JACKSON – In a meeting held here Monday, Public Works Director Andy Crew requested approval from the Northampton County Board of Commissioners to execute a contract for the construction of a new concrete slab as part of the upgrades to the waste management facilities.

Having already notified the board on May 28, Crew spoke of a $45,000 grant application submitted on behalf of the Solid Waste Division to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Waste Management for upgrades to their facilities for the purpose of increasing the capacity to handle white goods.

&uot;I am pleased to inform you that the grant money has been reserved for the county in the White Goods Management Account,&uot; he said. &uot;This is a 100 percent grant program with no matching funds required from Northampton County Solid Waste Division and offers a great opportunity to upgrade the facilities at our landfill site.&uot;

According to Crew, the county landfill processed approximately 300 tons of white goods, consisting of stoves, refrigerators, washers, dryers and the like, as part of its commitment to ‘recycling’ program in fiscal year 2002-’03.

Money from the grant would provide the county with a reimbursement for the concrete slab that would be used to store the items until recycling companies are able to retrieve them for processing.

After reviewing three of the proposals submitted for the job, Bill Patrakis of the Solid Waste Section of Division of Waste Management concluded that the grant would honor the low proposal of $46,000 as opposed to the other two proposals for $49,980 and $50,000. The Commissioners approved the contract with Rightmyer Machine Rentals of Roanoke Rapids.

The date the company will begin performing the work is not yet known.