Deschutes County approves on-call biohazard cleanup contract with Central Oregon Biohazard Solutions

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a notice of intent to award a countywide, on-call biohazard decontamination and debris-cleanup contract to JECS Inc., doing business as Central Oregon Biohazard Solutions.

Procurement manager Heather Haroff told the board the solicitation drew five proposals and that staff designed the scope to serve multiple departments, including property management, community development and facilities. “We—re looking to award this to JECS Incorporated doing business as Central Oregon Biohazard Solutions,” Haroff said, describing services that include trauma scene cleanup, illegal-dumping remediation and sanitation of county-owned and controlled properties, vehicles and equipment.

Haroff said the contract is structured as one-year terms with two optional one-year renewals and that because it is on-call, no minimum amount of work is guaranteed; departments will use their individual budgets to engage the vendor. Property-management staff provided recent annual cleanup costs by area to justify the contract: roughly $285,000 in the current fiscal year for Juniper Ridge and East Redmond combined, with prior-year totals ranging from about $113,000 to $396,000 as usage expanded.

Commissioners raised budget and program questions during discussion. One commissioner emphasized that the county had been absorbing recurring cleanup costs tied to unsanctioned camping and asked how departments would budget for the on-call contract. Property-management staff said spending for particular calls would be drawn from department budgets and that the contract parameters are within previously approved budget authority.

Commissioner (speaker 6) moved to approve the notice of intent to award document no. 2025-1014 for on-call biohazard decontamination and debris-cleanup services; Commissioner (speaker 3) added a not-to-exceed $700,000-per-year limit in the motion and seconded. The board voted to approve the intent to award, with commissioners recording affirmative votes from the chair and two commissioners.

The contract is intended to provide a single, countywide procurement vehicle so departments do not need to run separate solicitations for similar cleanup needs. Staff said the agreement should allow faster, more consistent remediation of biohazard sites and foreclosed properties while keeping individual departmental budget controls in place.

The board approved the notice of intent to award; staff will return with contract documents for final execution and to clarify how departments will track and report actual spend against the not-to-exceed limit.