Village to stay with Waste Management despite ‘bumps’

Hauler dumped by other communities has addressed problems, frozen pick-up fee, official says
By 
FINN ASKIN
Ozaukee Press staff

The Village of Saukville Public Works Committee on Tuesday recommended to the Village Board to keep the same garbage crew on the block.

Committee members unanimously recommended the village hire Waste Management to be its garbage and recycle collection service for the next five years.

The village received bids from three contractors — Harter’s Lakeside Disposal, Waste Management and Green for Life Environmental.

The contract includes weekly garbage collection, biweekly recycling collection, bulk item collection for residents, an option for residents to contract for a second garbage cart, dumpsters for special events and free trash and recycling  pick-up of various village-owned locations.

Those locations include Village Hall, the fire station, police station, Department of Public Works building, Rebel Field, Schowalter Park and Grady Park.

Waste Management offered the lowest cost for recycling and garbage pick-up at $219 per year for each household, or $284,262 based on 1,298 homes in the village.

Harter’s bid came out to $222 per year for each household, however committee members were worried that Harter’s would take two days to cover the entire village for garbage pick-up — half of the village would be picked up on one day, the other half on another.

A representative from Harter’s argued that this has never been an issue in other municipalities.

“We do that in every other municipality we cover and it works there. It’s very simple,” he said.

Committee Chairman Trevor Seitz argued that “people (in the village) are used to having it done in one day.”

Committee members were also keen not to switch over to new bins.

Harter’s, which is based in Oostburg, also argued that their proximity to Saukville is a “strong point” on why they should be hired.

“We are taking care of a bunch of neighboring communities like the town and village of Grafton, the City of Port Washington and the Town of Trenton,” their representative said.

Green for Life, which was the only contractor without a representative present at the meeting, had the most expensive contract at $246 per year for each household.

Committee members were impressed with what Waste Management offered.

“We are keeping the same day and one day for recycling and garbage pickup,” Public Works Supt. Dan Helm said.

Committee member Jesse Duckart agreed.

“The dumpsters for village buildings alone is great,” he said.

Village Administrator Dawn Wagner concurred, adding, “We’ve had bumps over the last few years, but they have stepped up. They froze what we are being charged and have corrected things for the most part. They had challenges with staffing just like everyone else. We have seen them make some steps forward.”

The representative from Waste Management said the past “bumps” were related to its acquisition of Advanced Disposal.

“After we acquired them, it was rough. Half the staff didn’t come over. We have worked past that,” he said. “We are fully staffed now in all operations and have a fleet of brand new compressed natural gas trucks.”

He also said the company is working to improve its customer service.

“Customer service is important to us. We have a little bit of a different take than we used to. We want, in 2024, to extend our support to ‘WMNow.’ This (website) will allow patrons to see where their truck is at and to submit a claim. I think this will help people get help quicker rather than having to call someone,” he said.

He added that Waste Management has been getting complaints less frequently, but the company has had some issues picking up trash from newly built homes.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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