NATCHEZ — As of Monday, and despite a request by Waste Management to review the decision, Adams County’s garbage is no longer being dumped in southern Adams County.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted last week to negotiate a waste disposal contract with Riverbend Environmental Services but had not yet signed the contract at the open of their meeting Monday morning.

Waste Management had the contract for the last 20 years, and at the meeting company representative Buford Clark — along with attorney Robert Johnson — asked the supervisors to reconsider their decision before signing the contract.

“Requests for proposals anticipate that there are so many factors involved that the parties will have to sit down to understand it,” Johnson said.

“All we are asking for is one day to sit down with the supervisors and negotiate with the supervisors.”

Johnson maintained that when the numbers were properly looked at, Waste Management offered a better deal, and at one point during the discussion, Clark told the supervisors that Waste Management was willing to adjust its host fee for its Plantation Oaks landfill to a rate that would generate approximately $100,000 annually for the county based on current trends.

Clark likewise walked the supervisors through the Waste Management proposal to show how it could be competitive.

The host fee from the former Waste Management contract generated approximately $45,000 annually.

Board Attorney Scott Slover said that when variable factors like host fees, which are based on the volume of waste disposed on the site, are removed, Riverbend has the better bid.

The supervisors decided to enter negotiations with Riverbend June 28, a month after receiving proposals for the waste disposal agreement from both Waste Management and Riverbend, as well as a third party whose business did not meet the qualifications for the site.

When the proposals were recieved, the supervisors voted to extend the then-current Waste Management contract, which expired May 31, until June 30 so they could review the extensive proposals from the two companies.

It was that fact, Supervisor Mike Lazarus said, that made him chafe at the idea of entering negotiations with Waste Management after the county had already agreed to negotiate with Riverbend.

“We committed to (Riverbend Vice President Andrew Densing), and now you come out with these numbers,” Lazarus said. “If we had these numbers a month ago, I would never have made a commitment to him.”

After giving the companies an additional 30 days while the county reviewed the proposals, Lazarus said the supervisors were, “totally shocked when we didn’t get a better price (from Waste Management).”

Supervisor Calvin Butler said outside the meeting that he objected to the Waste Management characterization that the supervisors weren’t taking the best deal, because their decision had been based on what was presented in late May rather than what was brought to them Monday.

Clark said the initial proposal Waste Management presented was based in part on the company’s understanding that it was a community partner that had been approached by the county in 1988.

“We gave you a price that was based on everything that we do for this community,” he said. “That community partnership should mean something to you. As we see it, we have been a part of this community for a long time. We have 26 employees who live here in Adams County. The numbers, when you do a proposal like you did, it is kind of difficult to say how do you get back to being equal. We didn’t think we had to go as low as (Riverbend) did because we have been in your community for a long time. We have benefits they can’t give you.”

Densing said he recognized that he wasn’t located in Adams County, but all of his vendors were and that the next people he hired would be from Adams County.

“I was fighting for your business at day one,” he said. “I realized I had to be lower because I knew you guys wanted to save money. I put my best foot forward going forward.”

Slover said one of his concerns had been that garbage pickup costs would skyrocket if the waste disposal site changed and said Densing had been willing to allow for renegotiation and even an ending of his contract if pickup costs exceeded a certain amount. Waste pickup companies are allowed to make fuel adjustments to their prices if locations change. Waste Management currently holds the county’s waste pickup contract, which will expire next year.

“All I wish is (Waste Management) would have come in before we did this, because the way I live my life, I want to treat other people like I want to be treated,” Lazarus said. “It wouldn’t be right of me to go back now and change my position. When I leave here every day, I want to know I can sleep at night, and I like to sleep at night.”

When the supervisors voted to ratify the contract with Riverbend, Supervisor David Carter voted against it, saying he thought the board should take note of Waste Management’s infrastructure investment, sales tax contribution, local workforce and giving to local causes.

Riverbend is located four miles into Jefferson County on U.S. 61 North, and Densing executed the contract following the meeting.

In other news:

• The supervisors adopted a memo of understanding for the Genesis economic prospect project. The exact nature of the project has not been publicy discussed, but Slover said the agreement adopted Monday had to do with grant funds that would be dedicated to the project.

“We are getting this grant, and in return, we are using the grant funds on (infrastructure) the company will be using,” Slover said.

“In the case the company doesn’t do what they are supposed to do — there is a stipulation that they will hire a certain number of Adams County employees — there is a provision in there that we get the money back.”

• The supervisors accepted engineering proposals from Jordan, Kaiser and Sessions for the Genesis project.

• The supervisors voted to advertise a correction to a legal notice originally connected with the Elevance economic development package. In question was the advertised $2 million rail loan.

Planner Allen Laird with the Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District said the correction would reflect the application that actually went through, which was for $2.1 million.