Addressing the traffic flow and road design is a top priority, and officials are eyeing a two-scale in-and-out system. The scales alone will cost more than $80,000, said County Manager Lisa Hughes.

Under a $14,900 contract with the county, the engineering firm Garrett & Moore Inc., of Cary, presented earlier this month a detailed redesign of the transfer station that included relocating and building a new scale house, pouring several concrete pads at various sections of the site, as well as acquiring several slices of adjacent land to accommodate the new entrance and new service areas. County officials and commissioners are yet to refine the proposal but said it is certain to change.

“This [proposal] is really just the baseline — everything is very big picture now,” Hinkle said. “We just asked them to examine the facility as a whole to see what we can improve upon and to make it safer and more efficient.”

No further budget has been set for the project. However, there is money allocated in the county’s capital improvement fund for the renovations, which would not require additional taxpayer revenue beyond current levels, Hughes and Hinkle said. The value of funds allocated for the transfer station in the county’s capital improvement account was not immediately available. A current timeline has also not yet been established.

“Ideally, we’d like to have everything done as quick as possible,” Hinkle said.