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A contract between the Horry County Solid Waste Authority and Charleston County took a major blow at Tuesday鈥檚 Horry County Council meeting.

A budget amendment ordinance dealing with the contract failed to garner the two-thirds super-majority vote necessary to move forward.

The Solid Waste Authority (SWA) approved the contract to begin receiving truckloads of recyclables from Charleston earlier this summer. Charleston County鈥檚 Materials Recycling Facility, or MRF, was shut down when their agreement with Sonoco Recycling expired at the end of July.

With the knowledge that the contract was ending, officials from Charleston County approached Horry County SWA employees to let them know that Charleston was interested in sending their recyclables to Horry County鈥檚 MRF outside Conway.

But Charleston County wanted a new contract by Aug. 1, which left little time for hammering out details, and that was a major sticking point when county council was alerted that the contract had been signed on Aug. 10.

鈥淭he contract needs to be looked at further,鈥� said District 11 councilman Al Allen. 鈥淎nd the operations out there, operating as an authority, I think need to be looked at further because of situations like this being brought forth and introduced to the council.鈥�

The short notice鈥� described as 鈥渂eing under the gun鈥� by District 4 councilman Gary Loftus and others鈥� resulted in resistance from several council members.

District 8 councilman Johnny Vaught took Solid Waste Authority board of directors chairman Lance Thompson to task, asking pointed questions about how the contract came about and why county council had such short notice.

鈥淭his is not against you people (the Horry County SWA), this does not seem like a very good way for Charleston to do business,鈥� Vaught said while addressing Thompson. 鈥淭o put this thing off until right at the end, and all of a sudden they鈥檙e getting rid of Sonoco and now they鈥檝e got to find a fallback position.鈥�

Thompson agreed with Vaught and other councilmen that the short notice was a serious concern, but he noted that the SWA was very careful in forming the contract.

Vaught also questioned Thompson about losses from the Construction and Debris (C&D) fees. Vaught also asked Thompson about whether the Charleston contract would offset the C&D losses.

Thompson noted that the Charleston contract would not only offset C&D losses that would have otherwise been made up by increases in tipping fees, but that the county would potentially see a profit above and beyond the C&D losses.

Another concern from council was whether the Charleston contract would shorten the expected life of Horry County鈥檚 landfill.

鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about three days on an annual basis,鈥� Thompson replied to address their concerns. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e saved from the C&D factory has been, this year, 49 days already and at the MRF, 99 days already.

鈥淲e felt like, with the savings there, although we didn鈥檛 want to have any additional days at the landfill that the number was a reasonable compromise, only being three days,鈥� Thompson concluded.

County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus admonished Thompson and SWA executive director Danny Knight that county council should be kept in the loop on decisions like this in the future.

鈥淢y children don鈥檛 go about it the right way a lot of times, too, but I love them, I teach them, I scold them, and I hope they learn from it,鈥� Lazarus said. 鈥淚 certainly hope, Mr. Knight鈥� that we can learn from this.鈥�

In the end, despite many councilmen agreeing that the contract was a good one, the budget amendment to increase funding for new employees to handle the increased volume failed.

The vote was 7-4 in favor but a budget amendment needs a super majority of nine votes to pass.

鈥淲e鈥檒l have to do what we can do,鈥� Thompson said after the vote. 鈥淲e feel like it鈥檚 a good deal for the citizens of Horry County.

鈥淚 wish we would have gotten called a lot earlier. Everybody was under the gun, trying to struggle and put this thing together.鈥�

Despite the setback, Thompson remained positive.

鈥淲e feel like it鈥檚 a win-win, and hopefully we can still get the budget amendment approved,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l work hard, we鈥檒l do what we have to do and try to cooperate with everybody, and hopefully we鈥檒l get the best deal done for everybody.鈥