Columbia aldermen are moving forward with plans to take back over the city’s garbage pickup after the contract with Waste Pro expires Sept. 30.
Alderman Jason Stringer has been researching specs for buying garbage trucks and brought his recommendations back to the board Tuesday. They approved taking bids based on those specs.
The city will hold a reverse auction to buy the trucks, and alderman authorized hiring a company that has previously worked for the city and county, Central Bidding, to conduct the auction.
Both Columbia and Marion County began contracting with Red River Waste Solutions in 2013 because the municipalities’ aging equipment was driving up costs, but there have been complaints about spotty service and price increases. In 2016, Red River was replaced by Waste Pro.
County supervisors bought three trucks last year for $134,000 apiece and have been pleased with how things have gone since taking back over the service from Waste Pro in December.
Complaints have been more frequent in the city about Waste Pro’s service since the county dropped it. Stringer said Tuesday that it has missed his garbage pickup five of seven weeks.
The city might have to seek a temporary extension of its contract with Waste Pro, while it waits for the trucks to come in after it gets the bids. The city is going to take bids for one or two trucks, and aldermen indicated they’re leaning toward two so they’ll have a backup if one breaks.
Mayor Justin McKenzie said Waste Pro currently hauls seven tons to eight tons per pickup day worth of garbage.
Stringer said he debated between a double-axle and single-axle trucks and ultimately decided that a single-axle would be preferable because it’s not as long and would be easier to maneuver in tight city streets and would cause less of a pounding on the roads.
