The Coffee County Commission is holding a public hearing this morning regarding the county’s plans to try and purchase the landfill in Brundidge through a public-private partnership.

Coffee County had previously made a $4 million offer on the property owned by Transload America, but the company filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey on June 20.

Now, the property will be sold under the provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to determine ownership and Coffee County is prepared to pay up to $6 million, according to a legal notice the county sent to a newspaper in Coffee County.

“It is much more efficient to purchase capacity than it is to create it,” said Coffee County Administrator Rod Morgan. “And it is beneficial for an economic development standpoint.”

Morgan said there is a company the county is working with that finds abundant landfill capacity attractive. And while the 7,500-ton-per-day facility on 729 acres in Brundidge is important to some companies wishing to locate in Coffee County, exactly how the landfill would be used hasn’t been determined.

“I don’t know what the landscape is going to look like if we were to acquire the landfill. I don’t know who would bring their waste there and what volumes might be,” Morgan said.

Morgan did say that if the county purchased the property, and if Brundidge and Coffee County came to an agreement, the use of the landfill by Brundidge would be a possibility.

The special meeting this morning is part of the process that would allow the county to make an offer to acquire the landfill in Brundidge.

“We’re very interested in buying that inventory at a time when we can, rather than create it,” Morgan said.

Brundidge Mayor Jimmy Ramage said that the City of Brundidge will be represented at the public hearing in New Brockton today.

In 2007, the City of Brundidge Solid Waste Authority approved $40 million in bonds to construct the landfill on Cleanwater Street, along with some railroad infrastructure in December 2007.