Washington awards new garbage disposal contract

WASHINGTON — Washington city council members have selected ABC Disposal as the community’s next trash collection service, with the new provider expected to start a route through town in July.

The move foreshadows the end of a contract with Johnson County Refuse, which was sold to an Illinois-based company called Lake Shore Recycling (better known as LRS) in late 2021. Washington residents have complained about worsened customer service in the intervening months as garbage trucks missed stops at houses, or the various cans around Washington’s square, which went un-emptied for several weeks over the summer.

“I’ve called four times now to Johnson County and spoke to people … yet I’m not getting any call backs from them,” Washington resident Bruce Murphy said in a public comment at the meeting. “My trash is still sitting on the curb from Friday of last week.”

A Johnson County Refuse representative could not immediately be reached for comments.

A total of five waste disposal companies offered their service to the city ahead of Tuesday night’s city council meeting, according to a memo from City Administrator Deanna McCusker. The motion to select ABC followed her recommendation, which said the company “stood out,” with a price “higher than our current rates, but not as high as other contractors.”

“They do not plan any changes to the existing schedule or the way the cleanup and collection is done,” the memo said. “Other contractors offered changes that would not have been conducive. They plan to keep the bulky waste collection and pricing as it currently is. They have not had any compliance issues reported.”

While Tuesday night’s motion to move forward with ABC doesn’t formally lock the city into a new contract, it authorizes McCusker to negotiate one with the company ahead of the expiration of Johnson County Refuse’s agreement in July. The final document will eventually require city council approval itself.

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ABC General Manager Jim Hopkins said the Cedar Rapids-based company would make efforts to hire locally for the collection route, and would offer customer service closer to home than LSR’s call center.

“There have been some inroads here to some local connections with people who have worked in this industry,” Hopkins said. “We’d probably, more than likely, have a truck here … we’re working with some other places between here and Iowa City already, so we’re positioning ourselves for this to be a point we would start and continue to go back up toward Iowa City.”

All three trash collection company representatives at the meeting — from Wemiga Waste, Republic Services and ABC — said their businesses offered pickups for missed stops within 24 hours of a valid complaint call.

The city does not expect to replace residents’ current trash bins, which are marked with the Johnson County Refuse company name and number, but are compatible with other garbage trucks. While resident costs for the service may go up this summer, McCusker said she didn’t expect the potential rate hike to be unusual.

“I don’t anticipate any raise until July, when we typically raise all of our utility rates anyway,” she said. “We’ll maintain our existing carts.”

McCusker said officials could potentially negotiate a three-year review into the five-year contract, a precaution urged by City Council Member Elaine Moore.

“It’s the buyout thing,” Moore said. “Johnson County, it just came crashing down fast. As we work through the contract, we need to be very careful to make sure that we’re covered in that department. There were some very angry people.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com