A contract for refurbishing the county's deteriorating garbage incinerator will be brought back soon to the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners for approval.

Following a work session and public hearing on the proposal, the board voted unanimously Monday night to negotiate the terms of a contract with New Jersey-based Covanta Energy, a company that specializes in renewable energy facilities and was selected by New Hanover County officials to refurbish and operate the facility.

The incinerator, formerly called WASTEC and renamed the Sustainable Energy Facility, closed in April last year after escalating malfunctions weakened the 28-year-old system's productivity. Officials then decided to explore hiring a company to refurbish and then operate the aging facility.

According to Covanta's proposal, the company would spend 15 months refurbishing the facility's operating parts and infrastructure for a cost to the county of about $27 million. Covanta would then operate it for $12.8 million a year.

The county staff estimated that tip fees would increase from $59 per ton to up to $93 per ton to pay for the upgrades and administration costs, meaning the average residential customer could pay up to $2.30 more each month. No property tax revenues would be used under that funding scenario....