The Feb. 1 workshop on the landfill closure, including plans for a public works barn, is not intended for public comment, Town Councilor President David Long said Monday.

He said the town offered to conduct a work session, for pubic review by councilors of the plan, but the session is not mandated by the state Department of Environmental Management, nor is it intended as a public hearing.

The state has mandated that the plan be available for public review. Copies of the plan are available at the town clerk’s office, at the town library, and on the town Web site at www.jamestownri.net. People who want to comment on the plan must do so in writing to the DEM by Feb. 10.

Long said he might allow very limited comment or take questions from the public at the workshop, but the meeting is intended for officials to be informed about the status of work on the landfill closure and on the the proposed building of a new highway barn.

DEM officials in September cautioned town officials about some aspects of the barn proposal, which town-hired consultants GZA GeoEnvironmental of Norwood, Mass., say are only in the “conceptual stage” at this time.

GZA’s document for the landfill closure, called the Remedial Action Work Plan and 50 Percent Design Drawings, will be detailed at a workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. at the town library.

In its report, GZA describes how it would excavate an estimated total of 10,000 cubic yards of decaying trash, for the footprint of the 12,600-square-foot barn and about 26,000 square feet of pavement for parking and driveway access.

In September, the DEM told the town that “solid waste generated during construction at the landfill should be removed, properly managed and disposed of at a licensed solid waste management facility.”

GZA said its plan responds to the DEM’s comments by its proposal to screen and sift through the waste, using non-offensive material as backfill, and trucking away any materials that were clearly contaminants.

The water supply for the barn will be piped through the old landfill to a well to be dug on Lot 47, which is at the east, uphill, boundary of the landfill.

Other changes

In addition to the closure and barn, GZA is proposing a one-acre paved storage pad on east side of the landfill, and paving some of the gravel roads that currently exist, but not paving the entire road as the DEM suggested

Other landfill changes would include a 50-foot expansion of the yard and leaf-composting area, relocation of existing overhead power lines, enlargement of the entrance to the existing transfer station, and a septic system for the barn.

Numerous drainage systems and catch basins are required for underground retention for control of groundwater runoff, including runoff that flows over North Main Road at the transfer station entrance. The existing metal recycling area will be paved, and the transfer station floor drain system and collection tank may be upgraded.