• Update - 11/07/08 - Gwinnett County Garbage Plan Announcement

By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer
Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - The bidding process to become an unincorporated Gwinnett County waste pick-up provider ended Wednesday.

According to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s Executive Director Connie Wiggins, eight providers submitted bids in response to the organization’s July 25 request for proposals.

“The companies are Waste Industries, Allied Waste, Sanitation Solutions, Southern Sanitation, Waste Management, Republic Services of Georgia, Advanced Disposal and Waste Pro,” Wiggins wrote in an e-mail. “After an analysis of the proposals, decisions will be made in time to begin implementing the new collection and recycling program in January 2009.”

Wiggins said the decisions would be made to select the providers based on a firm’s qualifications, experience, references, price, work plan, financial stability and their ability to obtain insurance and bonding. She also said one current provider to unincorporated Gwinnettians - Red Oak Sanitation - did not turn in a bid to serve as a provider.

Under terms of the new solid waste plan, which will take effect Jan. 1, unincorporated citizens of the county will be divided up into eight different service areas for the removal of their solid waste and recycling items. Each service area will then have a designated provider assigned to it with the stipulation being that no provider will be able to service more than three areas in the county - “to prevent monopoly,” Wiggins said. She also said that the eight bids received would be evaluated in tandem by her office and Gershman, Brickner and Bratton, a national solid waste consulting firm. She said an analysis of the bids would become available sometime at the end of the year when the service providers for the eight service areas are announced.

Wiggins also said Thursday that she was puzzled by the recent actions of Allied Waste and Red Oak Sanitation. She said Allied Waste recently sent customers a bill stating they would be charged a “year end transition fee” because of the county’s new plan. She said it seemed strange to be charging customers this fee before the service providers were announced because Allied Waste could continue as a provider. One Allied Waste customer from Dacula, who confirmed he received the letter, said the fee amounted to $23.50. This same customer also said if he closed his account today, Allied Waste would waive the fee.

Calls to Allied Waste were not returned before this story went to press.

As for Red Oak Sanitation, even though the firm decided not to bid as a provider in 2009, Wiggins said the firm was telling its customers that they needed to pay a $50 deposit fee for a receptacle or face losing service. Wiggins said under the current contract in place with the county, this was illegal, at least until that contract ends at the end of the year. She also said the county was powerless when it came to the current prices providers were charging residents.

“The county has no control over rates,” she said.

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