NATCHEZ — Three potential waste collection service providers met Monday with the Adams County Board of Supervisors to answer questions and discuss their proposals.

The bidders and their proposals for twice-a-week collection in the county are per month, per household: Metro Service Group, $9.72; Hometown Waste LLC, $9.70; and Waste Pro, $9.79.

District 5 supervisor Calvin Butler said each of three service contracts are close in terms of price.

District 1 Supervisor Mike Lazarus agreed.

“Negotiations have been real competitive,” Lazarus said. “That is always a good sign. Plus, they have been going well. We should find a good provider out of Hometown Waste LLC, Metro Service Group and Waste Pro.”

After Monday’s meeting, the board agreed to meet with the bidders again on July 23 to continue negotiations.

Between now and the board’s 9 a.m. Monday meeting, Lazarus said, county attorney Scott Slover will take the best offer the board received on Monday from these companies, compile it on a spreadsheet.

One of the talking points during the upcoming meeting will be prices for extra pick up at the county’s sanitation disposal convenience stations located at 511 A Upper Kingston Road and 228 Foster Mound Road, Butler said.

All three bidders proposed free pick up at those stations. However, for the extra pick ups at those locations, Butler said, the three services will impose an extra haul fee.

“Any additional haul will cost anywhere from $200 to $225 depending on which contract we go with,” Butler said. “Those boxes at Kingston and Foster Mound can easily fill up over the weekend. So we will try to negotiate a better price on that charge because it can get costly.”

Butler said he hopes the board can negotiate one of the services to lower the extra pick up hauling fees at those stations to approximately $150.

Currently, The City of Natchez is getting charged $13 per month per household for trash pick up as a base price while the county’s fee is $10. The reason the county’s service is cheaper comes down to many different variables, said city administrator Joe Murray.

“The city also has a recycling option that goes into its fee,” Murray said. “There are just so many different variables that go into the set prices for collection.”

Currently, the county is contracted with Waste Pro, while Metro Service Group is contracted with Concordia Parish and Hometown Waste LLC is a new start-up company.

Butler said the county’s current contract with Waste Pro ends on Nov. 30, and must be included in the new budget before it goes into effect Oct. 1.

“The new contract will start Dec. 1,” Butler said. “The board just wanted to get ahead of this situation so we can factor it into the budget.”