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Frederick commissioners are scheduled today to talk about a resolution that takes the next step in building a proposed incinerator with Carroll County.

Attorneys for Frederick County have drafted a resolution outlining several conditions that commissioners want taken as they move ahead with the incinerator, or what some people call a "waste-to-energy facility" because it burns trash to generate electricity.

Those conditions include:

-Building the incinerator at the McKinney Industrial Center off Md. Route 85, south of the City of Frederick near the county's jail and wastewater treatment plant.

-Commissioners also want to require Wheelabrator, the New Hampshire-based company that will build the incinerator, to take recycleables out of the waste stream before and after incineration.

-The county will also ask Essroc Concrete Plant officials to tear down their unused smokestack, which is visible from the Monocacy National Battlefield. The incinerator's smokestack will also be visible from the battlefield, so commissioners hope to make the view no worse than it is today.

The conditions outlined in the resolution were proposed by Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins (R), and approved by the board on June 23.

"The board already took action in June with Commissioner Jenkins' motion," said Michael G. Marschner, director of the county's division of Utilities and Solid Waste Management. "They asked that the motion be memorialized in a resolution."

The next step will be signing a written agreement, or "memorandum of understanding," between Frederick and Carroll counties and the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, Marschner said.

The authority is an independent state agency that helps counties dispose of trash. Frederick and Carroll counties are both members of the authority.

The written agreement between the three entities has already been drafted. It outlines the building of an incinerator big enough to burn 1,500 tons of trash per day from Frederick and Carroll counties.

Carroll commissioners on July 2 voted to support the design and permitting of the incinerator, but passed a resolution that spells out what would happen if either county backs out before construction starts.

The four-page resolution says that Carroll will pay no more than $1.5 million if one of its future boards decides against building the incinerator and cannot find another county to take its place.

The money would pay for Carroll's half of the cost that Wheelabrator would incur to design and permit the incinerator.

If Frederick backs out, Carroll will not be responsible for any costs, the resolution states.

The resolution directs the Carroll's Department of Public Works to work with Frederick staff, the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority and Wheelabrator to design and permit the incinerator.

"We have analyzed this with just about every angle you can," Carroll Commissioner Michael D. Zimmer (R) said.

Commissioner Dean L. Minnich (R) and Zimmer voted for the resolution. Commission President Julia W. Gouge (R) did not attend the meeting.

Under the proposal, Wheelbrator could spend up to $3 million for design and permitting stages of the incinerator, which could take several years.

The proposal would limit both counties' costs to $1.5 million should ether county back out.

After the design and permitting process is complete, both counties will decide whether to move forward with construction, said Mike Evans, Carroll County's director of public works.

If the two counties move forward with the incinerator, the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority will begin to seek funding to help finance the project, Evans said.

Frederick would pay for 60 percent with Carroll County paying the remainder. Costs have varied depending on the source. Evans estimates the project at $501 million, with Frederick County paying $301 million and Carroll paying $200 million.

E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.