Arlington Heights negotiating with trash hauler

Arlington Heights will negotiate with Groot Industries, its current refuse hauler, and may not seek competitive bids on a new contract, the village board decided Monday.

Municipalities that negotiate contracts rather than seek sealed bids see smaller increases in what they pay, according to a report from the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County.

Groot approached the village with an offer to freeze rates for one year in return for a seven-year contract starting after the current contract expires March 31. After the first year, the company proposes increasing rates either 3.5 percent per year or according to the cost of inflation - but at least 2.5 percent and not more than 4.5 percent.

The company also proposed giving each residence a free recycling cart, which would cost Groot about $1 million.

Trustees said seven years was too long for the contract, and the requested increases were too large.

Lee Brandsma, CEO of Groot Industries, said during the meeting that households could get different sizes of recycling carts, and it would be possible to let residents keep their old recycling bins if they wished to.

The amount of material recycled increases and thus landfill costs decrease when communities use the carts, company officials said in a letter to the village.

Brandsma also said the company could rent carts to interested residents, while others continue to use garbage bags. The fee could be $2.50 per month.

The board wants results on major points raised in a survey of residents to be reiterated at the village board meeting Aug. 16.

According to the survey, a very slim majority of residents favored once-a-week garbage pickup - but most said they would have a problem storing garbage carts and oppose paying for carts either for recycling or garbage.

Arlington Heights and Skokie are the only communities in the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County that have garbage pick up twice a week. Reducing to once a week would save homeowners about $50 a year, Brandsma said.

Trustees also were pleased that Groot has invested in trucks that run on compressed natural gas, an environmentally cleaner alternative than regular gasoline.