Waste Management has lost its Elgin garbage collection contract to Lakeshore Recycling Systems, which plans to do away with tiered pricing and landscape waste stickers and expand organics recycling.
After a failed effort by Mayor Dave Kaptain and Councilwoman Tish Powell to retain WM as the city’s trash hauler, extending an arrangement that’s been in place for 30 years, the Elgin City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to switch to LRS.
The new three-year contract, which goes into effect Jan. 1, calls for a flat $24.95 per month fee for regular trash, recycling and yard waste/organics collection. Residents will no longer need to use biodegradable bags or purchase a $3.47 sticker for each one to get rid of grass clippings and landscape debris.
WM’s bid proposed monthly fees of $25.68 for single-family homeowners and $15.38 for condo and townhome owners pay $15.38 a month. It later submitted a revised bid in which it agreed to match LRS’ contract proposal.
The change comes after city staff conducted a survey and held public forums to determine what types of garbage services residents wanted with the next garbage contract. What they learned was residents wanted more options for organics collection and don’t want to buy stickers for yard waste.
Nearly 60% of survey respondents said they’d like a collection service that would let them combine food scraps and yard waste, but 80% of them also said they wouldn’t participate in such a program if there was an additional cost, Public Works Director Aaron Neal told the council.
“It’s crucial to include organic collection services,” which is something the LRS contract does, Neal said.
Going with a flat rate, officials said, makes the system more equitable and and will allow for everyone to participate in sustainability programs.
LRS plans to provide all users with a regular trash cart, a blue recycling cart and a third cart that can be used for yard and food scrap waste, Neal said. An education program will be offered to teach residents how to recycle food scraps, he said.
“We think that’s important. We think that’s innovative. We think that’s in line with our strategic goals,” Neal said.
Councilman Dustin Good said Lakeshore Recycling had his vote because their sustainability and education efforts are a better fit for Elgin and they “presented a better offer on the first go-around.”
“This is not a vote against Waste Management,” he said. “(But) it does feel like LRS got to the finish line first.”
WM executives and drivers spoke at the meeting and advocated for the company to keep the contract.
“I’ve seen our partnership in action, and I’ve been a part of it,” one driver said. “We are constantly looking for a better way to serve our community not only in corporate but down to the drivers on the street every day.”
Kaptain said his concern was that LRS trucks would expend a lot of diesel fuel bringing waste to its disposal sites in Elburn and Rolling Meadows whereas WM’s site is located in Elgin.
“(That would be) a huge step backward. I have a real problem with that,” the mayor said.
Powell, who was challenged by LRS as having a conflict of interest in voting because she works for a refuse company, said her concern was the flat rate wasn’t fair to town home and condo owners.
Her motion to accept WM’s bid package failed when only she and Kaptain voted in favor of it.
The ethics complaint filed against Powell said cited LRS’s cited her “involvement and influence in the decision on the (bidding process) because of the personal impact she likely experienced due to (her company’s) loss of those accounts and customers (to LRS).”
City attorney Christopher Beck, the city’s ethics officer, disagreed with that allegation and gave Powell permission to participate if she so desired.
She did, and both she and Kaptain voted in favor of the LRS contract when the approval motion was made.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Powell said she did not believe she had an ethical conflict because she does not receive a commission for any contract her company wins nor does she suffer a personal financial loss for any contract her employer loses. Her company didn’t bid on the Elgin contract.
The complaint also claimed Powell caused the city to reopen the bidding process, which left LRS at a disadvantage because its competition had access to its bid materials.
“The claims they are making are inaccurate,” Powell said. “I do not feel that my actions are in violation of our ethics ordinance.”
Beck said Wednesday that he found no ethics violations and cited case law that he said supported his finding that Powell could vote.
Additionally, he said, Powell played no role in reopening the bid process. Staff asked bidders for additional information and were required by the city ordinance to allow all bidders to provide more information to keep the process fair, he said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.