Jackson County Commission approves solid-waste officer role, new hours and truck camera system

The Jackson County Commission on April 14 approved a resolution designating the Solid Waste Director as the Jackson County Solid Waste Officer, adopted adjusted customer-service hours for the Solid Waste office and authorized purchase and installation of camera and tablet systems for the county’s refuse trucks.

The commission’s resolution names the Solid Waste Director as the county’s Solid Waste Officer with authority to appoint a three-person internal review committee to consider exemption applications and, “to the extent allowed by law,” enforce laws and regulations related to the county’s solid-waste disposal system. The commission also designated the Solid Waste Officer as a process server for citations related to the solid-waste ordinance.

Commissioners approved a change to office public hours that keeps employee schedules unchanged but closes the in-person customer window earlier: office customer service will end at 2:00 p.m., while staff will complete daily reconciliation activity through 2:30 p.m. Commissioners discussed customer flow (noting peak traffic from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and the department's need to complete end-of-day accounting and reporting without staff working unpaid overtime. The motion to adopt the office-hours adjustment carried (vote recorded in the meeting as three ayes and one no).

The commission also approved a purchase and installation contract for integrated camera hardware, monthly cloud service and in-cab tablets for refuse trucks. The packet showed an up-front hardware cost of about $49,245 and a monthly service line highlighted at $661.50; tablet costs estimated about $3,866 (roughly $4,000) for a fleet set. The solid-waste director explained some existing trucks already have much of the hardware and future truck purchases will be delivered with the system preinstalled, reducing future upfront costs. The director said the system provides video documentation for missed pickups, accidents and damage claims; commissioners asked staff to check whether the county’s insurance carrier would recognize a premium reduction for vehicles with cameras.

The commission approved the contracts and purchases and directed staff to proceed with vendor coordination and implementation work.

Ending: The Solid Waste Officer resolution, adjusted office hours and equipment purchase were adopted as separate but related items during the new-business portion of the April 14 meeting. Implementation steps—equipment rollout schedule, insurance follow-up and committee appointments—were left to county staff for follow-up.