Macon County commissioners have voted unanimously to construct the county’s first solid waste transfer station.

At their Jan. 14 meeting, commissioners decided to build a transfer station in the town of Highlands that would handle construction debris.

County officials say that the town is in need of the transfer station since the Highlands landfill, which currently takes construction waste, will be closing on June 30. The county is closing the landfill because of a change in regulations adopted by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources which will increase the landfill’s operational costs by a substantial amount, said Macon County Director of Solid Waste Chris Stahl.

In order to avoid the new regulations, the county is decided to close the facility, which prompted the construction of a transfer station.

“Because of the topography, it’s better to bring 20 tons down at a time than two tons,” Stahl said.

The transfer station will cost $1.2 million. The county will be ponying up $650,000 on the project; however, this fee does not include the purchase of equipment.

The town of Highlands will pay the remaining costs.

County officials are not sure of how much it’s going to cost to operate the transfer station. Stahl estimates it will cost the county about $200,000 annually to operate the station.

“But there are still a lot of operational issues that haven’t been decided,” Stahl said. He says that the transfer station will generate some source of revenue through tipping fees and the sale of recyclables.

“The county can win, the town can win if we can site a transfer station for Highlands,” Commissioner Jim Davis said.

Plans call for construction to begin in mid-March.