By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The city of Alabaster likely will take a major step toward starting its own residential garbage service later this month, as it is preparing to open bids on a project to construct a facility to house the city’s garbage trucks, according to city leaders.

During an Aug. 7 City Council work session, Alabaster City Manager Brian Binzer said the city will open bids on the project on Aug. 18 before the council awards the bid during an upcoming meeting.

In April, council members voted to enter into a $66,600 contract with the Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon engineering and architectural firm to design the proposed public works facility, which is slated to be constructed on the southern end of Limestone Park off U.S. 31. The contract will be paid for from the city’s garbage fund.

The city is planning to construct the public works facility between the park’s central lake and the Alabaster Police Department shooting range.

City leaders decided to work with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon to design the building before bidding it out after it recently rejected a pair of bids to design and construct the entire project.

In March, the city received two bids from companies interested in designing and constructing the facility, but the City Council voted to reject the two bids during an April 10 meeting after one bid did not meet specifications and the other was significantly higher than the city had estimated.

Binzer said the city has already had multiple prequalification meetings with companies interested in bidding on the construction project.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some good bids coming through on that project,” Binzer said.

Once completed, the Limestone facility will play a major role in Alabaster’s in-house garbage service, which is slated to begin in January 2018. The city’s current garbage and recycling provider, Advanced Disposal, will continue to serve the city until then.

In late 2016, the Alabaster City Council voted unanimously to place an order through the National Joint Powers Alliance competitive bid list for six Freightliner garbage trucks for a total price not to exceed about $1.38 million. Before the trucks are delivered later this year, Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon and Binzer will present the matter to the City Council to approve final financing or lease options for the trucks.

Handlon said three of the trucks will be used for residential curbside garbage collection, and the other three will be used for residential curbside recycling collection. The city will only provide residential service, meaning business and school customers who use dumpsters will have to contract their pickup services elsewhere.