Pulaski approves contract for landfill compliance testing; staff says monitoring fees will fall

The Pulaski Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted April 8, 2025, to enter a professional services contract for landfill compliance testing, including quarterly monitoring‑well sampling.

City staff said the change follows dissatisfaction with responsiveness from a previous consultant and earlier efforts to restart a pump‑and‑treat system. John Green and other staff presented a recommended vendor — identified in the meeting by the initials ERM — and discussed testing frequencies and costs. According to staff remarks, the new arrangement will set monitoring‑well testing at about $80,000 per year, down from earlier costs the board discussed (staff cited a comparison framed as $160,000 versus $80,000). Staff described the annual savings as "about $60,000" in the meeting remarks; the transcript contains both the $60,000 savings figure and the $160,000 vs. $80,000 comparison.

A motion to enter the contract for professional services related to landfill compliance testing was made by Mr. Keith and seconded by Mr. Gentry. The motion passed by roll call with ayes from Massey, Miles, Worsham, Keith and Gentry; Brindley also voted aye. The board instructed staff to continue the city's remaining contract with the leachate collection/system vendor (Barge) but to remove monitoring‑well testing from that contract and assign it to the new contractor.

Staff said the change should reduce annual testing fees and improve responsiveness. The board recorded the action as an approved contract award and directed staff to finalize terms and implement the monitoring schedule.

Note: meeting statements about the magnitude of savings vary in the transcript; the board's stated annual testing fee estimate after the contract is approximately $80,000 per year per staff remarks.