For months, starting in July 2015, when Republic Services began fulfilling its part of the contract established with the City of San Angelo, citizens have had many complaints about the change to curbside pickup, no pickups, late pickups, missing bins, and of course, the increased rate for trash services. Beginning in February, the residential trash pickup rate will increase another 50 cents because the city is failing to meet its 500-ton per month recycling goal.
This increase was announced Tuesday to City Council during its Regular Agenda Meeting at the McNease Convention Center in a presentation and discussion related to trash collection, recycling and landfill services by Jeremy Miller, Solid Waste Contract Manager.
“Currently, we are averaging 350 tons a month of gross recycling material at Butts Recycling Center,” Miller told the council. “As of February 1st, 50 cents will be added to citizens’ trash bills.”
Miller also said this is a fee that will be continually reevaluated on Oct. 1 of each year.
The 50 cent price hike is in addition to an automatic 2.9 percent annual rate increase in the contract signed by Republic and the city in July 2014.
Miller confirmed that this recycling penalty would be enacted six months after recycling was implemented by Republic and evaluated every Oct. 1 of the 10-year agreement. That six-month period is up, and come Oct. 1, 2016, eight months after the first increase, the 50-cent penalty can be eliminated if San Angelo can reach the monthly 500-tons of residential recyclables target goal.
Ever the optimist, Miller said with more education and campaigns at local schools to encourage children to recycle and talk to their parents about recycling, San Angelo can reach the goal.
Bob Gregory, CEO of Texas Disposal Systems predicted that San Angelo will never reach the monthly goal of 500 tons of recyclables, especially since the list of approved recycling items excludes glass. His company collects recycling in Austin, and even in the bluest of all cities in Texas, he said the rate of recycling required to reach the 500-ton/mo. goal is hard to achieve.
"This was their plan all along," Gregory said last night. "The 50 cents was a hidden surcharge to make the bid lower," he said. "Now, we're getting to the very nature of the business model of Republic. They don’t really want to recycle," Gregory said. His company, TDS, was the only other bid for the trash contract. His bid was rejected after a weekend review of the two proposals, and Gregory believes his company's proposal was ignored.
Gregory, a native of San Angelo now living in the Austin area, operates Texas Disposal Systems. He also owns the San Angelo company Acme Metal, a scrap yard. TDS has the contract to collect trash and recyclables at Angelo State University and several communities in the region.
"We're still here, and we're not going anywhere," Gregory said. Gregory is involved in two lawsuits with Republic. Republic sued Gregory's TDS over his company providing construction trash pickup, or temporary roll-off trash bin collection, within the city limits. Republic argues that the city contract gives Republic exclusivity; TDS argues that state law trumps the city contract and resulting ordinance, and his company is free to compete.
The other lawsuit is Acme Metal and Mayfield Paper versus Republic over what Gregory calls Republic's illegal overcharging of commercial trash customers in San Angelo over a 14-year period.
Gregory said that the recycling market has been hit with a global recession.
"It's very, very difficult to make money selling recycled bulk materials right now," he said. He cited the downward direction of the bulk corrugated cardboard market with China as an example. "With the strength of the U.S. dollar, all exports to China have taken a hit," he said.
In light of the recyclables recession, Gregory said that for the first time ever, Butts Recycling has began charging TDS for dropping off recyclables at its facility. TDS is paying $35 per ton. The charge, while not that significant for the 650-employee TDS, has Gregory evaluating the idea of building a transfer station for just recyclables in San Angelo. The TDS business model is to sell compost at a chain of TDS-owned lawn care stores called Garden-Ville throughout the Austin area. Gregory said his floor for making money with recyclables is much lower than his competitors who do not have the same retail option.
This morning, Jeremy Miller confirmed that the idea of reducing the pickup schedule for recyclables to once every other week has been floated. Gregory predicted this would happen two years ago. He said the standard for recyclable pickup in just about every other city he has awareness occurs on a bi-weekly basis. Gregory's bid for residential pickup, a fixed rate around $18 per month, was hammered in the last mayoral election by Mayor Dwain Morrison, who won re-election in part by defending the Republic trash contract. But if you compared the other proposed rate from TDS, the one for every other week recyclable pickup, with the Republic bid, the numbers were very competitive. TDS did not propose a compounded annual rate hike of 2.9 percent like Republic negotiated into the final contract.
