Garbage Pickup May Get Costlier

WATER VALLEY – Residential garbage rates in the county could increase from $12 to $13 per month after proposals accepted Monday came in higher than the current rate.
    Waste Management submitted the lowest of the four proposals accepted by supervisors. The company bid $11.71 per can per month, 83 cents higher than the current $10.88 the county now pays.
    This could push the consumer’s rate to $13, as the county currently charges the consumer an extra dollar-plus to cover the operating expenses of the solid waste department.
    If Waste Management’s proposal is accepted, it will also terminate a 12-year business relationship with Resourceful Environmental Services (R.E.S), the company who currently provides curbside garbage pickup in the county.
    The proposal from R.E.S.  came in at $12.37, 66 cents higher than Waste Management. Both Waste Management and R.E.S. were significantly lower than the $14.75 bid by Waste Pro and $16.35 bid by Arrow Disposal Service.
    The price could be negotiated downward with the companies, as the county accepted proposals instead of bids for the garbage pickup.
    Supervisors tabled the proposals until Friday, when the contract will be awarded during a recessed meeting at the Water Valley Courthouse.
    “There are several different factors involved other than the price. I think we will probably be well advised to take this under advisement until our next meeting,” Board President Tommy Vaughn suggested Monday.
    Other criteria in the proposal include future cost increases based on the price of diesel fuel and ton rate for dumping the garbage that will also factor in to Friday’s decision
    “I am satisfied, they are a big company,” District Three Lee McMinn said Monday, referring to Waste Management. McMinn and other supervisors have expressed frustration with R.E.S., both for poor service and poor communication with company officials during the last 24 months.
    “It looks pretty good to me,” Vaughn agreed at Monday’s meeting.