No referendum on refuse in Rolling Meadows

Rolling Meadows residents will not vote in March on whether the city should outsource its garbage collection, but privatizing refuse pickup could move forward anyway.

The city council decided this week not to put a referendum on the March primary ballot asking for public opinion on whether to keep the Public Works department collection, or hire an outside company.

Mayor Tom Rooney, who favors a referendum, said he and other city officials have heard from residents asking for a referendum because they like the current level of service and believe voters would reject turning it over to outsiders.

Rolling Meadows is one of the few suburbs to still collect its own garbage. Many residents support keeping it that way, recognizing they get a level of service most suburbs don't have.

But several aldermen are interested in pursuing privatization, expecting that it will save the city money. The city's recycling collection is already done by a private company.

The city will go for bids from different waste haulers over the next several months, but without any hard numbers now, most aldermen weren't comfortable putting a question on the ballot.

“If the referendum is simply, ‘Do you want to outsource refuse or not?' that's the wrong question,” said Alderman Jim Larsen.

“We should know the numbers before we put it on the referendum, otherwise it's a nonsense referendum,” Alderman Larry Buske said.

Rooney said he supported the idea of a referendum question now because the city will already be going to referendum in March about electricity aggregation.

Several residents came to Tuesday's meeting in support of the current in-house garbage pickup.

“We have never had a refuse problem and have been very happy with the service,” said Marge Loesch, who has lived in Rolling Meadows for more than 50 years. “I don't feel it is right for the city council to make such an important decision, which affects all residents, without asking.”

“Everyone I know in this city loves and appreciates these services,” said resident Dave Gunger, who also called for a referendum. “You can throw anything away and it will be gone without any additional fees.”

“What about the city employees?” he added. “Are we hoping in this economy that another vendor will hire them?”

Alderman Mike Cannon said the outsourcing proposal doesn't have resident support right now because people don't realize how much money they could save.

“If people realize we have the potential to save $100 or $150 a house, it would sway their opinion,” he said. “It boggles my mind how people are so in love with our garbage trucks.”

Rolling Meadows does not have to hold a referendum to change how garbage is collected. And even after the bids are in, the council can reject them all.

The city's current six-month recycling contract ends June 30, which is the target date for the city to decide if it wants to change refuse collection. If the council decides to privatize, it's likely the same company would get the contract to collect both garbage and recycling.

As well, the council can put off a decision and put a referendum on the November 2012 general election ballot.

Alderman Robert Banger, tired of this recurring discussion, suggested dropping the entire proposal.

“I'm inclined to listen to the people on this one. I would actually like to abandon ship altogether,” Banger said. “There's such an outcry from people who have listed things they don't want to lose. I'd like to drop the whole affair.”

The city will continue to discuss refuse collection with the public works department at the January committee of the whole meetings before going for bids and proposals.