Highland County Receives One Bid for Trash Hauling

This is part two of our story on the Highland County Board of Supervisors October work session.  The Supervisors met on October 18.

County Administrator Roberta Lambert announced at the meeting that the county received one bid for solid waste collection and hauling.  She had already provided copies of the bid to Board members prior to the meeting.  The bid was from Allegheny Disposal of Green Bank, West Virginia.  County Attorney Melissa Dowd told Board members they had the option of competitive negotiation in closed meetings with Allegheny Disposal, if they were not ready to accept the bid at the work session.   She said the Board had the option of accepting the bid, rejecting it and going out for bid again, or entering into negotiations.  She added that the contract submitted by Allegheny Disposal had no surprises, as it was exactly what had been previously discussed.

Supervisor David Blanchard said that Board members had not had a chance to talk about the bid among themselves, but they would like to discuss the contract and not seek other bids.   The Board voted to negotiate with Allegheny Disposal beginning with a meeting in closed session on Wednesday, November 8, at 6pm.  That is prior to the Board’s regular monthly meeting that night at 7:30. Following the work session on October 18, the Supervisors went into closed session to discuss the bid and contract themselves.

The county’s previous provider for solid waste disposal and hauling stopped providing the service in June and the county did an interim contract with Allegheny Disposal until bids could be received and another provider could be found.

Supervisor David Blanchard stressed that a lot of materials that could be recycled are being thrown away into the trash compactors.  He said paper, cardboard and metal cans could go into recycling which would help offset the cost of hauling trash out of the county, which is expensive.

The Board also voted to approve a change to Saturday hours for the Solid Waste and Recycling Center.  During standard time, from early November until early March, the center will close at noon on Saturdays.   This change in Saturday hours was first put in place last year.

To hear part one of this story on the Highland County Board of Supervisors October work session, visit our website www.alleghenymountainradio.org