On the City Council agenda for Tuesday, July 28, is a request from Public Works to send out bids for a new garbage collection contract. They want to get separate pricing on five different scenarios. These are all well and good, except for alternative #5:

The Proposer will be requested to provide the price for the collection of all garbage at curbside only in all sections of the City. This will be a monthly fee based on 39,000 homes served. Pricing will be requested for collection as included in the Base Bid and as proposed in Alternatives #2, #3 and #4.

To try to quell an uproar from residents in the older parts of town, the council communication emphasizes that “Staff is not recommending any one service over another, but is only seeking City Council approval to develop the Request for Proposals based on the attached outline of services and alternates.”

But look, folks, there’s only one reason why that alternative is included in the quote: Staff thinks money can be saved there, and they want to quantify it so they can sell it to the council as a cost-saving measure. If that wasn’t the reason, they wouldn’t ask for it.

The council needs to tell the staff that elimination of alley pickup is not an option, and demand that they remove that alternative from the bid package.

“Why?” you ask. “Shouldn’t we look at all the ways we can save money on the contract?”

Sure! Let’s look at all the options. I’ll bet you that we could save a bunch of money if people who lived on cul-de-sacs brought their garbage out to the nearest through street. That would eliminate a significant amount of time and effort on the part of the garbage haulers, and I’m sure would lead to a lot of savings.

I’m not joking!

I see little difference between alleys and cul-de-sacs. In fact, do you know what another name for “cul-de-sac” is? “Blind alley.” Alleys and cul-de-sacs function almost identically. Whereas neighborhood streets on a grid provide a thoroughfare useful to all residents, alleys only benefit the immediately-adjacent residents. Cul-de-sacs are the same — they benefit only adjacent residents, while collector streets benefit all residents of a subdivision. Alleys provide access for service vehicles (like garbage trucks) and to private garages away from busy thoroughfares. So do cul-de-sacs. It’s harder for larger trucks to navigate alleys; it’s also harder for larger trucks to navigate cul-de-sacs, especially at the end when they have to turn around or back out.

So if we’re going to look at eliminating alley garbage pickup for some of the city’s residents, why don’t we look at eliminating “blind alley” (cul-de-sac) garbage pickup for the rest of the city’s residents? Of course, they’ll never consider that. They’ll tell me that’s crazy talk. It’s not even considered an option.

And that’s my point. Elimination of alley garbage pickup in the older parts of town shouldn’t be an option either. It’s just as crazy.