City decides to privatize public works department

GAUTIER — The Gautier City Council has approved a contract to have Clearwater Solutions become the service provider for the public works department.

The Sun Herald reports the first year of the five-year contact will cost the city a little more than $1.6 million; the other years will cost a little more than $1.7 million.

The city adopted a $9.6 million budget for fiscal 2013 yesterday, which included a $680,000 budget cut.

More than $360,000 of that cut comes from privatizing the public works department.

Public works employees will work for the city until Dec. 1, when Clearwater will take over the department.