City rebids trash services, sees slight price increase
Republic Services out of Huntsville will continue to pick up branches and other solid waste items for the city of Madison until at least July 2016. (Record Photo/Nick Sellers)
By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer
MADISON – At the latest Madison City Council meeting on June 22, the Council voted to renew the contract for Republic Services in Huntsville to continue picking up residential solid waste for Madison residents.
The amendment to the agreement, though, comes as a price increase of 23 cents per month for every household, which adds up to $2.76 a year for each of Madison’s 14,217 housing units. The price of the service before was $5.75 per month and will increase to $5.98.
In a letter written to Kent Smith, Madison’s director of public works, Eric Kolb of Republic Services stated that the 4 percent increase in service price serves as a cost of living adjustment based on a Consumer Price Index compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“In addition, Madison is continually growing and an agreed upon unit adjustment should be made,” Kolb stated in the letter.
The Council voted 6-1 to renew the contract with the amendment, with District 3 Councilman D.J. Klein the lone dissenting vote against the resolution. After the meeting, Klein voiced his disagreement with the cancellation of the Request For Proposal (RFP) that he said would have allowed the city to make a more informed decision on the matter.
“Madison County has a great track record for service in Madison, but cancelling the RFP in effect reduced competition that may have reduced pricing for Madison residents that now led to a $40,000 annual increase,” Klein said.
In city documents, the resolution stated that the increase “is a minor change that could not reasonably be contemplated during the bid process or at the time of execution of the original agreement [in July 2014].”
“We looked at it and the total for all three services is [around] $20.25 [for all three services] per month, we didn’t feel like we could do any better than that,” District 1 Councilman Tim Holcombe said, noting the city has not officially executed any price hikes for households yet.