Miller said that his objective is to allocate the resources to meet the needs of the community. For example, he said they are focusing on the bulk pickup, with the possibility of adding a recyclables pickup component to it.
He to reminded citizens of the quarterly bulk pickup at yesterday's meeting.
“Once a quarter, we will come pick up items that don’t fit in the cart,” Miller said. “Those items must be placed in the same service location as the trash bins.”
That bulk pickup is also limited to 5 cubic yards, and should be placed out on the curb by 7 a.m. on Monday during the week of the scheduled collection. Miller said residents can visit cosatx.us/solidwaste to locate the bulk collection schedule map.
Also, he reminded people what they can include in that bulk pickup:
- Barbecue grills without a propane tank
- Bagged yard waste
- White goods & appliances (if refrigerant is removed by a licensed professional and tagged as such)
- Mattresses & Furniture
- Brush/limbs (4 feet in length and bound)
- Fencing/pallets
Things people cannot include in bulk pickup include:
- Household trash
- Concrete
- Construction materials
- Hazardous materials
- Roofing materials
- Automobile engine parts
- Tires
- Glass
- Electronics
- Liquids
- Soil & rocks
- Asbestos
With these items clarified, Miller said many residents are still throwing the wrong items in the wrong bins, especially when it comes to recycling items.
“Currently, at the recycling center, we are experiencing higher than expected contamination rates,” Miller told the council. “I think the standard is 15 to 20 percent on contamination. That would be someone making a mistake and putting the wrong item in there. Currently, since the 6 months we’ve been doing this, we’ve been averaging 30 to 40 percent in contamination, so it’s double what it should be."
Yard waste, sanitary napkins, medical waste and diapers are a major part of this contamination problem. Miller stated this is an education issue Republic and the city will have to work through.
“It’s kind of bogging things down at the recycling center,” he said. Miller also noted that all recyclables should be loose.
As a reminder, Miller pointed out that the following are the items accepted for recycling:
- Paper—shredded (bagged in clear plastic bags) along with newspapers and inserts, mail, magazines, catalogs, phone books and assorted, mixed paper.
- Plastic—jugs, bottles, tubs and cups
- Cardboard—cereal boxes, paper or frozen food boxes and corrugated cardboard.
- Cans—aluminum cans, clean food cans and aerosol cans.
Miller said if citizens are unsure if an item is recyclable, it’s best to throw it in the regular trash bin.
Miller added that the city has been dealing now with these changes for six months, and things have been normalizing despite the issues.
“Of course, there’s always room for improvement,” he stated.
Miller said Republic drivers deal with over 10,000 pickups a day, and their goal is to be in the single-digit missed pickups. They’re getting close to that.
“When you’re doing that many pickups and there is human error involved, sometimes there is going to be missed pickups," he said.
However, if that happens, Miller said citizens can call Republic and representatives will get something scheduled.
Also, if bins get stolen, he reiterated the need to file a police report so bins can be replaced at no charge.
There is also a disability collection available to get bins moved to the street at no fee should residents need that service.
In essence, the reason Miller wanted to address these items is to adhere to an educational approach in dealing with the complaints received.
“I know there’s issues out there,” he said. To help with those issues, Miller provided the following information so citizens know where to go.
For people who miss a collection; who have questions about collection services; have spilled trash as a result of collection; have a damaged or stolen cart; or, have property/personal damages incurred as a result of collection, contact Republic at (325) 481-7700.
When citizens have unresolved complaints or issues with Republic; want to request additional trash/recycle carts; have billing questions/issues; need information regarding collection for disabled persons; or have compliance issues/complaints with the solid waste city ordinance, they want to call the City Solid Waste Department at (325)486-3798.
With this information, it is Miller’s hope, along with David Harwell, operations manager for Republic, that people will help continue to improve trash services in San Angelo.
--
Joe Hyde contributed to this report.
Update 4:01 p.m.
Today, Republic Services wanted to clarify to the citizens of San Angelo that the 50-cent increase that goes into effect on Feb. 1 does not go to Republic, but rather is passed through to Butts Recycling. The total amount comes to about $15,000 per month, and an official stated all funds go to the Recycling center because the business is family-owned. Republic simply wants the recycling center to be successful. Overall, recycling is a privilege, and Republic wants that privilege to continue in San Angelo.
