Indianapolis-based Best Way Disposal employees collect trash in February 2020 in Greenwood. Daily Journal file photo
Town-wide trash collection is again under discussion by the Trafalgar Town Council.
At their Thursday meeting, the council voted to request proposals for trash collection that would cover all residences in the town.
The idea first came up in January but was stalled months later after residents expressed concern about making this change.
Council members began exploring the idea of a town-wide contracted trash service in January as a way to combat nuisance properties and “provide uniformity” in the town. The town council moved forward with the idea in February, creating a timeline for selecting a trash contractor and putting out a request for proposals.
Several residents spoke at the meeting in February, including the owner of D&L Trash Removal who said contracted services would hurt their small business. Other residents wanted things to stay the way they were.
In March, council members abandoned the idea after residents spoke against it and presented a petition with around 200 signatures at March’s town council meeting. Council member Mike Peters was interested in putting out a request for proposals to see what would happen, but the idea died with a lack of motion. Before the March meeting, Jason Ramey, town council president, made a post on Facebook asking residents how they felt about contracting town-wide services. Of 253 who responded, only 25 were for it.
Residents cited concerns over how a town-wide contract would impact D&L and agreed that nuisance properties were an issue, but disagreed that a town-wide trash service was needed. However, D&L sold their company to Rumpke in April, which sparked conversations again.
Town officials and residents have been torn on the idea from the beginning. Some think it could help solve nuisance issues the town is seeing and save residents money, while others think there are better ways to solve the issues that aren’t contracted services.
Residents have different trash days because they can use any company; as a result, trash piles up and trash cans are always out, officials said in January. They also cited safety and infrastructure concerns that some companies residents use have missed trash days recently.
The biggest issue residents had with contracting trash services were residents wanted to support a local business and not be told what to do, said Jason Ramey, town council president.
Now, the town council will pick up where they left off and send out a request for proposals. The motion passed 5-0 at Thursday’s meeting.
“I would still like to just out of curiosity, send bids out and see what the pricing is that comes back and see what the options are,” Peters said at Thursday’s Town Council meeting.
One quote the town previously received was around $15 or $16 a month, he said.
Council members made it clear that they are “not interested in forcing” contracted trash services if residents don’t want it, but were interested in exploring their options further.
“The public was screaming that they weren’t interested and I wasn’t interested in forcing things. I’m willing to hear it again if you have an option,” Ramey said. “I would pay much less if it went through than what I do now. So, I’m fine with it.”
Residents would have likely seen a 50% reduction in their trash bill if approved, Ramey said in March.
Jessie Biggerman, executive director of Johnson County Recycling District gave a presentation about recycling at Thursday’s meeting. Biggerman said adding recycling may be another incentive for residents and would help boost the local economy.
Council member Ashley Chaney agreed.
“I know a lot of people don’t recycle because they don’t want to drive it to Franklin or whatever the case may be,” Chaney said. “So I think that with Rumpke and the new buyout if we add the recycling piece too, other people might be more open to it. They might still hate it, I don’t know, but I think it’s definitely worth looking into.”
The town would have to hold a public hearing before adding any charges to residents’ bill, Ramey said.
Council members want to be clear that this is “not a for sure thing” and that they are just exploring options, council member Jessica Jones said.
“This is us considering the additional bids on what it could look like for the town,” she said.
