The City of Jacksonville is working to help residents get out of a stinky situation when it comes to their trash service.
City Clerk Skip Bradshaw reported during last night’s City Council workshop session, that the city is working toward the pursuit of a city contract with a waste hauler for garbage service.
Many elected city officials have been receiving complaints from residents about issues with their trash service as of late. Until recently, area residents were serviced predominately by two waste removal companies. In October, Area Disposal was acquired by Green For Life Environmental, also known as GFL. Recently GFL acquired Trash Queen out of Pittsfield and many former customers have said they have not had trash picked up since the sale.
Mayor Andy Ezard says he appreciates the patience that residents have been showing during the transition of both acquisitions and says the city is working to help residents who feel they have been tossed to the curb during the process.
“There’s been a turnover and GFL is now our provider. We had Trash Queen in town and now it’s just GFL, and I’ve received phone calls where their trash hasn’t been picked up, and I said just be patient, they’re going to get it you’re a GFL participant now.
Anytime there are things like that, it’s very important to people and it’s important to me, but change is hard sometimes. And it’s going to work out. We’re on top of this, the city is on top of this.”
City Clerk Skip Bradshaw says the city is working on an RFP, or Request For Proposal, to take bids from companies that would be interested in being the lone waste service provider in town.
“Set it out there and tell them what we want, how we want it, and see if we get a couple of bidders. Obviously, we have one business in town right now and so basically what it is going to do is it will limit it to one business.
But we are under the impression from both companies that we’ve spoken to that this will reduce the price to the citizens. And with the contract, it will include trash pick up and recycling so, therefore, the city doesn’t have to worry about the recycling too.”
The city’s current contract for recycling pick-up ends in August and Bradshaw says they are requesting a shorter-term extension while the RFP is worked up and bids are then sought out.
Bradshaw says in total, GFL has city contracts with 71 other communities in its large network. He says to date, the City of Jacksonville has never had contracted trash service.
“No, the city has not because the ordinance states that the city allows up to five licenses, and for anybody who’s been here for more than forty or fifty years, we’ve had several different businesses and they’ve basically boiled down to a couple. With the new purchase or the buyout of the other company, now we’re down to one.
So we thought it would be the best time to go out for a proposal and see if we can get a city contract. According to both businesses that I’ve spoken to, it’s a real benefit to the city to have a city contract because it locks in a price.”
Bradshaw says it will take roughly 30 days for an RFP to be worked up and presented to the City Council for approval. Bradshaw did not give any information on who the other company was that he spoke to besides GFL.
Chris Nichols, owner of Trash Queen confirmed the sale to GFL in an announcement made via social media on July 2nd thanking customers for their loyalty over the past six years.