Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Waste Management Landfill Contracts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ada County approves equipment purchases and a leachate-treatment system to reduce landfill operating costs
Summary
Commissioners authorized contracts that will add heavy equipment to right-size the landfill fleet and install on-site leachate evaporation units expected to cut annual operations and maintenance costs.
Ada County commissioners authorized a package of agreements on Dec. 3 that includes replacement heavy equipment for county operations and a contract to install on-site leachate evaporation units at the county landfill.
The agreements approved by the board included purchases of John Deere units (grader, articulated dump truck, 850 dozer, excavator) and a smooth roller (referred to in the meeting as a "ham roller") that county staff said are part of a fleet right-sizing initiative carried in the FY25 budget. Staff told commissioners buying through the identified vendor would save roughly $843,000 versus an alternate vendor analysis performed by county staff.
Why it matters: The equipment purchases are intended to improve reliability and lower long-term operating costs for landfill and roadwork fleets. The board also approved a design-build agreement to address the landfill's leachate management.
Leachate-treatment system: The county awarded an agreement (identified as agreement number 30273 in the agenda discussion) to GSE Construction to install six evaporator units (referred to as "Pit Boss" units) to treat landfill leachate onsite. County staff said the contractor estimates annual O&M costs for the new units at about $12,800 per year, compared with historical hauling and offsite treatment costs of $175,000 to $292,000 per year in some years. Staff estimated the county would avoid hauling costs that previously exceeded $500,000 in a fiscal year and projected the county could recover roughly $500,000'$600,000 over time by avoiding third-party treatment costs.
"They are not barbecue units," a county representative said when clarifying the evaporator units during discussion.
Staff said the vendor lead time for the units is about nine weeks from notice to proceed and that, because of local winter weather, the county will likely commission and activate the units in the spring. County comments said the proposed evaporation process would leave the existing leachate ponds largely empty at the end of a typical summer and that the solution has been deployed at other wastewater and landfill facilities.
Jail remodel: Contracts related to the Ada County jail kitchen remodel and associated expansion were also among the agreements authorized by the board. Staff said some design-language revisions required scope extensions reflected in the agenda contracts.
Board action: Commissioners voted to authorize the 13 agreements on the agenda and to allow the chair to sign the documents. Staff were directed to proceed with notices to proceed where applicable.
