Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Solid Waste topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jackson County approves $365,238 garbage truck purchase, adopts fee for commercial solid-waste card payments and OKs cleanup contract
Summary
At its Feb. 10 meeting the Jackson County Commission approved purchase of a side-loading garbage truck for the solid-waste department, authorized a credit-card surcharge for commercial accounts, approved surplus sale of a Kenworth truck and signed a contract with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to clean a large dump site on Co.
The Jackson County Commission on Feb. 10 approved multiple solid-waste actions: purchase of a new side-loading garbage truck, a plan to charge commercial solid-waste accounts a credit-card fee, authorization to surplus and auction a Kenworth truck and approval of a contract with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to remove and dispose of material at a dump site on County Road 520.
The commission voted to purchase a 2026 model side-loading garbage truck from Ingram Equipment Company (IEC) at a quoted price of $365,238. The county packet included warranty details: a five-year/150,000-mile engine warranty and a five-year unlimited transmission warranty and some trucks will include digital cameras. The motion carried.
Why it matters: the equipment purchase updates aging fleet used for residential and commercial collection; the quoted price and warranties were presented to commissioners as part of the department's replacement plan.
The commission also approved a proposal from solid-waste staff to begin charging a credit-card fee to commercial accounts. Solid-waste staff member Nicholas told commissioners that “we lost… over $33,000 … last year for 2024 credit card fees,” and said the department proposes implementing a surcharge “to just our commercial for right now.” Commissioners approved the change after a motion; the vote carried. Nicholas acknowledged the county lacks a precise breakdown of commercial versus residential card usage and that projected savings are uncertain.
Separately, the commission approved declaring a Kenworth truck surplus and authorizing auctioning it through J.M. Wood Auction; the auction date in the packet was scheduled for June. Commissioners received an exhibit listing trucks proposed for auction and minimum guaranteed amounts for each lot. The motion to surplus and sell the listed vehicle(s) was approved.
The commission also approved execution of a contract with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for removal and disposal at a large illegal-dump site on County Road 520. The contract defines Jackson County’s responsibilities for cleanup, equipment and accounting; ADEM will reimburse eligible costs per the agreement. The commission approved signing the contract and authorized the county to provide updates to ADEM as required.
Commission discussion emphasized limiting the credit-card surcharge to commercial accounts only and the uncertainty about the precise savings, and commissioners asked staff to monitor the program’s effect. No dollar estimate of annual savings from the surcharge was provided beyond the $33,000 2024 figure Nicholas cited.
The commission carried each motion by voice vote; no recorded roll-call tallies were provided in the meeting minutes.
The commission moved on to other agenda and work-session items following the approvals.
