Politics & Government

Trustees Support Trash Contract Extension

At Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting, trustees gave the nod to a proposed five-year contract extension with Allied Waste Services, which would see increased prices, and each home given a covered recycling cart.

If you like the job Allied Waste Services has been doing with waste disposal in Montgomery, you’re in luck.

Trustees on Tuesday night gave their support to a five-year extension of Republic’s contract to provide garbage, recycling and yard waste collection, and abandoned a plan to seek proposals from other vendors. The village’s current five-year contract with Allied was signed in 2007, and expires in March of next year.

At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, five of the six trustees agreed to the extension. Trustee Andy Kaczmarek was absent. The contract must be formally voted on by the Village Board to pass.

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The new contract would keep services pretty much the same, with one major exception: each home would receive a covered recycling cart.

Residents would get a choice of sizes – according to Aric Henschen, general manager with Allied, the company would mail a postcard to each home in the village, asking residents to pick from a 35-gallon, 65-gallon or 95-gallon cart. Allied will set up a dedicated email address for 30 days to collect preferences, and then deliver all the carts in one week, Henschen said.

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Allied will still pick up two 33-gallon plastic bags of trash, or the contents of two garbage containers, per week. Any amount of trash over that, including bulk items, must be stickered, and paid for separately.

Allied will also take one bag of yard waste or one bundle of brush each week. The village also has a senior program that allows those 65 and older to buy 14-gallon trash bags at a discounted rate, and avoid the monthly fee.

Prices would rise for each year of the new contract: $16.80 in 2012, $17.47 in 2013, $18.17 in 2014, $18.90 in 2015, and $19.65 in 2016.

Rates for stickers—for bulk items or other trash above the allotted amount—would stay at $2.50 for 2012, but rise each year after that: $2.60 in 2013, $2.70 in 2014, $2.81 in 2015 and $2.92 in 2016. However, the $2-per-household fee for cleanup days would be eliminated under the new proposal.

Rates for senior bags would also rise. At current, bags cost $1.31 each. Under Allied’s proposal, that price would rise to $1.50 in 2012, $1.55 in 2013, $1.60 in 2014, $1.65 in 2015, and $1.70 in 2016.

Other changes: Allied will allow residents to rent covered trash carts, although Tim Lintner, municipal services manager, said the option to rent a 95-gallon cart was still not set in stone. The company would charge a $15 delivery fee, and monthly rental rates would be $3 for a 35-gallon cart, $3.25 for a 65-gallon cart, and $3.50 for a 95-gallon cart, if allowed.

Allied will also devise a “snowbird” program, allowing residents to avoid the monthly charges when they are out of town. The program would be designed for those who spend summers in other states, and Director Mike Pubentz suggested Tuesday that residents would need to be out of town for at least a month to take advantage of the program, although the details have not been nailed down.

Trustee Bill Keck noted that some residents had complained about Allied’s customer service call center. Lintner said steps have been taken to improve it, and the village will review that service monthly.

Trustees Matt Brolley and Stan Bond asked about possibly purchasing, or renting to own, the covered trash containers. Lintner and Henschen said it was possible, but a system had not been implemented for that yet.

The five trustees present Tuesday were impressed with Allied’s proposal. Brolley said the pricing was “excellent,” and Trustee Denny Lee noted Montomery’s rates are still below those of neighboring communities.

The Village Board will vote on Allied’s contract extension at a future meeting.


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