Waste Industries wins garbage bid
♦ Aragon council approves contract for trash collection, ups monthly fees
Garbage bills are going to increase for residential and commercial customers within the City of Aragon, while at the same time an outside firm is going to take over trash pickup.
The municipal division of Waste Industries came in as the best bidder to take over trash collections from the city’s Public Works department, quoting the city a $14 a can price. They were only one of two bidders to seek the business.
City council members voted unanimously to take up the contract, and also decided at the same time to raise the amount customers will pay to have city trash service.
The previous $14 a can rate for seniors, and $17 a can rate for normal residential customers is going up to $20 and $17 for seniors. Commercial customers are also getting a price hike to $250 a month for service on dumpsters.
Price increases are going into effect as of Nov. 1, along with the start of
collections under the Waste Industries contract.
The day of the week Waste Industries will be collecting trash will be announced later this month in forthcoming coverage on the switch over.
Aragon’s contract with Waste Industries for trash services is set last three years, but clauses that would allow either Waste Industries or Aragon to get out are in place as well, Baldwin said.
“Waste Industries was obvious choice due to years in business, amount of referrals they get from other municipalities locally,” Mayor Garry Baldwin said during the city council’s previous work session when discussions were underway on how to move forward.
Price increases and contracting out the service is a measure that Public Works Superintendent Daniel Johnson said is mean to allow the city to “catch up with the rest of the world.”
The city will still directly manage accounts for trash collections, and new cans will be distributed for city customers.
He, along with council member Debbie Pittman and Baldwin reviewed proposals from both Waste Industries and locallyowned The Trash Man who both quoted the city in bids for $14 a can.
“It’ll save on maintenance of the trucks, and it will save employee cost when they are on the truck but not working on other projects,” Johnson said. “They’re still going to be here doing something else. It’s going to free up two days of work for them.”
Baldwin also added when the council questioned the move would provide additional savings in fuel costs and maintenance on the truck.
Johnson said initial savings wouldn’t be felt in the first few months that Waste Industries takes over collections, but that it would be forthcoming once the service got well underway and the New Year is past.
Baldwin said the city will also have to “rework the budget on this a little, but in the long run it’s going to benefit the city and the taxpayers.”
Municipal trash collections remained one of the few city services Aragon undertook on their own, along with the Aragon Police Department.
The only alternative for trash removal for residents is to take it to a convenience center on their own time.
Public Works will still be responsible for plenty of other jobs within the city, and new part time workers are also added to the staff to ensure they can keep up with the workload forthcoming.
The greatest increase in trash costs are coming for commercial customers, who were paying $114 a month for service on dumpsters at businesses like Dollar General.
Johnson said at the previous rate the city wasn’t covering the cost of picking up and making trips to the Grady Road additionally they will be Landfill. unable to drive trucks
He also said under through the city after dark, the contract with Waste or on Sundays without Industries, they’ve prior-permission. agreed not to begin trash That will only come if the collections at anytime route is interrupted due to before 7 a.m., and bad weather or holidays.
City council members voted unanimously to take up the contract, and also decided at the same time to raise the amount customers will pay to have city trash service. The previous $14 a can rate for seniors, and $17 a can rate for normal residential customers is going up to $20 and $17 for seniors. Commercial customers are also getting a price hike to $250 a month for service on dumpsters.