Commission to consider accepting 60-acre 'Queen' property from landfill settlement fund

The chair told commissioners the county was asked to accept and take possession of a 60-acre parcel adjacent to the county landfill known in the record as the "Queen" property. The parcel sits on the northwest side of the landfill near contaminated areas identified during past work under a 2012 landfill lawsuit settlement, and county staff said accepting it would create a buffer and allow the county to monitor and control the land.

The chair said the landfill expert panel managed settlement funds for roughly a decade and that of the original settlement (about $5,000,000) there is approximately $1,700,000 remaining. He said the purchase would come from those settlement funds and would not require monies from the county general fund.

Commissioner Beatty moved to forward the matter to the regular session for formal acceptance of the deed; Commissioner Ledger seconded. The commission advanced the request for a future meeting agenda.

No formal acquisition or deed transfer occurred at the work session; the vote only moved the matter to the regular session for further action.