Dyer County is again seeking bids for the disposal of garbage collected at its three convenience centers.

The county received only one bid on Oct. 8. Some members of the County Commission’s Local Government Committee suggested that the county might have received more bids if the specifications weren’t so restrictive.

The bid specifications asked that all garbage be taken to the Dyersburg Landfill. At the time, County Building Inspector Daniel Cobb, who oversees operation of the convenience centers, believed that the garbage had to stay within the county’s boundaries.

Cobb has since learned that isn’t true.

So, after the county commission meeting on Oct. 13, Cobb and County Attorney Mike Gauldin met with members of the local government committee.

Gauldin said he told committee members that the county has a right to specify where its garbage is taken, but that it could also re-bid the project with fewer restrictions on the landfills used.

Cobb asked committee members for guidance, explaining that the county doesn’t have much time. The current garbage disposal contract expires on Nov. 27.

Although the committee didn’t take an official vote, Gauldin said members instructed him to draw new bid specifications. The new specs ask which landfill will be used and request information on the landfill’s history and operations. The specifications also note that the county is attempting to establish a recycling program and ask for a 2-cubic-yard container for aluminum cans at each convenience center and transportation of the aluminum (and any recyclables collected in the future) to a recycling facility. Gauldin said the specifications also estimate the tonnage of garbage to be moved and estimates how many times the dumpsters will need to be emptied.

The new bids are to be opened at 9 a.m. Nov. 6 in the Dyer County Building and Zoning Office, 1910 Pioneer Road.

The local government committee had already planned to meet at that time to discuss the sole bid received in the first go-round. Waste Management of Jackson, which has been transporting and disposing of the convenience center garbage since last November, was the only company to bid on Oct. 8.

Cobb told the local government committee on Oct. 9 that Waste Management had saved the county $8,674 in the last nine months because its fees were lower than those charged the previous year by Barker Brothers Waste of Troy.

Waste Management’s new bid was expected to save the county about $1,500 a year, when compared to the existing contract, Cobb told the committee.

The new contract is to last three years.