Garbage service changes likely coming to Batavia, Geneva Prices, recycling toters, days of service being reviewed
It could soon be the dawn of a new garbage day for residents of Batavia and Geneva, and that pickup could be less expensive.
Results are in from bids for new five-year contracts for both towns, which will soon consider hiring the same company in attempt to save money.
The contracts would be separate for each town. Bid results for the Geneva contract are not on the city’s website, but are due to be discussed by the city council at 7 p.m. Monday.
The Batavia contract bids will be discussed by the city council’s city services committee at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. A memo is available on the agenda, at cityofbatavia.net. Five companies submitted bids but two were disqualified because they did not provide prices for all options.
According to a Batavia memo, if practices stayed the same — garbage collection on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and using 18-gallon bins for recyclables — Batavia stickers would drop 21 cents to $2.90 the first year, and rise to $3.46 by the fifth year.
The city staff recommends a change to using a 65-gallon wheeled toter for recyclables, as many suburbs have done. Under that plan, Flood Bros. had the lowest bid, with garbage can stickers costing $3.15 the first year and rising to $3.65 in the fifth year.
However, if allowed to change pickup days, Advanced Disposal Services Solid Waste Midwest LLC has the lower bid, with sticker prices starting at $2.85 and rising to $3.40. Garbage pickup would be on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Batavia, and Thursdays and Fridays, as it is now, in Geneva.
Batavians currently pay $3.11 for garbage and yard waste stickers and Geneva residents pay 7 cents more.
The cities also sought prices for a third option: Eliminating the sticker plan and requiring residents to pay a monthly fee for a 65-gallon garbage and recyclables toters. Under the Batavia contract, that would cost a household $17.98 a month the first year and rise to $21.44 a month for the last year. The downside, noted by public works director Gary Holm, is that people who don’t put out much garbage would end up paying much more. For example, a household that puts out two cans of garbage a month now pays $6.22 for stickers, or $74.64. Under this proposal, that household would be charged $215.76 a year.
The proposed garbage contracts, which would take effect July 1, do not apply to multifamily housing or businesses.