Near the end of the Gila County Supervisory Board meeting on January 3, First District Superintendent Steve Christensen reflected on the new year. “I see this as a new beginning, a new opportunity.”bond” He added that he is excited for the start of 2023.

In the first session of the year, the board signed an expansion dealZion The Russell Gulch Landfill has been licensed to advertisers, including the construction of a new sedimentation pond and lined cell.organization Of 2 related bid invitations.

The contract was passed to the contractor, Meridian Engineering Company.Thor We have offices in Tucson, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Meridian bid $2.78 million. As a reserve for the owner, he added $25,000, bringing the total to his $2.8 million. Gila County’s new recycling and landfill operations manager, Melanie Mendez, told the board that construction will begin 10 days after signing the contract and is expected to be completed 100 days after the notice to proceed.

The first call for bids ad was for green waste removal at the Russell Gulch Landfill. About 5,300 tonnes of green waste have been stored here since July 2021, Mendez told the board, and the storage area will be needed to store excavated soil during construction. The board approved the ad 2-1, with Chairman Woody Klein voting against.

The second invitation-to-bid ad was for trucking solid waste from Russell Gulch, which receives approximately 80-85 tons daily, to the Buckhead Mesa Landfill. Mendez said initial capacity reports did not factor in flood and fire debris, and the landfill now holds 3,503 tons of construction and demolition waste and broken railroad ties. District 2 Superintendent Tim Humphrey asked if Buckhead Mesa was ready to handle the additional waste and if it had enough staff to handle the compaction. Mr. Mendez replied that waste would be compacted before being transferred, and although he acknowledged that he was short of staff, he said the department was hiring more people. The board voted 3-0 to approve the ad.

The Board also approved a non-binding general fund pledge equal to 1% of Gila County’s total Local Assistance and Tribal Unity Fund (LATCF) distribution to the National Public Lands County Center, jointly established by the National Association of Counties and the Western Interstate Association. The center’s mission is to “educate government officials and the public about the county’s important contributions to sustainable resource management and best practices for developing and strengthening cooperative partnerships.”

“If we (Western Public Lands County) could bring all the voices together, that would help us a lot. Definitely worth a try,” Klein said.

The Board approved the termination of grant agreements with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for three post-Bush fire flood mitigation projects. The NRCS had agreed to fund $930,248 for projects under the Emergency Watershed Conservation Program, but that program included a 220-day deadline that could not be met. “We knew it would be difficult to hold a meeting because public works require a lot of work upfront,” county engineer Tom Goodman told the board. “I think the lesson we learned is that EWPP works best for very small projects.” The county is now pursuing grant funding through another of his NRCS programs, the Watershed and Flood Protection Project, which will give the project more time to complete.

The Board also welcomed the return of former staff. Homero Vera retired as assistant county mayor in July 2022. Vera is the county’s new public works commissioner, returning to work following the retirement of Steve Sanders, whose last day of service was January 6. Vera took up his new role on Monday.

Among other projects, the Board renewed its Lobbying Services Agreement with the Policy Development Group and its contract with the Grove and Payson Youth Councils to continue for an additional year.