Council Rejects Waste Management Inc. Extension, Goes Out to Bid

Twinsburg will go shopping for trash service for the first time since 2005.

City Council unanimously rejected legislation Tuesday night ( was absent) that would have extended the city’s contract with Waste Management, Inc. for another three years. Instead, the city will test the waters again for the best price.

“I don’t understand why we wouldn’t go out to bid on this,” said.

because council wanted to compare the numbers from a variety of other cities in the area.

The current contract, ending in December, was a three-year extension of the original agreement made in 2005. The proposed extension would have extended the contract with Waste Management until 2014.

According to the proposed contract, there would be no rate increase in 2012, which currently stands at $13.35 a month per unit. But the price would go up 2 percent each year after that. By 2014, the rate will be $13.89.

Public Works Director Chris Campbell researched cities like Macedonia, Bedford, Aurora and others to see what their trash services looked like. But he said because of the variety of different services each city has, it was like comparing apples to oranges. Both Campbell and said they liked the service Waste Management has provided throughout the years.

“We’ve gotten to a point where I’m very comfortable with them,” Campbell said. “The problems that we deal with on a weekly basis are minimal.”

Council President Gary Sorace agreed with that level of comfort as a customer, but wants to see more options.

“Wouldn’t it be due diligence on our part to check what people have and then make a decision?” Sorace said.

Don Johnson, general manager of J&J Refuse at 8500 Chamberlin Road, told council his company could offer automated trash pick up, providing customers with a 96-gallon cart as part of the monthly rate. Johnson said his company recently went out for bid in Maple Heights offering five days a week automated pick up including recycling and bulk, with no up-front tonnage cost for around $11 a month with no fuel surcharge. However, the price does increase each year, with customers paying $12.71 by year five.

However, Maple Heights is only an example and the price could be much different because the city has nearly 10,000 customers compared to Twinsburg’s 6,200 and costs can change from county to county.

The decision could hinge on how many collection days residents want. said while he was doing research, he found the contract they had was the best deal for having only one day of trash pick up per week.

“We can however, get a better rate if we go to multiple day collection,” Scaffide said.