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CITY OF ELY

Ely approves new commercial refuse collection contract

Keith Vandervort
Posted 7/24/20

ELY – Council members here approved a revised commercial waste disposal contract on Tuesday night, but not before airing some grievances that have been festering for many months as the matter …

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CITY OF ELY

Ely approves new commercial refuse collection contract

Posted

ELY – Council members here approved a revised commercial waste disposal contract on Tuesday night, but not before airing some grievances that have been festering for many months as the matter was negotiated.
Issues arose last year after a local business complained to the city’s sanitation committee that Sunday garbage pickup was not available from the city’s current vendor. Members of the committee were tasked with revising the contract. After lengthy negotiations, a new commercial garbage contract was brought to the council for approval.
Council member Heidi Omerza, the lone dissenter of the motion, reiterated her disapproval. She started with her issue on the size of the commercial canister being eight yards or less under the new contract. “Some current businesses will not be able to use the canisters they have,” she said. “Does that mean the burden falls on the business owner to get new Dumpsters?” she asked. “We are possibly opening a whole can of worms. I don’t think this is what’s best for Ely.”
Sanitation committee member Al Forsman responded, “To assume that any contractor is going to use an eight-yard dumpster for regular collections would not make any sense. There is a possibility that some contractor has some customer that they are servicing on a Sunday only and will use a truck for that sized dumpster. It is not for us to decide what size truck they use.”
Sanitation committee member Paul Kess added, “We are not requiring anyone to use an eight-yard truck. If they have a customer and a truck, they are allowed to use that under this proposal. There is some flexibility to provide different levels of service to their customers. That is the intent here.”
Former council member and sanitation committee member Warren Nikkola noted that the former sanitation committee made certain agreements with the current contractor that were broken.
“How many vendors down the road, when they get wind of actions like that, are going to want to do business with this council?” he asked. “I’m disappointed with how things went.”
Forsman said a discussion was held with the current commercial refuse hauler to extend their contract for a year while a new contract procedure was developed.
“Our intent was to maintain the standards of service that we held,” he said. “What we have brought forth maintains our standards that we had prior to this, with changes concerning the size and the age of the trucks, and the specs of the cart. I stand behind what we are presenting.”
The contract allows for the request for proposals for the collection and disposal of garbage and refuse for commercial customers within the city. Residential customers are not affected by the action.
Mayor Chuck Novak reminded the council that the main charge of the committee was to set the contract to allow for competitive bids.
“But the changing of the language that allows for competitive bids is something that I find unpalatable,” he said. “The startup to all this was a little rough. The windage wasn’t nice and all parties got a little heated.”
He noted that at the public hearing on the matter no one spoke for or against it.
“The three council members on this committee seemed to have a personal agenda interjected in this,” Novak said.
Forsman objected.“I find it interesting when I hear our mayor state that we need to have committees, and then they do all the hard work. As a council we need to support our committees. Then we are accused of having a personal agenda in supporting a particular vendor and he knocks them.”
Novak responded, “I don’t support any vendor. You don’t even know how I’m going to vote. I do respect our boards and committees. To accuse me of playing favorites to a vendor is wrong and I do not accept that.”
Omerza said she could not recall any complaints about garbage service in the city during her tenure on the council.
“And it is really easy for people to complain in Ely,” she said. “That’s why I am so outrageously upset by this and confused by this. We have had someone who has been a willing partner. I am more than a little frustrated by this whole process. I’ll vote no. This is not right in my gut.”
Kess closed out the discussion. “The fact is, not much will change. People who like it will continue to contract with G-Men. People who wish to search out competition, this (contract) makes it available to them. The only thing this does is open up the competition for commercial disposal.”
Council members approved the contract on a 6-1 vote with Omerza voting against the measure.