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Comments
Our city should be ashamed for screwing us like this. The way I see it in a nutshell
Double the price of commercial dumpster pickups with Republic having what I view as an illegal monopoly.
Reduced residential collections from 2 timers per week as much as you want to 1 time per week 1 trash can.
Additional hidden fees left and right and unrealistic recycling goals, equates to every San Angeloan recycling about 12 pounds per month.
Unsightly street pickup instead of using the alleys as they should.
And this is just the screwing we took on trash; forget about the water department and all the other waste across the city to include a new police station, concrete tracks on unstable clay foundation across the red arroyo, or the $300,000 concession stand.
I love my town and I think San Angelo is the greatest town in Texas, but either we have the dumbest City Council or they have some greasy pockets.
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PermalinkYou are right the city council has greasy pockets they have prove that time after time with the handling of the trash contact wonder how much money they put in their pockets from that. I do have a question I wish they would answer how much are they getting from Shannon all the clinics that are being built they are not associated with Shannon if you talk to them but yet they don't have to pay any taxes because they have Shannon on their name just think of all the tax money that they don't pay.
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PermalinkI agree, this exclusive contract for dumpsters is another rip off.
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PermalinkWe knew that without being able to recycle glass that the weight would be impossible to generate. Thanks for an awesome screwing city councik!
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PermalinkEven an blind person could've seen this one coming! With just the limited type of recycling they offered, it was a no brainer for everyone except the well-oiled city council, that no way would we be able to meet the recycle criteria. Oh well, another day, another ripped-off dollar.
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PermalinkI have seen the Republic trucks that are emptying the "tan" trash receptacles into the trash truck, then pull right up to the "green" recycle bin and empty into same truck. Who's not recycling? It's not San Angelo residents, it's Republic!
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PermalinkDuring the first two months of the program there were reports from all over the city about the trash trucks dumping recycling in the same truck with the trash. I have witnessed this at least 3 times myself. Combine that with an unsupervised weighing process and no glass allowed because of their incompetence and of course we lose. Was their anyone out there that actually believed we would reach the goal.
The city received a large up front payment to cover closing the landfill at the end of its life, what did they do with it? Did they put it in a restricted fund, or invest it, of course not they spent it very unwisely. Was that a surprise? Of course not.
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PermalinkAnd a couple of our illustrious elected officials got a huge sum of cash stuffed into their pockets and then got played with a little while that hand was still in their pocket to assure that the contract went the way Republic wanted it to........
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PermalinkIt is absolutely insane that there is a rule that we cannot bag any material put in the recycle bin. The first time I put loose paper in the bin, the wind blew the container over and scattered paper all over my property and several of my neighbors' property before the truck picked it up. And if the wind is blowing, which it probably will be, when the truck picks it up, paper will be blown from the container as it is dumped into the truck. That is a stupid rule that needs to be changed. I will never use the green cart again until I am allowed to bag the material I put in the cart. You say we can recycle plastic, but we can't put it in a plastic bag???? That is absurd !!!
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PermalinkA bad deal made worse by our city council. Actually I was expecting this when the original deal was announced. The weight of glass would have made a big difference.
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PermalinkJust do what I do... I'm not wasting a minute of my time (nor money) to use a bunch of water to rinse and clean out ANYTHING I put in that stupid green can. I might even (accidentally of course), throw something in there by "mistake" that has festered and fermented in there for a week to the point that it would run a buzzard off a gut wagon. The way I look at it, these increased fee's is what they are charging me for them to have to deal with it and I'm OK with that.....
And they thought we would vote to give them control of appointing a Police Chief.... Hahaaahaaahaaha
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PermalinkBob Gregory, CEO of Texas Disposal Systems, was right all along. Diligent recycling turned into a waste of time. Republic knew all along we weren't going to meet the goal. In a normal city there would be a class action lawsuit on behalf of the residents brought against Republic and Butts Recycling, and a recall of the mayor and every member of the city council that voted for this travesty.
