DeKalb committee awards landfill engineering and yard-debris collection contracts; directors describe operational limits and fee changes

At its March 6 meeting the DeKalb County Public Works and Infrastructure Committee approved two sanitation contracts and heard extensive discussion about operations in the county’s northern service area.

The committee approved agenda item 2025-0300, a one-year, $2,000,000 contract (with four renewal options) to Stearns, Conrad and Schmidt Consulting Inc. (doing business as SCS Engineers) for professional landfill engineering and surveying services. Director Hutchinson told the committee SCS has provided the county environmental monitoring and landfill engineering services for more than 10 years and that the RFP process produced a single proposal, which scored 93 in the evaluation.

The committee also approved agenda item 2025-0331, a low-bid award for annual residential yard debris removal services to Russell Landscape LLC, not to exceed $1,949,900. The contract covers weekly residential yard-debris service on 20 assigned routes across four residential collection lots (North, South, East and West), and Russell was named the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

Director Hutchinson described persistent operational challenges in the North collection area, saying North routes can cover significantly larger service populations and heavier yard-debris volumes; he said hybrid arrangements with private contractors have been necessary at times because the county’s own crews can be limited by equipment availability, driver licensing (CDL) needs and employee absences. Hutchinson said the $2 million engineering contract amount is already included in the approved 2025 budget.

Commissioners asked about workforce and equipment shortages. Hutchinson said the sanitation division runs regular hiring events and that county HR performs preemployment checks and safety-sensitive screening. To address driver shortages the department has used non-CDL trucks on some routes and adjusted route assignments. Hutchinson said the county tested an electric garbage truck but the vehicle could not maintain battery life once loaded; the test vehicle could only complete roughly half a route before the battery depleted and could not reach the 8–10 hours the department requires.

Commissioners and the director discussed recent changes to residential collection fees: Hutchinson said the county increased the minimum special-collection fee (previously $50) to $100; he also described a change tied to yard-debris thresholds that was approved the prior year and is posted on the sanitation website. Hutchinson said a $3.15 assessment applies to a threshold involving five containers or five bags and that excess materials beyond approved limits will require a special-collection charge; residents can pay special-collection fees online and the department will leave a special-collection authorization form at the property to document charges.

Multiple commissioners requested more data and public outreach on the changes. Commissioner Terry asked whether the county could analyze geofenced data to identify whether higher use is concentrated in particular subareas of the North collection lot; Hutchinson said the county has tonnage and route data that could be used for comparison and staff would provide more information. Commissioners also asked for a public awareness rollout; Hutchinson said brochures and website updates are in progress and COO Williams said the county will coordinate broader outreach where appropriate.

Both contracts were approved by voice votes during the committee meeting. The transcript records no roll-call tallies.