The City of Mount Vernon will be seeking request for proposals for solid waste and recycling bids. At their meeting July 7, council members will decide on language for the RFP — exactly what the city is looking for from its waste hauler — with bids to be returned later in July for review.
Whether or not the city moves forward with automated haulers or sticks with Wapsi Waste and the tag system is something the council will need to review in late July, Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch said The isn’t obligated to accept any bids, but is putting out the RFP to compare costs from different systems.
“The one thing I will note is that regardless of what choice we make, solid waste costs will most likely be increasing,” Nosbisch said.
The city will no longer receive a stipend from Linn County Solid Waste, which has offset the cost of its recycling program, so the city will be taking on additional costs for recycling this year, Nosbisch said. Additionally, the city had absorbed an increase in garbage rates at the beginning of 2019 instead of raising the fees, expecting that decision to be only for 2019. Then, COVID-19 hit and delayed the city seeking RFPs for bids for the solid waste.
The city did hear from resident Janet Budack about the impact moving to automated waste removal would have. An automatic monthly fee means snowbirds will be paying for trash pick-up when they are out of state. With the tags system, the rate snowbirds were paying for garbage was minimal. Budack hoped the city would take that into account with the system they work towards.
Mount Vernon city council member Eric Roudabush stated he is currently opposed to a switch from the tags and bags system to an automated system for garbage, as he feels the rates will hit those on lower or fixed incomes more detrimentally.
“If we’re talking an additional 50 to 75 cents for more tags and an additional $5 a month we’re going to increase rates for citizens, that is probably not going to impact people on low or fixed incomes,” Roudabush said. “If we’re talking about a more significant increase to rates, however, that will most likely impact people on tighter incomes.”
Mount Vernon city council member Debra Herrmann asked if there were additional options beyond once a week or once every other week that would be looked into.
Nosbisch said that doing more than that would be a more complicated system for administration by city staff.
Nosbisch noted that city staff would be responsible for communicating changes when people move and a new resident for a home is to come in as to what size containers were needed.
Mount Vernon mayor Jamie Hampton said seeking RFPs for trash would be beneficial for the city to look at the costs of the current program and what costs would be for moving to an automated system to compare both costs and arrive at a better decision.
Herrmann agreed that having those fees would help the city determine solid waste bids.
Lisbon, who has contracted with Johnson County Refuse and has automated garbage pick-up, has rates of $23.75 per month for a 65 gallon container picked up weekly, $21.75 per month for a 35 gallon picked up weekly and $16.75 for a 35 gallon container picked up every other week a month. Additional bags of garbage costs $3 each.
City going out for RFP bids for solid waste
July 1, 2021
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.