Posted on June 9, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
North Judson residents will soon have curbside recycling. The town council voted Monday to enter into a five-year contract with Republic Services. Under the arrangement, residents will get a new recycling tote. Recycling will be picked up every other week, likely starting in August.
Republic Services representative Peter Callan presented a deal where the town would see lower costs initially by locking into a five-year contract for both trash and recycling. Council member John Rowe pointed out that residents will see an increase on their bills. “So everybody’s going to be, ‘Okay, this sounds great. This is all fine,’ but then when they see these bills, everybody’s going to start asking questions,” Rowe said. “So I think everybody here needs to take this little picture and realize this is another bill that’s going to be added.”
Each household would pay a monthly fee of $2.82 initially for recycling. That’s on top of the $9.25 they’re already paying for trash pickup. However, both of those fees will go up over the five years of the contract.
Both Republic Services and the Town of North Judson hope to benefit from the arrangement. It will allow for the removal of the recycling drop-off site offered by the Starke County Environmental Management District. It’s become an eyesore, according to town officials, due to the dumping of trash and large items in the area around the dumpsters.
The Environmental Management District planned to have the dumpsters removed by July 1, but the town council wanted them gone sooner. In exchange for the five year contract on curbside trash and recycling pickup, town officials asked that Republic Services remove the recycling dumpsters and clean up the surrounding area as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Republic Services wants to add a few policies into its new contract with North Judson. Callan said the contract the company inherited when it took over Richard’s Disposal was not very clear. That’s led to some confusion when it comes to the pickup of extra trash or bulk items like furniture.
Rowe added that there were few, if any, parameters with Richard’s Disposal. “You’ve got to realize, our guy before took everything, every time,” Rowe told Callan. “It didn’t matter. He always took it. I mean, I’d pile stuff up. I’d clean my house out once a year, and it would be huge. And I’d come out – gone, all of it. We’re spoiled. So that’s why everybody’s so questioning. Not that I don’t think anybody wants to work with you guys or do it correctly, or whatever. It’s just that we’ve been so spoiled for so long, now it’s kind of like, ‘Whoa, we have parameters!'”
Callan agreed to help educate residents on Republic Service’s policies and how the new recycling service will work. Council members planned to sign the new contract during a special session this morning.
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