The Mt. Pleasant City Council met for a work session on Wednesday, November 15th, where solid waste collection in the city was the topic on the table.
The City Council believes that the current system of trash pickup, with trash stickers, is a waste and is hurting more than it is helping. It was revealed that only 1/3rd of residents in Mt. Pleasant use trash stickers, with the majority seeking the services of private companies. Due to this, the City Administrator has spoken with WEMIGA Waste and Lance Refuse to explore a route that would benefit the citizens of the city.
The City Administrator mentioned “we can’t continue to operate the way we operate.” The city is losing precious taxpayer dollars due to the current system, and the council believes that the private sector could better serve the people.
WEMIGA Waste and Lance Refuse were in attendance, able to answer any questions that came their way. The proposed plan is that both companies will work in conjunction, with WEMIGA servicing the north side of town and Lance Refuse servicing the south side. As part of this proposed contract, two containers would be offered to every household: a 65 gallon and a 95 gallon. The price would be $16 and $19.75 a month respectively. There would still be a utility fee as well.
A concerned citizen in the crowd charged the council with the question “why is garbage pickup [price] not based on usage?” Explaining that he believes it is unfair to charge the same price for a 65-gallon garbage can to a family of four versus a person who lives by themselves and doesn’t fill it up as often or as much. The city administrator battled back, commenting that there are over 4,000 households and switching to a system like that would require manpower that the city simply doesn’t have.
A proposed contract has been drawn up, yet both parties believe there is more discussion to have before moving forward.
It seems that they would like to resolve this issue by January 1st and have answers for the public. Again, the discussion on Wednesday was regarding a proposed contract and is in no means final.
There have been multiple meetings over this issue, and there will be more. These are meetings that are open to the public. Please direct all questions to the Mt. Pleasant City Council.