The city’s solid waste removal contract with waste removal solutions for households expires at the end of this year. This contract has been in place since about 1992. Now, if you’re just an average person, you might think that the city had plenty of time to start the process of rebidding this contract. After all, they knew when it was due to expire, and they know how long it takes to negotiate contracts such as these, so logically they should have been able to work backwards from the deadline to determine a time line for the rebidding process.
But they didn’t do that. No, here it is June 2009, six months before the end of the contract, and they’re just starting the year-long process. Naturally, they are requesting an extension to the existing contract that has been in place for 17 years already to allow them extra time to negotiate a new contract. That request was on last week’s (June 23) agenda, but was deferred for a month.
Meanwhile, they managed to engage a consultant to get some advice on rebidding the contract. I don’t know exactly how city departments are allowed to spend their budget, but it seems to me that every other consultant that has been hired by the city had to be approved by the council; this consultant contract never came before the council. However, it must be no big deal because the council didn’t seem to care.
The consultant made a bunch of recommendations on how the city can lower the cost of waste removal. Of course, all those suggestions mean worse service for residents. For instance, they’re recommending that everyone be provided a 90-gallon tote, and that all other garbage containers be outlawed. You wouldn’t be able to buy your own tote, of course — you’d have to essentially rent it from the disposal company. And they want to do away with alley collection of garbage, even though that’s one of the reasons alleys exist, and many older neighborhoods were designed for garbage collection from the alleys, not from the curb.
To their credit, the city council has so far been pretty adamant about keeping the alley collection of garbage, but city staff is trying to convince them to change their minds. They want to big the contract with all-curbside pickup as an option so the council can see how must more expensive it is to include alley collection. There’s only one reason for splitting out these costs: to try to persuade change. One wonders why it’s more expensive to run a truck down an alley rather than a parallel street 130 feet away. Waste Management says their trucks are too big for our alleys (solution: use smaller trucks). City staff says the heavy trucks damage the alley surfaces (question: wouldn’t moving the trucks to the streets just move the damage to the streets as well? Or is this an admission that alleys are poorly maintained in the city?).
The consultant is also suggesting that the city limit or do away with picking up anything that doesn’t fit inside one of the recommended 90-gallon totes. So, whereas now you can throw away that old couch or cabinet (what they call “bulky waste”) — the consultant says that should stop, be reduced to just once or twice a year, or charged an extra fee, such as $10 or $15 per item.
The biggest issue, however, is going to be how to include universal recycling. There is a lot of popular support for alleyside/curbside recycling as part of the base contract. Currently, anyone who wants to recycle has to pay extra and are billed directly by the hauler. That means that a household like mine that recycles pays three times for garbage service: once on our property taxes, once on our water bill, and once directly to Waste Management. Most households are not willing to pay three times for garbage hauling, so they just throw all their recyclables away in the regular trash. In other words, our current system incentivizes people not to recycle. That needs to be changed.
However, that will cost more money. So the question becomes how to pay for such service. One idea is to do the opposite of what we’re doing now: make recycling pickup free, but charge a fee for regular garbage. The way they do this in Morton is by selling trash stickers. However, in a more urban area, there is concern that this might lead to more illegal dumping or other unsanitary conditions as some people attempt to avoid the fee. So another idea is to make all collections every-other week. Regular garbage would be picked up on odd weeks, and recycling would be picked up on even weeks, for instance.
One other change that has been recommended in order to save money is switching to a sticker system for yard waste. Right now, unlimited yard waste disposal is included in the base contract. The cost of that service could be offset or possibly covered completely by charging residents a fee per bag of yard waste. On the other hand, this would be yet another reduction in services city residents already enjoy and for which they already pay twice.
Who would have thought garbage could be so complicated?
Wait … we don’t already pay a city tax for yard waste disposal when we buy the brown bags? Dude … that’s screwed up.
I grew up in a town that had twice-yearly “bulky items” disposal for free; you paid at other times of the year. It actually had a bit of a carnival atmosphere and turned the town into a giant, free rummage sale as people went scavenging other people’s old couches. Time it to coincide with Bradley move-in or move-out and you could get an even better scavenge going. (IIRC, we usually put stuff out a couple days early to facilitate scavenging before the pickup.)
I don’t know about the rest of you, but us older folks just can’t roll a 90 gal container to the curb as easy as the rest. I like the way East Peoria has its twice a year junk pick up. And as mentioned before its a great scavenger hunt for people in need. Recycling has always been a top priority for me but it sure gets expensive for those on restricted budgets. I used to live in a town where all recycling came once a month and it was free. They got al my plastics, bottles, cans, etc., all rinsed and ready for pick up. I would much prefer to see alley pick up instead of curbside as its neater and its actually easier for the trucks. They don’t have to negotiate between parked cars at the curb. If Waste Management’s trucks are too big for alleys, that’s their problem, not ours to solve. Keep the trash cans in the alley and out of site. Also, then we don’t have to haul them in and out in all kinds of weather. Why is it the city always wants to fix what ain’t broke? And I’m sick of paying consultants to tell us how to run our town and county. Evidently no one on the council or staff has enough smarts to figure this out without the extra cost.
gary says
I live 6 th street in pekin . If ameren get another rate increase, its going so expensive, I going to think ameren sucks.
