FARMINGTON -- Farmington City Council will consider a new contract with Waste Management for solid waste, yard waste and recycling at its meeting 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
According to the contract, trash and recycle rates will go down from $14.67 per home per month to $13.10 per home per month, a savings of about $19 for the first year of the contract.
The city requested proposals for companies interested in providing trash service and received two, one from Waste Management of Tontitown and one from Inland Waste Solutions of Bethel Heights.
City officials are recommending that Farmington stay with Waste Management. The five-year contract would be renewable for two consecutive five-year terms. Inland's rate for trash and recycle service would have been $14.65 per month per customer the first year, with rates to go up some each subsequent year of the contract.
Tennant said he is still negotiating the final terms of the contract but that he was pleased with Waste Management's proposal and bid.
"They gave us a pretty good deal," Tennant said Friday. "I'm very pleased with it."
Farmington's previous contract with Waste Management expired in 2015 and the company has continued its service to the city the past three years.
The firm presented three proposals in its bid and the city decided to stay with a weekly bagged trash service and 18-gallon recycling tubs. Yard waste also will be picked up weekly using separate green bags purchased from Waste Management.
The second alternative would have provided 95-gallon carts for trash and recycling for residential customers. The third alternative included the carts but also required local businesses to use Waste Management as their service provider.
As part of the contract, Waste Management will pick up at city facilities at no extra cost and will assist with the annual citywide clean-up.
Fees in the proposal show that residential customers will pay $9.20 per home per month for trash service and $3.90 per home per month to pick up recycling products, totaling $13.10. For senior adults, ages 62 and up, the fee will be $11 per home per month for trash and recyclables. Customers will be billed quarterly.
Waste Management's proposal shows plans for continuous improvements for the city of Farmington. One improvement is that customer calls will be answered locally through the call center in Tontitown.
Tennant said city officials felt it was important that Farmington customers could call a local call center, not a call center in another state.
"This will be a local number only, period, end of story," Tennant said.
Other improvements, the proposal states, are to reduce the amount of contaminated recycling in Farmington through education and outreach programs. Farmington also will be part of a program called Waste Watch where drivers are familiar with their routes and trained to identify situations that appear suspicious.
Tennant said he is still working on two items for the final contract, a specific day to pick up yard waste and how to calculate future fee increases.
Tennant's request is to use Mondays for yard waste because most people mow on the weekend and then they can set out their yard waste bags after mowing.
For the other item, Tennant said he has requested that any future fee increases be tied to the consumer price index, not an arbitrary percentage increase.
The new contract will assure that trash and recyclables will be picked up weekly for everybody on the same day and that yard waste will be picked up weekly for everybody on the same day, Tennant said.
"I think it will assure the most consistent service for the entire city," Tennant added.
General News on 07/11/2018