New Trash Contract Approved

By a vote of 5-1 Monday night, the Village Board approved a five-year contract extension with Allied Waste Services to handle trash and recycling pickup. And while many of those services will remain the same, there will be some significant changes.

Three of the most notable: the price is going up, incrementally every year until the contract runs out in 2016; every home in Montgomery will now get a covered cart for recyclables, at no extra charge; and your trash pickup day may very well change.

Director Mike Pubentz has been working on this contract extension since June, and he began by asking for public input. Most residents who responded asked for the same services they’d been getting, with the addition of covered carts for trash and recyclables, at an additional cost.

The current agreement, which expires at the end of this year, costs each home $15.50 a month. For that amount, Allied Waste would pick up two 33-gallon cans or bags each week, and one bag of yard waste or bundle of brush.

The new contract will keep services pretty much the same, with the addition of that recycling cart. Residents will get a choice of sizes – Allied will mail a postcard to each home in the village sometime between Dec. 15 and the end of the year, asking residents to pick from a 35-gallon, 65-gallon or 95-gallon cart.

Allied will set up a dedicated email address to collect preferences over January and February, and then deliver all the carts before March 2, Pubentz said. Allied will replace any carts the company loses or damages for no charge, but residents will have to pay $45 to replace any carts otherwise lost or damaged.

Additional recycling carts can be rented as well: a 35-gallon cart will run $3 a month, a 65-gallon cart $3.25 a month, and a 95-gallon cart $3.50 a month. 

Because the new carts are automatically loaded into special (and expensive) trucks, Allied will no longer be able to cover the whole village in two days. That’s why they’re moving to a five-day schedule, which may mean your trash pickup day will change. If it does, it won’t happen until March 5.

It was this provision that sparked much of the conversation on Monday, with some trustees concerned that people will not adapt well to the change. Pubentz tried to put their minds at ease. 

“It’s a change, and sometimes change is difficult, but I think people will adjust, and Allied will work with us,” he said.

Allied will still pick up two 33-gallon plastic bags of trash, or the contents of two garbage containers, per week. They'll pick up one large item, meaning something that doesn't fit into the 33-gallon can, for no extra charge as well. 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.

Allied will allow residents to rent covered trash carts. Monthly rental rates would be $3 for a 35-gallon cart, $3.25 for a 65-gallon cart, and $14.33 for a 95-gallon cart. The price difference, Pubentz said, is the equivalent of the weekly sticker that would be required to remove the extra trash above the two-can (or 66-gallon) limit.

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, and that will continue, as will the free bulk leaf pickup.

Prices will rise for each year of the new contract—see the chart below, although fees will not increase next year until February. 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.

However, the $2-per-household fee the village paid for the fall and spring cleanup days will be eliminated, and those cleanup days will continue.

Allied will also now offer a “snow bird” program for those residents who spend winters in other states. Those residents can suspend trash pickup for the length of their absence, and will not be charged. There’s a one-month minimum, and 10 days’ notice is required.

During the public comment period, residents also complained that Allied workers would sometimes allow trash to slip out of containers and land in the streets. The new contract includes a provision that requires Allied workers to clean up messes they are responsible for.

“I’d like to tell you that we’ll never have an issue with that again,” Pubentz said. “I think we will, but I’m encouraged by Allied’s willingness to work with us on that.”

Trustee Andy Kaczmarek cast the lone dissenting vote. He said he was dismayed that the contract did not go out for bid, and Allied was the only company the village dealt with during the process.

But Trustee Denny Lee said this new contract is still the best deal around, when compared with Montgomery’s neighbors.

“This is what the residents wanted, and what we all wanted,” he said. “If you compare apples to apples, it’s the best program.”

Price increases, year by year: