Brown County commissioners accept apparent low bid for solid-waste hauling contract

Brown County commissioners opened bids for the county's solid-waste hauling contract at 1:30 p.m. and accepted the apparent low bid, instructing staff to iron out inconsistent dates and fuel-surcharge language before finalizing the agreement.

During the bid opening, commissioners read two offers into the record. One bidder, identified in the meeting as "808 Express," was recorded as offering $400 per load; another was read as a $375-per-load offer by a company recorded as "GL CHIME LLC." After review, a commissioner moved to accept the apparent low bidder (the motion as recorded named "CLKIM LLC" at "$3.75 per load"). The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Committee member said during the hearing that "the apparent low bidder is the current person that is currently contracted with the county," noting no need for an additional pre-bid meeting because the incumbent had submitted a responsive bid. A county representative who spoke during the discussion emphasized concerns about fuel costs and surcharges: "We would rather do that, and we felt that was more fair than trying to stipulate adding something else in there."

Commissioners and staff flagged two issues the county will resolve before executing a final contract: inconsistent term dates between the solicitation (recorded in the packet as April 1 to March 31) and the draft contract (which contained a May 1 effective date on at least one page), and unclear or varying bid-amount figures in the meeting record. Staff said the May 1 entry looked like a typo and offered to correct the contract language or bring a corrected version to the next meeting.

The commission also directed staff to review the fuel-surcharge provisions. A bidder's representative described how current surcharge arrangements work when hauling to other counties and noted that surcharges trigger only when diesel exceeds a specified per-gallon threshold.

Next steps: county staff will review the contract-term language and fuel-surcharge clauses, confirm the exact low-bid amount and bidder identity, consult the county attorney as needed, and return a corrected contract for formal execution at a future meeting. The motion to accept the apparent low bidder carried by voice vote at the meeting.