Marseilles considering waste hauling changes

Garbage hauling was debated in Marseilles on Wednesday.

The City of Marseilles Garbage Committee addressed the Marseilles City Council to ask that it reconsider an ordinance that would give that committee the power to gather pricing information from the city’s waste haulers and compare them for potential cost savings for its citizens.

Such a motion was made at the last council meeting on Nov. 20, but died for lack of a second.

The committee’s Brad Miller, Larry Cowie and Jeff Owens asked the council pass the ordinance that would give the city the power to pick just one waste hauler, which would compel all of the haulers to offer pricing information and potentially open the door to competitive negotiations.

The city has two waste haulers, Waste Management and Republic, with a possible third, Thrush Sanitation, considering expansion into Marseilles.

After a lengthy debate, the council took the request under advisement and will bring it back to the agenda likely at its next meeting on Dec. 18.

Commissioner Bobby Kaminski, also acting as Mayor Pro Tem at the meeting in the absence of Mayor Jim Hollenbeck, believed the ordinance and the resulting information gathered would have benefit not only for the individual residents, but for the city as well.

One prime example could be elimination the city’s expense for dumpsters for city clean-up days, if that could be negotiated in.

“As a municipality, I’m hoping that they could go through and have a proposal and see what kind of benefit we could get for the taxpayers and for us, the city,” Kaminski said. “Every time we have an event, we have to have a dumpster, When we have the Freedom Run, we have a dumpster. All of that has a cost, but if we could work that in with everything else, then it’s a benefit for the city.

“Then there’s the possibility of eliminating burning by having leaves and yard waste removal be part of the contract.”

Kaminski said he has no idea what the cost could be until companies put together something, but there are countless other possibilities – discounts for seniors or individual residents as opposed to larger families, etc. – available for negotiation.

“The council doesn’t have to approve, for example, one hauler contract with a (request for proposal), but that’s a step,” Kaminski said. “Just let the committee get the information and find out what the cost savings could be. One person said something about a cost comparison. I’d love that.”

In other action, the council:

• approved the purchase of signage for the new City Hall and police station at 200 Riverfront Drive from P & D Signage at a cost of $55,549. Also approved was the Ficek Electric’s installation of low voltage wireless video cameras at the new city building at a cost of $137,489.

When the council approve its payment for the renovation to Phalen Steel, Kaminski said that virtually all of the painting was done and just some drop ceilings remain to be installed.