Real Estate & Property Law

Ladfill Valuation

By Alan Ackerman

Choice ER

With Glenn County's landfill nearing capacity, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved an environmental report and authorized the process toward expanding the facility.

Glenn County Planning and Public Works has been looking for alternatives to expanding the landfill since 2005 because the facility is nearing capacity.

Deputy planning director Randy Murphy recommended the board approve plans for a expansion, lined to prevent seepage into groundwater.

The project is estimated to cost up to $5 million for the design and initial construction of the expansion.

Though expanding the landfill is aimed at extending its use 25 years, Murphy told the board he plans to only expand what he thinks would be needed in five-year increments.

"My intent is to bite it off in chunks, $5 million at a time," Murphy said.

To offset the cost, the board recently approved an increase in the landfill dumping fees. Murphy told the supervisors the county could also obtain low-interest loans through the state.

Additional environmental reports will also be done later to determine specific impacts.

Some of the supervisors voiced concern about proceeding while the county is still engaged in acquiring the leased landfill property through eminent domain, and wanted to wait.

The valuation of landfill property is a world unto itself. The adjacent vacant land has a myriad of potential alternative uses; all, which create values far in excess of what exists in the market.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).