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PermalinkI will start by stating that I am in total agreement with everyone above! What is happening, or fixing to happen, was predicted at the time that the trash contract issue was being debated by our "inept" City County members and the citizens of San Angelo, TX. Against the advise of the "constituents" of San Angelo, TX, the City Council made its own decision. This City Council is starting to remind me more and more of the current United States Presidential Administration. They refuse to listen to "WE THE PEOPLE" and make bad decisions against the will of "WE THE PEOPLE!" Clearly, there is/are hidden agendas here! The million dollar question now is "Can we or will we fix this problem?" I seriously doubt it and I'm sure that nothing will change, at least right now. The Mayor of San Angelo, TX should be fired/replaced for his incompetency! Citizens of San Angelo, TX, you put this man in office, now it is your job to get him and the Council he heads, out of office! The direction that this City Council has taken San Angelo, TX into is a travesty. To the "Mayor and City Council Members," you should be ashamed of yourselves!
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PermalinkWell when he does leave, I've got dibs on his goofy black cowboy hat complete with that even goofier looking snakeskin hat band....... :)
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PermalinkI am curious as to what other cities have for goals for their recycling. On a per capita basis, are there goals higher or lower than ours? Do they recycle glass or not? Are other cities subjected to increases and surcharges? I think it is time someone investigates these questions. Why has the standard times not investigated this as a public issue. Why did it take Republic Services a full year to begin our recycling and trash collection? If we are to have an additional 5 cubic yards of trash pickup quarterly, why have we not had any in the past 6 months? Why is Republic allowed to not meet their end of the contract? They are certainly holding the customers of San Angelo to our side of the contract.
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PermalinkAccording to Republic's generic web site they pick up glass for recycling. Of course they include the fine print to exempt themselves.
*Please contact your local representative to confirm what is recyclable in your area.
Regarding Abilene, "Texas Disposal Systems and Republic Services offered to recycle roughly the same materials except glass. Republic Services would collect glass for an additional fee."
http://www.reporternews.com/news/local/no-curbside-recycling-for-abilene-yet-but-two-plans-offered-ep-1311769381-340156361.html
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PermalinkPlease tell me when we are going to use our vote and vote out this City Council. What more is it going to take? Why are we allowing them to bankrupt the citizens of San Angelo? There are so many retirees and military that are on low, fixed incomes and this council does not seem to care. I think they should pay this surcharge out of their own pocket. Maybe then they will do their duty and act for the citizens of San Angelo and not for their friends. It seems to me there should be an investigation by a third party that does not have any affiliation with the council. The good ole boy system is hard at work in our council.
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PermalinkReally We recycle all of what is acceptable. I'll be damed if you are going to charge me more per month. Shut my crap off
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PermalinkI'm thankful I do not live within the City of San Angelo. The Mayor and The Council are a joke. Morrison, Farmer, and others sitting on Council shoved this contract on the People of COSA, and now some of those hidden costs are being realized. COSA People I have contact with express dissatisfaction with the Wonderful Wizard of OZ and Council. Liz Grindstaff, if you really want to have a meaningful Town Hall Meeting, use the meetings to accept grievances/gripes/concerns regarding members of Council and The Honorable Mayor of COSA. My friends and acquaintances of We The People of COSA could use such a forum to perhaps organize a recall election and replace The Honorable Mayor and several Council Members. COSA Staffers seem to be not interested in revealing the possible shady dealings between COSA and Republic. This issue is going to continue to be an uncomfortable splinter in the flesh of the buttocks of the People of COSA. Eventually, the People of COSA will get organized and launch a recall. On another note, Just Say No! Timmy and The Department really don't need an MRAP. Things will not go well after the introduction of such equipment into Police Inventory.
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PermalinkHa Ha Ha , i'll bet there is no other city like San Angelo . They charge you for not using enough water . Now they are going to charge more for not recycling enough , i'll bet they would charge if we recycled too much . Did you hear the last joke now they are wanting to use tax money to build a bigger boat dock at nasworthy . The people who run the boat races want more free money from the city , so they can charge you more to use your lake at the peek of camping season . These boat races are a nuisance , they encourage alcohol abuse , loud parties , littering , a huge traffic hazard , and they pollute our drinking water supply .
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PermalinkI've had no major trash problems with the new system and I think that overall people are way too upset about it. Don't let trash ruin your day. However, did anyone notice the extremely condescending remark from Republic in the update that recycling is a privilege?