I guess you have to blow the transformer on 6 th street in pekin illinois to get me in line, I got $300.00 of meat in the freezer don’t want to spoil
The alleys in our neighborhood in the West Bluff are 16 feet wide…. plenty wide for any truck. I have seen two large trash trucks pass each other cleanly on a full 16′ wide alleyway. Sixteen feet what they are platted to be and if the city goes and redoes them, its redone at sixteen feet. With poor maintenance by the city (yes it IS the city’s responsibility) and encroachments by resident’s landscaping (poor code enforcement), some of the alley space is lucky to be half that. Add the generally poor quality of the surface in many areas and well, I can see why Waste Management would prefer to get out of there.
An observation concerning curbside recycling: I almost never see a recycling tub or tote remaining at the curb the next day after pick up. You would never know garbage had been picked up there. In alleyways, you will see garbage cans and garbage strewn about all the way up to the night before collection day. It’s a constant mess. People just don’t seem to care much about their alleyspace.
Yeah code enforcement is supposed to take care of that…. yeah… lol. We used to have an officer who actually patrolled and proactively went out and wrote tickets, rather than wait to be called. That is how it SHOULD be. But they rotated the officers and now we have one that seems to only work on a call by call basis.
How in the heck do you pay 3 times for garbage? The water bill Garbage Fee DOES NOT go to garbage collection. Never has.
You can buy large totes that are nearly identical to the ones ‘rented’ by Waste Management, at Lowe’s and other places. They are made by Rubbermaid.
My street in West Peoria recently went to curbside instead of alley garbage pickup. I thought I would hate it, but I much prefer it. Before I had to open my back gate–often trudge through mud and/or snow, etc. The only time I found it inconvenient now is when it is raining and/or extremely windy–because the empty cans (and lids that are never put back on the cans) do have to be retrieved more quickly.
Emtronics – while I don’t agree with the trash fee, a case can be made that it does in fact support trash pickup. Once upon a time, the City realized they were in financial difficulties. They also noted that the full cost of refuse collection was paid from property taxes. Being of a certain economic bent, they decided that a portion of the cost of refuse collection should be borne directly by the users rather than from property taxes so they instituted a monthly fee.
The revenues collected from this fee are utilized to offset the revenues that used to be garnered by property taxes. So yes, your monthly fee goes to pay “a portion” of the cost of refuse collection. The remainder is paid from property taxes. The portion of property taxes that used to go to refuse collection is now spent on other items (originally, some additional police services, code enforcement services, etc.). Sure it’s a shell game, but it is accurate to say that the fee covers a portion of refuse collection. If this hadn’t been done, the City would have increased property taxes to raise revenue – which in my opinion, would have been inappropriate.
It would have been better if they had made the ENTIRE cost of the refuse collection fee based. Then there may have been a realization that the cost was excessive and needed to be renegotiated. Additionally, the imposition of a per bag fee and provision of free recycling (at the same time) would/might have changed people’s behaviors regarding the use of garbage collection (hopefully to entice more recycling).
I think we should get rid of our government and just hire these consultants on an ad hoc basis… I think that migh solve some of the waste in government problems…
1) Identify a problem
2) hire a consultant
3) vote on his/her reccommendations
Who needs government?
Why does the City Council need to hire consultants to make recomendations we pay City staff to make? Sounds like Dist. # 150. Also, how many times and how many ways must we pay for garbage collection?
Again Peo Proud, which shell is the peanut under? My God you must be in politics.
A Consultocracy?
I have to ask Peo Proud. What are Property Taxes for if not to provide services such as police/fire protection, schools, roads, garbage pickup? How long before someone on the council decides that hey, calling the police because you see a suspicious car or person should require a special fee? What a crock of political bull$hit. You may sell that “garbage” to the blind and ignorant, but not to me or any citizen who can see the light.
While I agree with CJ about the false crisis of urgency that is created by willful staff delays, what is the problem with getting everything costed out: curbs vs. alleys, totes vs. cans, bulky items, etc.? I think that if it were the other way around, and staff just brought the council a take-it-or-leave-it contract, you’d complain that they were trying to rig the system. You can’t have it both ways.
I pay property taxes but I do not have garbage pickup.
Kcdad new updated profile : Utopian, anarchist, anti government, pro consultant.
Why doesn’t the City Council do like Obama and hire a garbage czar to advise them. It seems to work for him.
Sud asks “…what is the problem with getting everything costed out…?”
Everything? How about having them see how much we could save if people who live on cul-de-sacs tote their garbage out to the nearest through-street? If they’ll do that, then I have no problem with them breaking out the costs of alley pickup.
PC: You don’t need garbage pickup, you dump it all here.
