In a move which could save the city nearly $600,000 over the next 10 years, the Starkville Board of Aldermen is considering a change in garbage collection methods from bags to bins.
Under the city”s current garbage collection system, Sanitation Department employees distribute garbage bags to residents and businesses twice a year and then collect the garbage twice a week.
Under a new system proposed by Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker, the city would lease 10,000 96-gallon trash bins or carts and distribute them to residents and businesses. Customers would be required to purchase their own bags in which to put household garbage, and then put those bags in the containers provided free of charge by the city.
Of the city”s 10,542 residential customers, approximately 7,000 live in single-family homes and would require new carts or bins. The remainder live in apartments and similar complexes and would continue to place their garbage in existing front-load containers.
Additionally, each of the 786 businesses which are served by the Sanitation Department would require at least one cart, bringing the total number needed for the first year of the program to nearly 8,000, Parker said. An additional 2,000 carts would be needed in reserve, he said, and additional carts possibly would be required at a cost of approximately $10,000 per year.
The city could lease and distribute the bins on a 6-year plan at a cost of approximately $145,000 per year, or $860,900 total, Parker said. The city would then own the bins and the warranty on each would last an additional four years.
By comparison, the cost to buy and distribute garbage bags to Sanitation Department accounts over the next 10 years would cost the city $1,450,000, so the bin plan would save taxpayers approximately $589,100, Parker said.
On top of the cost savings, the switch would be cleaner for the city, considering garbage bags tend to rip and refuse ends up on the sides of Starkville”s streets, Parker said. Additionally, the switch would be safer for Sanitation Department workers who won”t have to deal with broken glass and other items sticking through bags, he said.
“It”s a cleaner, more sanitary system,” Parker said.
Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins, however, was skeptical of the plan, saying nothing is wrong with the city”s current garbage collection method.
“Our system is not broken, in my opinion, and therefore does not need fixing,” Perkins said.
Perkins contended the Sanitation Department does a “good job” and he hasn”t heard of a public need or outcry to warrant a change.
“I”m of the conservative mind-set,” Perkins said. “Don”t change just because it can be changed.”
Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn also expressed concern about the fact that the Sanitation Department estimated it cost about $20,000 in overtime to distribute garbage bags annually to city residents because Sanitation Department workers are running routes five days a week between garbage and recycling pick-up. Vaughn suggested Sanitation Department workers hand out garbage bags during collection runs to save time and money.
Vaughn also was concerned more employees might be needed to collect garbage if the new cart system is implemented. Parker had said city trucks would have to be outfitted with mechanisms to dump the carts at a cost of $30,000, but also warned routes may take longer in the first month or so as employees get used to the new technology. Additionally, Sanitation Department workers collect trash from the doors of elderly and disabled residents, and the new carts would add time to the collection process, Vaughn and Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver feared.
The board took no action on the proposal, but Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas said he was in support. Having lived in other cities where carts are used, Dumas believes Starkville can implement a similar technique and incorporate it into its curbside recycling pick-up program. The city has received grants to pay for green recycling bags used in the curbside pick-up program. Dumas touted the cost savings associated with a bin or cart program.
“When you look at $600,000 over a 10-year cycle, that”s pretty substantial,” Dumas said.
Other business
In other business Monday, aldermen accepted a proposal from Columbus-based BluBox Recycling to continue Starkville”s curbside recycling program. The city had a contract with Starkville Recycling since implementing the curbside recycling program in October 2009, but Starkville Recycling lost more than $15,000 in the deal and was unable to reach an agreement with the city on a new contract.
Under the agreement with BluBox, Starkville Sanitation Department trucks will continue to collect residents” recyclables and then one truck will take the items to BluBox in Columbus. Starkville will receive 25 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the materials.
Under the previous contract with Starkville Recycling, which expires in the middle of this month, the city was supposed to receive 40 percent of the profits from the sale of the recyclable materials and Starkville Recycling was to keep the remainder. With Starkville Recycling”s $15,000 loss, however, neither side received any proceeds.
“For residents, service will continues as it has in the past,” Parker said.
Residents can continue to use the green recycling already provided by the city.
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