The Mount Vernon City Council approved a contract with Republic Waste Management for a contract for waste removal beginning July 1, 2022. The vote passed in a 4-1 vote, with Eric Roudabush having the dissenting vote.
Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch noted that there was only one minor issue that had to be addressed from the city attorney’s review of the contract. Nosbisch also noted that the rate increase each year from Republic is scheduled to be 3.5 percent a year, not 4 percent as was reported at last month’s meeting.
Mount Vernon City Council member Scott Rose brought up a new concern – would there be a buyback for garbage tags people had purchased that will be unused at the end of June 2022?
That would be up to the city council to decide, but Nosbisch noted it was something that staff had been considering.
When it came to notifying people of the change, Rose also recommended that they work with Gary’s Foods and other sellers of garbage tags about the change to reach people who have not paid attention to this decision.
The fear for Rose was someone buying tags in early to late June without knowing this change would be happening.
There have been a number of questions that city staff have had to answer about the coming changes, Nosbisch said.
Mount Vernon City Council member Tom Wieseler suggested again that the council think about holding a Saturday session in early spring about the coming changes, but recommended as well that new containers be displayed at city hall so people get a perspective of the different sizes of containers available come July.
“It would also be something to consider at the start of festival season in Mount Vernon,” Wieseler said.
There will be one bulky item clean up day per year, but Nosbisch noted Republic Waste Management offers opportunities for a la carte disposal of bulky items.