Three bids to provide weekly trash service to New Bloomfield residents were opened Thursday night by the Board of Aldermen.
Bids were offered by AAA Waste Management of Fulton, AAA Waste Management of Springfield, and Allied Waste Services of Jefferson City.
Allied Waste has been providing trash service in New Bloomfield since it purchased Ebersole Trash Co., the firm with the current New Bloomfield trash contract.
The city was required to seek new competitive bids after the ownership of the trash service contract changed. In the interim, Allied has been providing trash service at the same amount charged previously by Ebersole.
The city now collects trash fees of $10 a month along with a water bill. The city pays the trash firm $8 a month and retains the remaining $2 a month fee to provide billing and keep track of stops and starts of trash service.
City Clerk Tracina Shaw said she expects the $2 monthly city administration fee to be added to the amount bid by each trash firm.
Mayor Terry Shaw opened the bids during the Thursday night meeting of the Board of Aldermen and summarized the bid offers.
AAA Waste Management offered to provide one pickup a week at a base rate of $11.25 a month if a resident used his own trash container and $13.25 a month if a 96-gallon container is provided by the firm. In addition, a 12 cents a month fuel surcharge would be added per household per month for every 25-cent increase in the price of diesel fuel above the base price of $3.75 per gallon. If fuel prices decrease, the surcharge would be reduced accordingly. If dumping fees at a Columbia landfill would increase above the current price of $32.50 a ton, there would be a 3 cents per household surcharge for each $1 increase in landfill dumping fees. The monthly trash fee would increase each year based on the Consumer Price Index.
Waste Corporation of Missouri offered to provide one residential curbside pickup a week with carts provided by the firm for a monthly charge of $15 a month. Residents would receive unlimited residential pickup. If the trash exceeded the container size, the firm would still pick it up at no extra charge. The firm would provide free rollout service to any elderly person if the city notifies the firm that the resident has requested the free service. The firm would provide free trash service to city departments. It offered to provide one annual citywide cleanup service with the cost to be paid by the city at a price negotiated by representatives of the firm and city.
Allied Waste Services of Jefferson City offered to provide once-a-week residential service with 95-gallon trash containers for a charge of $9.85 a month. The firm agreed to provide an annual spring cleanup for all residences and the New Bloomfield School at no charge and to provide free service throughout the year to city departments.
Rick Graham, Allied Waste Services general manager in Jefferson City, said it charges Jefferson City residents $15 a month for weekly cart service but it also includes a separate cart for recycled trash, making it more expensive for Jefferson City residents. "The service desired in New Bloomfield is only for one-cart trash service. It does not include a recycling service," Graham said.
On the advice of City Attorney Mark Warren, the board agreed to postpone awarding of bids for the trash service. Warren wants to study all of the bid proposals and determine how each of them meets the request for proposals sought by the city.
"We plan to vote on awarding the bids at our next meeting of the Board of Aldermen," Shaw said.
In other action, the board asked Warren to prepare an ordinance limiting the number of dogs that could be owned by city residents. Warren said he would look at the city ordinance in Jefferson City and other cities to get some ideas on how to proceed.
Shaw said he had heard that one New Bloomfield resident has seven pit bull dogs. "That's alarming to me," Shaw said. Warren said he did not think it would be wise to attempt to ban pit bull dogs because it would be difficult to identify what is a pit bull. Pit bull dogs often are a combination of breeds and it could be difficult to determine what is a pit bull and what is not a pit bull, Warren said.
Warren also was asked to research possible controls on the number of cats that could be owned in the city.
City Clerk Shaw reported the city's radio tower was blown over by high winds on April 3. She said the firm maintaining the tower reported it is a total loss. The maintenance firm estimated the cost of replacing the tower and antenna is $2,500. Shaw said the tower was covered by insurance. She said an insurance adjuster will be called and the city will submit a claim.
"It's a funny thing," Shaw said, "the tower is laying flat on the ground but it still works. Our Police Department can still communicate fine using it."