Columbia County commissioners delay decision on solid waste contract after hourslong debate

After more than two hours of public testimony and internal discussion, the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners agreed to postpone a final decision on the county'wide solid waste contract. The item centered on a proposal from the incumbent hauler, Waste Pro, that would renew or modify the current franchise and phase in increases over several years; some commissioners and staff instead recommended rebidding the service.

County operations manager Patrick Kirby framed the issue as a policy and process question: under current county policy, certain contract modifications trigger an automatic rebid while others may be handled as renewals. Kirby said he recommended going to bid, citing policy and precedent, and noted the landfill enterprise fund and related franchise arrangements complicate the…