An Augusta Commission committee is set to recommend awarding the city garbage contract Tuesday to Coastal Waste and Recycling, Inc.
Coastal, currently one of Augusta’s two residential waste haulers operating under contract extensions, became the staff recommendation after contract negotiations stalled with highest-ranked vendor Georgia Waste System LLC, according to the agenda item.
Engineering and Environmental Services Director Hameed Malik previously recommended awarding the contract for Augusta’s approximately 65,000 customers to both Coastal and Georgia Waste System, a division of Waste Management.
Going before the Engineering Services committee is a schedule and new rate sheet for the service. The rate sheet shows weekly residential service at a per-unit rate of $22.11, but does not show the final cost to Augusta households, who currently pay $320 annually. In November, Malik recommended increasing the fee by 37%, to $440.
Under what will be a five-year contract, Coastal is required to offer additional contracts directly to customers upon request to provide recycling services. Unit fees for recycling pickup are listed as $12.69 weekly and $10.69 for monthly service.
In other action:
- Engineering Services will review a proposal to consolidate city grounds and vegetation maintenance under a new department and return Environmental Services into its own department. The plan would merge duties now split among Central Services, Recreation and Parks and Engineering and require creating director and deputy director positions, according to the agenda item from the administrator.
- The Public Services committee will consider changing the historic preservation ordinance. Proposed changes include giving applicants a direct appeal of an unfavorable ruling by the Historic Preservation Commission to the Augusta Commission.
- Public Services will also discuss a short-term rental ordinance at the request of Mayor Garnett Johnson. The ordinance would include a 30-day rental limit.
- The Finance committee is set to approve the 2026 budget calendar including a community survey from Jun. 2-30 and an adoption deadline of Nov. 18.
- Administrative Services is set to approve a $329,250 change order for Trane. The amount is left after work no longer required for the company’s city energy project valued at $1.01 million is subtracted from newly discovered deficiencies of $1.4 million.
- Administrative Services will review policy recommendations to reinstall damaged street signs, which will cost $500,000, and the removal of illegal signs and abandoned grocery carts.
- Public Safety will discuss and likely recommend approval of a rewrite of Augusta’s animal ordinance, which was last revised about a decade ago. The agenda item doesn’t include a redline version, but says recommendations impact stray hold periods, nuisance cats, dangerous dogs, mandatory spay/neuters and microchipping.
- Public Safety is expected to recommend acceptance of American Rescue Plan Act funds for calendar years 2023-2025 in the amount of $2.8 million. According to the agenda item, funds are intended to decrease a backlog in violent felony cases and include a digital evidence management project, new audiovisual equipment and the reduction of local expenditures.
Commission committee meetings begin at 1 p.m. in the commission chamber, or later if the commission’s 11 a.m. standing called meeting runs past 1 p.m.
