Dec 31, 2012 3 min read

Washington residents may want to wait before setting out their recycling with their trash for pickup.

A new trash contract was approved by City Council Monday, but collection of recycling materials was tabled.

The three-year agreement with Waste Management calls for a $145,884 increase, for a total of $2 million. Mayor Brenda Davis said she was unsure where the additional money would come from because the increase had not been included in the new budget.

Residents currently pay $175 a year for trash pickup.

In approving the contract, council tabled the recycling portion because it called for recyclables to be picked up on a separate day.

Waste Management was offering to pick up recyclables twice a month, but on Fridays. Currently city residents put out their trash and recyclables on the same day, although recyclables are now picked up just once a month. Council had wanted to add an additional collection day for recyclables.

Council agreed to rebid its recyclable collection contract in the hopes of getting a bid that would call for them to be hauled away the same day as trash is set curbside.

“I don’t want to make it inconvenient for the residents. I would like it to stay consistent with what we’re doing,” explained Davis.

But she and Councilman Matt Staniszewski disagreed over why Waste Management’s bid had increased between the original one opened Dec. 7 and the one opened Monday.

That first bid was tabled after Staniszewski asked that they include an option limiting the weight of garbage trucks to 22,500 pounds. He said the higher weights could be deteriorating some city streets. Staniszewski is the city’s public works director.

But the second bid came in $131,578 higher than the first bid, said Davis, while the option to use lighter trucks would have cost the city about $700,000 more.

Staniszewski said that the contracts were rebid because the original specifications were released without council approval.

“It sounds as though because we rebid this thing the costs went up, and this is not the case,” he said, blaming the cost increase on the additional recycling day.

There also was a disagreement with Waste Management over the number of customer units in the city. While Waste Management claims it picks up trash from 5,108 households, council believes the number is closer to 4,300.

A second bid for waste pickup had been received after the due date, so council was unable to open it at the meeting Monday.