County Taps Contractor For Landfill Excavation

Dirt could be moving for the new landfill cell by early next month.

The county commission on Tuesday picked a contractor to move some 900,000 cubic yards of dirt at the Northwest landfill facility on U.S. 98, north of Brooksville.

Goodwin Brothers Construction Inc., which has its headquarters just a few miles south of the landfill, will excavate the material and do rough grading at the site for an estimated $792,000, or 88 cents per cubic yard, according to the bid approved unanimously by the board.

That's about 25 percent less than expected, prompting county staffers to "enthusiastically" recommend approval, Purchasing and Contracts Director Jim Gantt told the board.

Awarding the bid this week means Goodwin Brothers will still likely have "a good part of the dry season" to work with, Utilities Director Joe Stapf said. The contractor has 120 days to complete the job.

Work can't begin, however, until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection hands over a permit to construct the $15 million cell.

On Thursday, DEP gave the county notice of intent to issue that permit, several months later than the county expected.

"I'm going to get a frame for this," Stapf quipped during the board meeting.

The notice triggers 14 days of public comment, and the permit could come by the first week of April if no one files a petition to challenge the plan.

But the current landfill cell is filling up quickly, and the county will still have to truck some garbage to facilities in neighboring counties, Stapf said.

Stapf also has begun talks with the county's private haulers to encourage them to take trash to facilities outside the county's borders.

The county will lose revenue from tipping fees, but the goal will be to avoid raising taxpayers' annual solid waste assessments - or at least minimize the hikes, Stapf said.

And he will likely bring a proposal to the board that would give a bonus to the contractor picked for actual construction of the cell if the project is completed ahead of schedule.

The county has gone back and forth for months with DEP trying to secure the permit. The department had requested more information to assure the threat of sinkholes at the site is in the acceptable range, and that the design of the new cell would protect groundwater if a sinkhole did open under the mountain of household garbage.

The project is now several months behind schedule, and Stapf has said that the existing cell will run out of room by January.

Officials hope to truck enough garbage out of the county to extend the life of the cell until construction on the new section begins - if all goes well - in early fall of 2010.