When a private landfill company made an offer Gainesville couldn't refuse, the city took it.

Both Gainesville and Oakwood pulled out of agreements to use the Hall County landfill several years ago in favor of Advanced Disposal, a waste collection company who offered better rates and more efficiency in transferring municipal trash.

Now Gainesville has negotiated a proposed agreement with the county to get an even better deal, and bring municipal waste back to the Hall County landfill.

The Hall County Board of Commissioners will consider that agreement at a work session today.

The new agreement, according to Gainesville City Manager Kip Padgett, is for the city to pay $33 per ton of waste - compared to $37.50 with their current agreement with Advanced Disposal and the $40 with their previously abandoned county agreement.

The city would also be able to deliver their trash to the county's transfer station, rather than dumping it themselves at the Hall County landfill, Padgett said.

Cary Lawler, Hall County's solid waste manager, said the deal would be beneficial for both the city and the county.

"We obviously recapture some of the revenue that was lost," he said.

In September, Hall commissioners gave Public Works Director Ken Rearden the authority to negotiate prices with Oakwood and Gainesville to dump city trash at the county landfill. The hope was to bring back revenue through the use of the landfill, and make the county less reliant on tax dollars.

Oakwood worked out an agreement weeks ago to pay $34 per ton to use the county's landfill, Lawler said.

Padgett said Advanced Disposal has made a counter-offer, but said the most comfortable partnership may be with the county, citing the potential for coordinated recycling efforts.

"There would be some long range benefits," he said, "Also, it's just being a good neighbor."

If Hall commissioners approve the deal, the subject would go back the Gainesville City Council for a vote.