EM: “What are Property Taxes for ”
to pay your city officials. They neither work nor toil for their own sustinance… so from your bounty they take a “tithe”.
Property taxes are only way that the government could be funded… they are not the 11th commandment.
CJ — That is an excellent idea. Would you include just cul-de-sacs or also dead end streets? Have you shared that with anyone who is a decision maker? I think all the costs should be on the table so that informed decisions can be made.
Councilman Montelongo is looking for positive suggestions and feedback on the garbage contract. What services do you prefer to keep? What services could be changed or eliminated? What services would you like added? Please forward your suggestions to him at his city email address.
RE: trucks in the alleys. Not everyone has 16 ft wide alleys. There is a significant amount of the city where they are much much smaller, smaller lots, unpaved, etc. One has to meet the entire needs of the city when looking at contractual services, not just one neighborhood.
Having had discussions with Waste Management in the past about services, there are things which could be swapped out, such as previously mentioned, a twice yearly large item pickup vs. weekly. That does shift cost. Also realize that with a chunk of the population that simply doesn’t care beyond their own nose, there will be more dumping of those items in creeks, alleys, etc. Much like tires are currently being done. It all has to be weighed and discussed. A change in one direction can lead to unanticipated and unwanted reactions. Re: buying toters at Lowe’s etc. Not everyone uses the same standards for design, however there is only one design on the truck for picking toters up, hence the desire for the same toters being used.
Paul.. the toters I am referencing … are exactly the same but Black rather than green. They are designed specifically for the equipment Waste Management and many other waste haulers nationwide, use.
Paul, I think you would be surprised how many alleys throughout the city are platted 16′ wide. That is not to be confused with their actual day to day width. The city at some point in the past has opted not to maintain the full 16′. As far as some not being paved…. again back to the city for not doing it’s basic services. It’s kind of like sidewalks which we know are near and dear to your heart.
There is a wonderful tool at the County website that has platt data on it.
http://gis.peoriacounty.org/website/external/
In October Peoria Heights started a curbside recycling program. The program is free to residents and is so easy that participation was at almost 50% in less than 6 months. All you have to do to start is make one phone call to get your free tote. You have a choice of 3 sizes and it shows up on your lawn about a week after you call. Pickup is every other week on the same day as garbage pickup. There is no sorting and they take almost everything except #6 plastics. The recycling pickup is provided by Eagle Enterprises of Galva, IL.
We have a 96 gallon tote and it is full every two weeks. Sometimes we even have large pieces of cardboard that we set to the side of the tote and they will take that also. We have our garbage down to only one 13-gallon kitchen bag a week for a 5 person household….that is less than half of what we used to put out. I realize that Peoria Heights is paying for the cost of the recycling out of general funds. However, I would think that the Village would see some cost savings in disposal fees if the total amount of garbage being collected and dumped is decreasing.
In the case of the City of Peoria, which is running out of room in it’s current landfill and is currently taking bids for the construction of a new cell…I would think that the costs of recycling would be worth it if it meant adding more years of capacity at the existing landfill cells and therefore deferring the costs of a new cell.
Paul, the alleys in your neighborhood are also 16′. Alleys on the near north side (for example, on Perry) are 18-20′. Alleys on the south side (for example, around Stanley) are 15′. The East Bluff (around New York and Ravine, and in the 2200 block of Sheridan), the alleys are 16′. Central bluff (around Pasadena and Wisconsin), the alleys are 16′.
No matter where I look, I can’t seem to find these “much, much smaller” alleys. I do know from experience that many alleys are poorly maintained, sometimes unpaved, and thus have the appearance of being narrower. But that begs the question, why has the city neglected them? Probably the same reason the sidewalks and other infrastructure are neglected.
“One has to meet the entire needs of the city when looking at contractual services, not just one neighborhood.” Indeed. There are many neighborhoods that receive alley garbage pickup, not just one. Just because some neighborhoods don’t have alley pickup doesn’t mean it should be eliminated from those that do.
C.J. How do you know the various alley widths in the city? I wouldn’t know where to go look for that information.
Kcdad updated profile: Utopian, anarchist, anti government, pro consultant, anti garbage dumping
Point of information : garbage collection in my neighborhood is left to the individual in paying a company to collect or take it to the county landfill once a week or recycle what can be and dispose of the rest (incineration)
Paul O’Donnell — I got it from the county’s GIS database to which Mahkno linked above. It includes the official plat of the city as a layer complete with dimensions.
C.J.-Thank you. I’ve been amazed at the facts that Peoria area bloggers, but especially you, come up with. I don’t always share your conclusions, but I’m always impressed by your knowledge and if necessary, your research. You should run for local office.
Zero waste efforts can be successful. The Pepsi Bottling Group and OAKLEAF worked together to recycle and divert waste at selected sites in the U.S. They reduced the amount of waste going to the landfill by as much 68% in a very short amount of time.
See how they did this at 7/23 Webinar from OAKLEAF Zero Waste…One Solution http://bit.ly/KcBWC