St. Charles hires new trash company

Most St. Charles residents will pay less for garbage collection services starting next month after aldermen approved a deal with a new waste company Monday night.

The city council voted 8-2 to authorize a five-year contract with Lakeshore Recycling Systems, which offered the lowest costs of the three vendors that submitted a proposal. The city's contract with Florida-based Advanced Disposal, which has served St. Charles for the last 13 years, expires June 30.

Representatives from Advanced Disposal offered to drop their prices and urged city officials to stick with their company, citing risks associated with transitioning to a new vendor. Several community members also have reached out to aldermen voicing their support for Advanced Disposal.

"We're part of the community," said Bob Pfister, the company's regional municipal marketing manager. "We've done so well providing service to the city."

Lakeshore's contract, however, is cheaper than Advanced Disposal's lowest offer, and company executives already have worked out a transition plan with city officials, managing partner Josh Connell said. The Chicago-area vendor also intends to get involved in the community, he said.

"This is something we're very excited about," he said. "We will not let St. Charles down."

Aldermen also unanimously approved maintaining a volume-based sticker program rather than switching to a toter-only option.

Lakeshore is charging $2.60 for each trash or yard waste sticker - about 80 cents cheaper than current sticker prices. Residents also have the option to rent a 35-, 65- or 95-gallon garbage toter for a monthly fee ranging from $17.25 to $19.25, according to city documents.

Advanced Disposal first proposed bringing its sticker prices down to $3.10, then offered to lower costs another 15 cents. Groot, the third company to submit a proposal, was the most costly option.

Having received pushback from some residents in favor of keeping Advanced Disposal, Aldermen Dan Stellato suggested holding off on a vote and giving the public more of an opportunity to weigh in.

"This impacts every single household," Stellato said. He and Alderman Maureen Lewis opposed the Lakeshore contract.

However, Alderman Rita Payleitner said community members in support of both companies have provided ample feedback in the last few weeks, and almost all have received a response.

Mayor Ray Rogina called Advanced Disposal a great partner, but pointed to staff members' recommendation to hire Lakeshore, saying they thoroughly researched the company and vetted the process. "We're all together responsible in the end to make sure our citizenry gets the best possible service," he said.

St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia teamed up last fall to issue a joint request for proposals in hopes of saving money through economy of scale. Batavia officials last month decided to stick with Advanced Disposal, while Geneva signed with Lakeshore.