NATCHEZ — Waste companies can now submit their proposals to become Natchez’s next waste and recycling hauler.

City officials Tuesday approved the document that tells companies what the city is looking for in terms of services — now interested companies must in turn tell the city what those services would cost. Proposals are due by the end of April 9.

Before approving the document, aldermen first had to extend an emergency contract with its current hauler, Waste Pro.

The contract initially gave the board four months’ time while officials prepared for the bidding process. An option to extend the contract, however, afforded the city an additional two months to award a contract before its current tenure with Waste Pro expires.

“It became obvious around the first of March that we weren’t going to get the (request for proposals) issued in time to have it completed by the end of the four months,” City Attorney Bob Latham said.

Latham said Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell advised to send Waste Pro a notice that said the city wished to extend the contract through May. Until then, Latham said he expected the city to enter negotiations with bidders by mid-April and that officials would likely need to use every bit of time available before selecting a company.

The only debate that resulted from the waste and recycling discussion came when Ward 6 Aldermen Dan Dillard requested that each company provide only three references, rather than the five references spelled out in the initially required. Dillard reasoned that five references would make the process unnecessarily “cumbersome.”

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith argued that the board should gather every bit of information it can in order to make an informed decision.

“I don’t understand why you would want less information,” Smith said.

Dillard restated his belief that the process should remain as simple as possible and that too much information could actually hinder their ability to make a decision.

“It is absolutely imperative that you keep this as simple and clear to the point so that you can get qualified and responsive bids on (the services),” Dillard said.

The board voted 5-1 to amend the request for proposals to only require three references, with Smith as the only dissenter.

After the aldermen decided unanimously to publish the request and allow companies to submit their proposals, Latham said the specific information within the proposals would not be made public so as not to interfere with the negotiations process.

Dillard expressed his somewhat apprehensiveness about not declaring the proposals public record, but he consented so long as the reason is to protect the integrity of the process.

The city has been working up to this point since November 2017, when a debacle forced officials to suspend recycling services in order to maintain collection rates for residents. The problems were caused when the city chose not to renew its contract with Waste Pro, but then failed to act on the process required to request new collection proposals. That resulted in the need to enter into an emergency contract to avoid having no garbage collection in the city.

Once proposals come in, officials will compare and contrast the cost of services as well as what services to select, including whether to continue with twice weekly garbage collection or to reduce that frequency to just once a week.

Though various leaders have noted that weekly pickup would likely reduce costs for residents considerably, a number of citizens have voiced their desire to retain twice weekly collection.