County Commissioners approve debris removal contract

By: Shelia Mader

During their first monthly meeting, the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners (JCBOCC) unanimously approved a five-year contract with DRC Emergency Services for debris removal and disposal services, following a competitive bidding process.

County Administrator Jim Dean presented Contract 2425-14, explaining that the county had received a number of proposals and the two highest ranked proposals were DRC and Ceres Environmental Services. However, due to a requested contract modification from Ceres staff deemed unacceptable, only DRC's proposal was considered.

"This was competitively bid," said Dean. "We received two proposals. The one from Ceres requested a modification to the contract, so we’re only entertaining the first one at this time."

The contract's five-year duration prompted a brief discussion from board members. Chairman Jamey Westbrook asked, "Is there some reason we want to do it for five years instead of three?"

Dean explained that DRC did not request a price increase over the extended term and cited advice from Commissioner Paul Donofro in favor of a longer contract to avoid frequent rebidding. “They did not ask for an increase in price. It’s the same price for whatever the contract period is,” Dean said.

Commissioner Donofro noted the county’s prior working relationship with both companies but voiced concern over Ceres' proposed changes, which would shift liability to the county for identifying and sizing debris eligible for removal, something staff opposed.

“They want to remove the liability we want them to have and shift it to us,” said Dean. “Michelle Jordan had previously reviewed and recommended not making the change requested by Ceres.”

Jordan confirmed, “They signed a contract that included that same language in CERES previous contract the County had with them.”

Dean emphasized that staff had communicated their position to Ceres: “They can’t write our contract, we need to write it.”

Despite the approval of DRC's contract, Donofro acknowledged the need for additional vendors in future emergency situations, referencing Hurricane Michael: “Hopefully we won’t have another, but if we do, we’ll probably need more than one vendor.”

The commission then proceeded to vote on the matter. A motion and second were made, and the board approved the DRC contract unanimously.