By Mike Gervais
Register Staff

1-29-2008

To avoid having to pile garbage up at local landfills, Inyo County Solid Waste Management will be constructing a new fence that will provide more space for dumping in Lone Pine.

Keeping with California waste management standards, Inyo County will be constructing about 1,500 feet of fence around the Lone Pine Landfill. By adding just over 1,500 feet of fence, the dump will have several more acres available for dumping.
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors, last week, approved a $13,599 contract with Boyd Fence of Bishop for the construction project, which is expected to wrap up in the next couple weeks.
The fence will be constructed around the dump, including areas that have been out of use for several years.
“All we’re doing is expanding our perimeter fence to incorporate the waste footprint,” said Inyo County Solid Waste Management Director Chuck Hamilton. The waste footprint includes areas of the dump that have not been used for several years, and remained unfenced.
At a meeting in November, the Board of Supervisors reviewed and approved the plans and specifications for the landfill fencing project, and the Inyo County Public Works Department opened bids on Dec. 19.
Two bids for the work were received, one from California Fencing for $15,700 and the second from Boyd Fence for $13,599.

With the completion of a new 1,650-foot fence at the Lone Pine Landfill, Inyo County will have about 10 more acres available for garbage. The extra space will keep the dump from expanding vertically. File photo

“The Board could elect to not award the bid to Boyd Fence and direct the Public Works Department to re-advertise for the project,” staff told the Board of Supervisors last Tuesday.
According to the staff report, “this is not recommended” because re-advertisment of the project “is not likely to result in a significant reduction of cost.”
Boyd’s bid was very close to the estimate the Public Works Department received from its engineers. The original estimate for the fence project came in at $13,000.
That cost will pay for what adds up to an expanded landfill, and at the going rate for property in Inyo County, $13,599 isn’t bad for 10 more acres of land that can be utilized for dumping.
By incorporating the entirety of the dump, “we can utilize more of our waste footprint,” Hamilton said. The “new” acreage the landfill will be using is actually space that was utilized as a dump site in the past then covered up.
“This has been in our operation plan for a long time, and will allow us to expand out. We won’t have to (expand) vertical just yet,” Hamilton said.
The Inyo County Public Works Department completed a similar project in Independence in late January. Boyd Fence was awarded that project as well.
“They just did this for us about a month ago in Independence,” Hamilton said. That project cost $19,800 and expanded the Independence Landfill by about eight acres.
Again, the expansion allows staff at the Independence dump to continue receiving garbage without having to begin piling the trash vertically.
The Lone Pine project will include construction of approximately 1,650 feet of 12-gauge galvanized fencing and the installation of a 16-foot drive gate, as well as removal of about 925 feet of existing fencing.
The new fence will provide about 8-10 acres of useable ground for the dump, Hamilton said.
With the go-ahead, Boyd is expected to begin construction of the new fence early next week. The construction should be complete one to two weeks later.