With less than 10 months left on its contract with Waste Pro and after discussions on routing, city officials are looking at alternatives that could include purchasing a truck and bringing garbage collection back in-house.
Mayor Justin McKenzie and several members of the Columbia Board of Aldermen had the chance to inspect Marion County’s new garbage trucks ahead of the county taking over its own garbage operations and were impressed.
Marion County recently purchased three new Kenworth trucks for around $134,000 apiece and will begin servicing customers Monday after cutting ties with Waste Pro. After routing discussions Tuesday, aldermen say it may be time to bring the operation back to the city after six years of private contracting.
“I was in town and they brought one of the county’s new garbage trucks down and they were pretty impressive,” Alderman-at-Large Edward Hough said. “We’re paying the people that just left here (Waste Pro) $17,836 a month at that rate; we could buy a new garbage truck like they had here in just 10 months.”
Ward 4 Alderman Mike Smith agreed and said the city would only need one new truck and possibly a used one to serve the city’s residents. McKenzie suggested a smaller truck with a lighter frame that could be used for special collections, such as after festivals downtown or in the parks and as a backup unit. The second truck could service the alleys easier.
Hough urged his fellow aldermen to view the county’s new trucks and begin to think about the issue. City Attorney Lawrence Hahn said the board needs to discuss the matter thoroughly.
“It really is a lot of time and expense to do the request for proposals (to bid another contract),” Hahn said. “We learned a lot from last time.”
