COMMISSION BRIEFS

Solid-waste public hearing Aug. 29

Mason County commissioners decided to table action until after a public hearing Aug. 29 on selecting and signing a contract for solid-waste long haul transportation and disposal services at a July 31 special meeting.

According to the information packet, Public Works advertised a request for proposals for hauling and disposing of the county’s solid waste. Two proposals were received and deemed responsive from Republic Services and Mason County Garbage on July 12.

Republic Services provides hauling and disposal services, and the contract expires Aug. 23. In 2022, the county spent $3.1 million to haul and dispose of solid waste.

Mason County Deputy Director of Utilities and Waste Richard Dickinson briefed the commissioners at the special meeting and requested the commission delay awarding the contract.

“We’re not ready to award. We’ve got some negotiations to do and some information to vet and we’d like to keep it open and hopefully have the hearing on the 29 of August,” Dickinson told commissioners during the meeting.

County Administrator Mark Neary told the commission that solid waste contracting is “unique in Washington state law.”

“It has its own specific statutes associated with it and the process that you go through and the public input that is required,” Neary said during the meeting. “Mason County, I think this is the first time we’ve done this contract and opened it up in quite a while and so we received two bids on the contract. … We evaluated the proposals that we received, we interviewed both the teams and looked at the details of the numbers that are included in the proposals and at that time determined that we are going to start negotiating with Mason County Garbage. From just a numbers perspective, that’s kind of what the focus is right now. We’re going to go through and negotiate that contract and ensure Mason County is covered and there’s not any outstanding items that may come back and bite you down the road.”

Neary said there will need to be an extension on the current contract with Republic to continue to provide service during the gap between contracts.

Noxious weed contract amendment

Mason County commissioners approved the contract with the state Department of Agriculture and the Mason County Noxious Weed Control Board for continuation of the project to control invasive knotweed within the county at the Aug. 1 meeting.

According to the information packet, the contract is through June 30, 2025.

The contract amount is for $20,000 total, with $6,000 for 2023, $12,000 for 2024 and $2,000 for 2025.

Juvenile Detention Alternatives contract

The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative program with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families agreement was approved by Mason County commissioners.

According to the information packet, the program is a nationwide effort by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to reduce the use of detention and increase the use of more effective interventions. Mason County has been a part of the program since 2009 and received a yearly grant to support the program. Grant funds enable the county to provide staff and create and implement alternative programming to detention.

The maximum agreement amount for the grant contract is $56,000.

Pollution correction program contract

Commission Chair Sharon Trask signed the Hood Canal Regional Pollution Identification Correction program contract after approval of the action agenda.

According to the information packet, Mason County Public Health and Human Services and the Hood Canal Coordinating Council had a contract that expired at the end of last year to perform pollution identification and correction work in Hood Canal. A portion of the funding was unspent at the end of the contract, but the county received a new contract to use the remaining money through September.

The contract adds an additional $44,546.