Island County approves long‑haul disposal contract with Republic Services, commissioners to revisit diversion

The Island County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Dec. 17 to approve a long‑haul transport and disposal contract with Republic Services, authorizing a base term from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2030, with options to extend the agreement further. Staff characterized the board action as necessary to secure ongoing disposal services after evaluating competitive proposals.

County staff said they compared bids using 2023 operational data and also modeled the expected effect of new compaction equipment, concluding Republic's haul pricing was lower when measured both on historical behavior and against updated compaction projections. "Republic's haul was less," a staff member said while presenting pricing slides and analysis.

During public comment, David Haskell of Freeland urged the county to treat waste as a resource‑management challenge. Haskell told the board the long‑haul contract would commit the county to roughly $36 million over several years and urged expansion of local composting and organics diversion to lower net costs and keep resources within the community. "We're suddenly talking about $36,000,000 committed for 6 years," Haskell said in urging alternatives.

Commissioners acknowledged the public comment and clarified that the disposal contract is funded from an enterprise fund and that rate adjustments at transfer stations will be required if costs increase. Board members said future public conversations about rate setting and diversion strategies will follow.

A motion to approve the Republic Services contract was made, seconded and carried unanimously. Commissioners said they plan continued work on waste‑reduction efforts and public outreach with extension and conservation partners.

The board also asked staff to present rate‑setting details and other operational impacts at a future work session.