Council Approves Waste Management Bid

FARMINGTON — Residential customers will see their quarterly Waste Management bills go down a bit, at least for the next year, according to a bid submitted by the company to continue to provide service to the city of Farmington.

Farmington City Council on July 16 approved Waste Management’s bid for residential trash, recycling and yard waste pickup for Farmington, giving City Attorney Steve Tennant the go ahead to hammer out the details of a contract with the national company.

The negotiated contract will come back to the City Council for final approval.

The city received two bids for service, one from Waste Management of Tontitown and one from Inland Waste Solutions of Bethel Heights.

Waste Management’s bid provided lower costs for residential trash and recycle for regular customers and lower costs for senior citizens, as compared to Inland’s bid.

According to the Waste Management bid, trash and recycle costs will be $13.10 per month with customers receiving bills quarterly.

This compares to Waste Management’s current fee, $14.70 per month per customer.

For senior adults, ages 62 and up, the monthly cost will be $11 for trash and recycling. Senior adults who want to use yellow bags only can purchase those for $1 per bag and pay $3.90 per month for recycling.

Fees for yard waste will remain the same. Green yard waste bags can be purchased at City Hall, 30 bags for $46.50.

As part of the contract negotiations, Tennant told City Council members that he will ask Waste Management to pick up yard waste every Monday from every house. This has been one of the problems in the past, Tennant said, with the city receiving complaints about the company not picking up yard waste on the same day and in a timely manner.

The bid shows Waste Management will provide a local phone call to Tontitown for customer service, not to an out of state call center. The company will continue to pick up trash and recycling at no cost for city facilities and assist with an annual city cleanup day.

A Farmington resident who complained eight years ago about Waste Management’s billing process spoke to Farmington City Council members about the same concerns last week.

Ree Oxford said she thought her concerns had been addressed in the 2010 contract with Waste Management but they weren’t. She asked the City Council to make sure they would be addressed in the new contract.

Oxford asked the Council to consider two issues.

She said Waste Management bills do not give a specific date when payment is due and when it is considered past due. The bill should also provide information on late payment and when a reinstatement fee would be assessed.

Current Waste Management bills state that the payment is due upon receipt, Oxford noted.

“Every other utility bill I have, all of those give a date, the late fee and the renewal fee,” Oxford said. “It tells you exactly so you expect it and when it happens you know it.”

Tennant said the current Waste Management contract says the late fee is $5 and the reinstatement fee is $35 but it is supposed to be waived the first time.

Oxford showed Tennant where she was assessed a $50 reinstatement fee, not $35.

Oxford also said she has videos that show Waste Management crews throwing yard waste into the trash truck, instead of keeping the bags separate.

She said she believes the company should have some type of consequence if it doesn’t follow what’s written in the contract.

Tennant volunteered to set up a meeting with Waste Management representatives, Oxford and himself to go over her concerns and discuss the bills and trash and grass pickup.

Another part of the contract to be finalized, Tennant said, will be any future fee increases. He wants these tied to the consumer price index.