Because it’s a local company, a Cody contractor is getting a discounted price on some big piles of Park County scrap metal.

Out of three companies that submitted bids on the appliances and other metal items that have accumulated at the county landfills in Cody, Powell and Clark, Harris Trucking & Construction offered the least amount of money: $141 per ton. A Utah-based company, Western Metals Recycling, was willing to pay $150 for every 2,000 pounds while Pacific Recycling & Steel, a Montana-based firm with a Casper location, offered $148 per ton.

However, because Park County’s procurement policy gives a 10% preference to companies in the county, Harris Trucking’s Wyoming Steel Services was awarded the contract to gather up and recycle the metal.

“In this case, we get paid less, but the Wyoming, Park County recycler is reaping the benefit,” Park County Engineer Brian Edwards explained to commissioners at their Jan. 19 meeting.

And while the county is getting less money for the materials than it could have, it’s getting a lot more cash than it did in 2017, when Western Metals paid $90 per ton; Harris’ offer of $141 per ton “seems like a pretty dang good price,” said Commissioner Lloyd Thiel.

County officials don’t know how many trailer frames, auto parts, scrap iron, washers, dryers, fridges and other items are piled up at the landfill, but the last two pickups averaged roughly 660 tons. If there’s a similar amount of material now, Harris Trucking would wind up paying the county around $93,000, roughly $6,000, or 6%, less than what Western Metals offered this year.

It’s a long-standing Wyoming policy to give preferential treatment to companies that have a significant presence in the state.

Wyoming law requires government agencies to award construction and other public works projects to in-state contractors, unless their bids are more than 5% higher than the low bid submitted by a “nonresident” firm.

On top of that, Park County gives an additional 5% preference to vendors with an office in the county. The policy, which was adopted by commissioners in late 2019, explains that the Park County government “was created and exists to benefit and serve the people of Park County,” including local businesses and firms. So in this case, a Park County firm could have offered as little as $135 a ton and still won the contract for the scrap metal.

Commissioners had some initial confusion about whether the procurement policy would apply to this particular situation, since the bidders were paying the county, rather than the other way around.

“So we’re going to allow them to pay us less,” mused Commission Chairman Lee Livingston.

However, Edwards said both Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric and a representative from Workforce Services indicated that “the county’s receiving something of value — whether it be dollars or services in exchange for dollars — so the interpretation was that it probably would still apply.”

While the county may seek a formal opinion from the attorney general, Edwards said the advice was to stick with the 10% preference in this case, given that the county had specifically advertised the preference would be given.

“... we have other problems if we change now,” he said, adding, “everybody knew the rules when they submitted their bid.”

Harris must begin salvaging operations within 30 days of the contract being awarded.