Building re-opens after fire; fall cleanup Nov. 2-10

Whitman County Waste Transfer Station will hold its annual Fall Cleanup starting Friday, to run Nov. 2-10, following the re-opening of the garbage-intake building Oct. 19 after an August fire.

County Public Works Director Mark Storey will now ask commissioners to lift a state of emergency for the transfer station declared in the first week of August.

The designation allowed Public Works to bypass state bidding laws in order to find a contractor and get repairs underway faster.

Holcomb Construction of Grangeville, Idaho, did the repair work.

“He did a great job,” said Storey.

Estimated cost for the repairs is $400,000, which Storey indicated will be covered by insurance.

“The vast majority of it, yes,” he said.

After the Aug. 3 fire at the three-year-old building, garbage handling reverted back to the old building, which had just been handling recycling since 2015.

Plans for fall cleanup were put on hold this year for the usual October event, during which the county cuts intake fees from $106 per ton to $35 for Whitman County residents only.