Any change of trash pick up for Mount Vernon residents likely won’t take place until next July, though the city council is seeking options other than the tag system used now.
The City of Mount Vernon expects bids for solid waste removal in the community to be returned by early September, and a decision to be made after discussions happen at that time.
A rate change will most likely take effect July 1, 2022, according to Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch
“That would give us plenty of time to notify Wapsi Waste if we were moving away from their system and not have us transition our waste services in the middle of a year,” Nosbisch said.
The average customer’s garbage bill is $11.19 per month, and an additional $1.25 for recycling, Nosbisch said at the meeting. This does not include $3 per tag.
He expects rates to go up. The city will be losing a stipend of $24,000 per year for recycling and will need to recoup those costs.
Mount Vernon mayor Jamie Hampton said that getting bids from companies will let the city compare the costs of automated vs. the tags system moving forward, and the city will be able to have more in-depth conversations on this issue in September.
Mount Vernon city council member Eric Roudabush noted that the increase for solid waste if the city were to remain with Wapsi could be cheaper than pursuing bids from an automated company.
Roudabush also noted that one of the issues that Lisbon residents have complained about with the shift to automated pick-up of garbage is the times when their garbage has been left behind because someone parked too close to their garbage bins to allow the truck to safely collect the trash. That rarely happens with Mount Vernon’s current system.
Mount Vernon resident and former waste management worker Floyd Pelkey volunteered his services to look over the request for proposals before they are sent to make sure the city will be getting the types of bids they are seeking.
Chad Barker of ABC Waste Disposal asked about the scope of Mount Vernon’s solid waste budget.
Nosbisch noted that the costs of the program annually were roughly $190,000, and the city had more than 1,500 properties that took part in garbage and recycling programs each year.