The Greeneville-Greene County Regional Solid Waste Planning Board voted unanimously Tuesday to reverse an earlier decision and seek proposals for garbage disposal from privately-operated landfills.

The action reversed a board action taken Sept. 18, and came after the county Solid Waste Committee voted unanimously last week to ask the city-county board to reconsider September's action and seek bids.

The bids will seek the total cost per ton for depositing waste collected in Greeneville and Greene County in the bidder's landfill.

After much discussion, the request for proposal will also include the option of including a price on transportation, though several board members said they do not think this would be a good time for the city and county to consider doing away with the fleet of trucks and special trailers it owns and operates.

Greeneville Alderman Sarah Webster, the solid waste board's chairman, noted that the board made its decision on Sept. 18 after hearing a presentation that day by an official of the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS). The presentation was made with the approval of UT's County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).

The board's unanimous vote on Sept. 18 came after hearing a report from Sharon L. Rollins, an engineer and consulting program manager with MTAS.

Rollins said that the town and county currently have a "very reasonable" contract for removal of solid waste to a landfill in Hawkins County.

The present solid-waste contract expires Dec. 31, she noted, but there is a provision that it will be renewed for five years, if the parties agree.

Rollins said that, should the Solid Waste Board seek to renegotiate the current contract, it likely would result in increased costs.

The Sept. 18 decision to extend the contract the county had with BFI for the Carters Valley landfill in Hawkins County, "was a good decision, considering the information that we were given," Webster said.

"Since that time, it has been brought to my attention," Webster said, and to the attention of others, "that there are other facilities that could give us better prices."
Webster said the MTAS recommendation was based on inquiries made last spring, and things have changed since then.

Considering that disposal of garbage "is a very costly item to the town and county, we need to do the very best we can" to get the best price.

"That said, we have enough time," Webster said, to notify the company that now operates the Carters Valley landfill, Allied Waste Services, that bids will be sought and to obtain bids. Webster noted that the city and county can terminate the contract by giving 60 days notice, but Allied Waste, which bought BFI (and took over the contract), has the same right.

"I think it is in our best interest" for the board to "put out requests for proposals," Webster said, to see if extending the contract would be "the best thing."

County Commissioner John D. Carter, who represents the county government on the Solid Waste Planning Board but is also a member of the county Solid Waste Committee, said he voted in the committee to ask that bids be sought. Carter said he "felt bad" about asking the Solid Waste Planning Board to reconsider, but noted that "things had changed" since the information was collected.

Webster agreed, saying, "A lot of things have changed since spring besides the weather," notably the overall economic conditions.

Robert K. Bird, who represents Tusculum, asked if attorneys have said that enough time is available to seek bids. Webster said enough time is available but efforts would have to be expedited to make sure that enough time is left for negotiation.

Bird and others pointed out that representatives of the three companies most likely to submit bids were present at Tuesday's meeting, which could help.

Much discussion was spent on the timing of various phases of the process, but at the end of the meeting, the board decided to send out requests for proposals on Friday, Oct. 16, and ask that they be returned on Oct. 22. The Solid Waste Board will meet at 9 a.m. that day to open the bids.

On Oct. 28, the Solid Waste Board will meet again at 10 a.m. to make a recommendation to the city and county governing bodies.

County Mayor Alan Broyles said he would schedule a called meeting of the Greene County Commission at the same time and place, on the assumption that Greeneville Mayor Laraine King would also simultaneously schedule a meeting of the Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Mayor King was present for part of the 90-minute meeting, but absent at the end.

County Attorney Roger Woolsey, who was present for part of the meeting, said the BFI contract is not being terminated, "We're just requesting proposals. Woolsey said the time frame is "tight" but manageable.

If the solid waste board were to choose on Oct. 28 to terminate the contract, it would have to notify BFI by Oct. 31 in order to meet the 60-day notice requirement.

Mayor Broyles noted that, since representatives of the three companies most likely to bid were present, "if it's the will of the chairman and the board," it would be good idea to ask them to speak briefly.

Scott Barrett, of Allied Waste, which bought BFI last year, said his company has enjoyed a long relationship with Greeneville and Greene County that has "been beneficial for both parties" and would like to see it continue.

Barrett urged the board to take the same position as it took in September and renew the contract. Barrett also noted that his company uses the city-county transfer station for handling waste for local businesses outside of the contract, and would like to continue that as well.

Frank McGuffin, of TIDI Waste, said he was present at the Sept. 18 meeting and afterward requested and received a copy of the MTAS recommendation. "Based on what we see" in that report, McGuffin said he believes there would be "significant savings" for the city and county in making a change.

"Because of the downturn we're all in," McGuffin said he believes it will be very beneficial for Greeneville and Greene County "to put this out for bid."

He said he anticipated that the time required to get a proposal back in the hands of the board would be "minimal."

George McGuffin, also of TIDI-Waste, noted that the MTAS report had an "inaccurate mileage chart," because it used the TIDI-Waste offices as the terminus instead of the landfill, which is several miles closer to Greeneville than the office.

C.M. Boggs, manager of marketing for the Iris Glen landfill in Johnson City, operated by Waste Management, said there are two factors in waste disposal costs: the actual disposal costs and the transportation costs.

Because "our facility is half the distance" from Greeneville as the Hawkins County site currently in use, the transportation cost should be half as well.

Boggs also said the turnaround time would not be a problem on the request for a proposal. "I've seen RFP's go out later than this for Jan. 1 contracts," he said.

Boggs estimated that transportation savings could range between $60,000 and $120,000 per year.

Robert Bird asked all three company representatives "how long in the future" each of them expects to have landfill space.

Boggs said the Iris Glen has enough space for 17 years, and additional acreage that could extend that to 70 years.

The McGuffins said TIDI Waste has 70 acres under permit, but so far is only using the first six acres. That first site should last "at least 35 years," he said.

Barrett said the Hawkins County site in use now should have enough space to last 26 years and can be expanded.

At that point, a motion to seek requests for proposals was approved unanimously, on a motion by Carter.

Barrett of Allied Waste (BFI) said at one point during discussion that he would like to have the opportunity of including a bid on transportation costs along with his bid for tipping fees.

Barrett said he believes that seeing that option might be a benefit to the county. George McGuffin said TIDI-Waste would also like to have the same opportunity.

Eventually, transportation was added as an option for the bids.

However, several Solid Waste Board members indicated that, regardless, it is very unlikely that the city and county governments will stop using the trucks and trailers that are now jointly owned and operated. Tusculum's Bird said it is "logical to do our own hauling. We've got our own equipment and our own employees."
Carter said he would "hate to see us get out of (hauling) when we've bought all those trucks."

Boggs, who did not ask to provide a transportation option, noted that "cities and counties don't like to lay people off."

George McGuffin said that including transportation costs would make the process a great deal more complicated by introducing more variables. Anyone bidding on transportation would have to try to protect themselves from a fuel price hike by building in a fuel surcharge, for example, and surcharges by different bidders would likely be different in small ways that would make them harder to compare.

Another variable would be the number of trucks that the bidder would agree to provide, and that would raise the issue of schedules and numbers of runs. "It would open a can of worms," McGuffin said.

At the end of the meeting, Webster said, "I don't see that we'd change anything" regarding transportation "right now," for a number of reasons.

Carter, addressing the potential bidders, said, "We're not looking at you hauling" the solid waste for Greeneville and Greene County.