On October 8, 2015, the City Council decided to contract with a trash collection service and to allow only that service to collect trash within the City of Sandy Oaks.
The decision follows a “Community Meeting” on September 26th where different contract proposals were discussed
Alderman Earnest Gay gave a summary of the fees and service from 3 different trash companies.
Tiger Sanitation also provides a quarterly brush and bulk pick up included in the price.
Before the City Council decided on a company, they allowed members of the audience to speak about the issue and ask questions.
Catherine Rendahl said the issue should go to a vote so people could have a say in the matter and to allow more of a choice. She pointed out that very few people attended the public hearing on the topic on September 26th because no one knows that the City Council is discussing it.
Alderman Gay agreed that people didn’t know and blamed those same people for their lack of knowing, saying
You are correct. They don’t, a lot of them don’t know because they don’t get themselves involved.
Gay said the money saved in trash collection fees would make up for the amount of the new city taxes people had to pay.
Former Mayor Jim Clement was in the audience and said he was in favor of two of the proposals, calling the selection “a no-brainer.” He addressed Rendahl and her request that people have the opportunity to vote on the issue and said people “don’t really give a damn.”
Someone asked if people would be required to use the service and the Council answered “No.”
Diana Walker asked about containers and if smaller cans could be used in place of the large cans on wheels. Alderman David Tremblay repeatedly told the audience and the Council that the trash collection was automated an that a trash company would only take the large brown cans. Joseph Coelho, a manager from Tiger Sanitation, was in the audience and said the service would still collect trash from non-Tiger cans.
Alderman Earnest Gay said he had a dumpster and the cost would make up for his taxes.
I have a dumpster myself. I use one. I pay $76 a month for my dumpster right now. To drop it to this, will pay my taxes every year.
One member of the audience asked if individuals would be able to choose which of the options Tiger Sanitation offered. Not all Council members knew and had to rely on Coelho to answer, who said “There are 3 options to select from for the contract.”
Coelho also stated that the contract could have been made possible with a Property Owner’s Association and that Tiger Sanitation had contracts with many other POAs.
The City Council decided to go with Tiger Sanitation. The contract with the company is a 5 year contract with a 3 year option to renew.
The service will provide weekly trash pick up, biweekly recycling pick up, and quarterly brush and bulk trash collection.
Comments are closed.