By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
At the state’s direction, the city of Salisbury will spend almost $40,000 to clean, shore up and protect the creek and floodplain next to the old city landfill/composting site off Old Wilkesboro Road.
Salisbury City Council approved Tuesday the payment of $39,058 to Knox Contract Seeding of Cleveland.
The Cleveland company will be responsible for stabilizing the stream banks next to Grants Creek, reworking a stormwater drainage system going into the creek and reseeding floodplain areas.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is requiring the work.
Public Services Director Tony Cinquemani said the city already has done much of the basic cleanup on both sides of Grants Creek.
Knox Contract Seeding will be providing stone rip rap, seed, fertilizer, backfill dirt and matting as part of its work in cleaning and clearing other debris from creek banks, installing 100 feet of 36-inch pipe and a precast box to align a ditch and other work.
The old landfill is where Salisbury takes its yard debris, including leaves, and also where residents have been able to pick up free mulch over the years.
The city has stopped giving out the mulch in recent months while it addresses the state’s environmental concerns at the site. Basically, the city is making improvements to keep debris out of Grants Creek, while protecting the wetlands around it.
Cinquemani said he hoped the free mulch could be offered again soon to residents.
Meanwhile, the city is looking for a better place to take the leaves and limbs it collects through the year, Cinquemani and City Manager David Treme said.
Cinquemani said staff is looking at various properties the city already owns.
Treme said state officials haven’t fined Salisbury yet for any violations at the old landfill site, but DENR wants the city to change the way it handles yard waste materials.
The $40,000 expenditure was not part of the city’s current budget, Treme said. At this point, until another source is identified, it will have to come out of the city’s fund balance.
“We had not planned to do this,” Treme said.