Cowlitz County commissioners will hold a public hearing about possibly buying the Headquarters Road landfill during their Tuesday meeting. They also will vote on raising the annual boat launch fee at Willow Grove Park.

The landfill hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. and will include a briefing about how the landfill was evaluated. Pubic comment also will be taken.

It’s possible commissioners will then move into executive session to discuss confidential purchase matters before deciding whether to submit a proposal to Weyerhaeuser Co., said Commissioner George Raiter. Any vote to make an offer must be taken in public.

The county is investigating buying the 300-acre landfill and using it to dispose of municipal waste instead of shipping garbage to Eastern Washington. Initial calculations estimate the county could save $1 million by keeping its waste in Cowlitz County. Buying the landfill assumes it could be re-permitted to accept municipal waste in addition to the industrial waste already stored there. Raiter said it’s safe to assume whoever buys the landfill will ask for the permit change.

Some residents say having public control is better than Weyerhaeuser selling the facility to private company.

Others, though, are fiercely opposed to the idea because Weyerhaeuser promised it would only bury industrial waste at the site when it built the landfill. Silver Lake-area residents — who opposed the landfill to begin with — are outraged at what they see as violation of that promise.

Weyerhaeuser officials have said the company wants to sell the landfill to focus on “core properties” but would still plan to dispose of its industrial waste there through a contract with the new owners.

Also Tuesday, commissioners will vote on a recommendation from the county Parks Advisory Board to raise the annual boat launch fees at Willow Grove from $30 to $40. The day rate of $5 per launch would remained unchanged. The resolution also would allow disabled veterans to obtain a free annual launch permit.

Tuesday’s meeting is on the third floor of the county Administration Building, 207 Fourth Ave., North, Kelso. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. with the landfill hearing scheduled for 10 a.m.