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PermalinkMark Mathews is right--we paid into this new system for a year before it was implemented and we never got a refund. Republic can pay for this 50 cent fee themselves and the City Council should tell them so. We elected them to represent our best interests. It's about time they took their jobs a little more seriously.
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PermalinkI called to check on our pick up and was told it was last week. I followed the guidelines and put items out on Tuesday. Was not picked up on by Thursday so I called and was told since I put items out on Tuesday and not Monday I was not going to picked up. I called back on Friday and told it would be late Friday. Still no pick up. Why do we pay so much for poor customer service. Any one else they would have been fired.
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PermalinkWhen confronted about all of the "curb side" pickup and the cans floating down through the Red Arroyo the last big rain we had...and more cans in the middle of W Beauregard from A&M to the Village Shopping...the mayor first by denied that it was happening, then when I sent him video got angry, telling me I was the only person in San Angelo unhappy with this curbside pickup, and how the trucks wouldn't fit down the allies...what a crock. The trucks do fit down the allies, and with a minor medication to the areas where trash cans were designed to go, things would function just fine.
This mayor and the city council IGNORED the proposal from Texas Disposal, saying that it didn't meet the specifications that REPUBLIC wrote for the bid! Hell, I saw the proposals, both of them, and TDS was offering much more for less money, including continued use of our systems of ally ways, and a realistic recycling program.
It would surprise many of you to know that if a paper towel has food on it, or a pizza box has tomato sauce stains on it, they are removed from the sorting and not counted in the total tonnage.
It's time for We The People to remove these idiots and call for the State Attorneys General office to open a criminal investigation in to the kickbacks paid to select members of the council.
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PermalinkYou are 100% right. The State Attorney General
need to do an investigation. I think it would be a big laugh to see the mayor in the City Council in handcuffs.
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PermalinkWhen Republic started the curbside pick up, our entire street got skipped one week, and Republic didn't answer calls or come back up to pick it up until the next trash day. That week my house was missed. After we had two weeks of trash that never got picked up and STILL no answer from Republic, despite repeated calls, my mother got ahold of the mayor's home phone number at 9pm and called him personally to ask when he would be coming to pick up our trash because it was clear Republic wasn't gonna do it. After that he told her who to call to get it resolved, and it got fixed. It should have NEVER gotten to that point. Republic is a joke.
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PermalinkFrom the mainstream news source...
"If everyone recycled like my wife does then we would hit the 500-ton mark per month," Mayor Dwain Morrison said. "In my house we recycle better than half of what we trash."
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PermalinkMy wife fills up the recycle bin every week.
I think when we pay the COSA water bill and told them that we were not going to pay the 0.50 cents wonder what they would do? I guess the city council wound not be able to put that in their pockets. Think of it if there were 40,000 there are more I imagine then that at 50 cents per household that is twenty thousand dollars a month.
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PermalinkI guess if we lived in another state maybe this would be something for the attorney general to investigate . As it is our state leaders are too busy hating President Barrack Obama that there is no manpower or money to rescue us from these thugs .
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PermalinkReaders, we can continue to rant and rave about this matter on this venue for years to come and nothing will happen! In order to be effectively heard, it is important that we unite as a "concerned citizens group" and attend the next City Council meeting to express our concerns/displeasure's with this issue. Our best alternative is to seek legal advise from an attorney, perhaps the State Attorney General's Office to see if there is a remedy to this matter. It is important to realize that a legal contract has already been signed between the City of San Angelo, TX and Republic Services. Right or wrong, it has been signed! Personally, I would love to prove that there were "kickbacks" given to our Mayor and possibly, other City Council members. However, proving this will be a difficult task. I, for one, would have no problem asking each and everyone of our Council Members if any of them personally received funds related to the awarding of this contract to Republic Supply. Their answer/s would be important in pursuing any legal venue. Also, of importance is the matter of "transparency" and the lack of, when awarding the contract. Did our City Council effectively explain the agreements with Republic Services to it's "constituents" and if so, to what degree? Readers, there are a lot of unanswered questions here but my point is that simply "barking" about it without action leads nowhere!. If there are any readers out there who are versed in the "legal" profession (attorney), who may guide us in the right direction, please make your presence known. I for one am not happy with the direction that our current City Council has taken us in, but until we can prove otherwise, we nothing to stand on! El "Sly"
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PermalinkThis is the City Council YOU voted in :)
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