Arlington Heights negotiates new waste collection contract

Twice-a-week garbage collection will continue in Arlington Heights under a new five-year contract with Groot Industries Inc., the village board decided Monday.

While a few trustees expressed an interest in considering once-a-week trash pickup, only Joseph Farwell voted against the contract, citing his desire to cut the service to once a week. Trustee Thomas Glasgow was absent.

Terms of the new contract include a freeze in the monthly rate paid for garbage pickup for one year, followed by an increase of 2 percent each year of the contract. Groot will also give each homeowner a free cart for recycling, which will save the community as much as $1 million. Homeowners can choose the size of their carts and can continue to use their smaller recycling bins if they wish.

Residents who prefer can also rent carts for their garbage for $2.50 per month. Arlington Heights residents currently use bags for their garbage.

Despite Groot's one-year freeze in rates, residents could see a rate increase with the new contract April 1 because the village spent $120,000 to subsidize the fees this year. Trustees agreed they would decide during the budgetary process whether that is affordable for 2011.

Arlington Heights and Skokie are the only communities in the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County that have garbage pickup twice a week. Reducing to once a week would save homeowners about $50 a year, said Groot CEO Lee Brandsma. In preparation for a new contract, the village conducted surveys on attitudes toward garbage and recycling. Forty-three percent said they wanted to cut to once-a-week service, 41 percent chose twice a week and 16 percent said once a week with residents having the option to pay for a second pickup.

Village Manager Bill Dixon and trustees agreed that cost was the major concern of most survey respondents.

The board was advised that negotiating a contract often resulted in lower rates than seeking bids from competing companies.

The 719 homeowners who pay for their yard waste collection by the year rather than with a sticker for each bag will see a limit in the number of bags they can put out. Groot requested this to prevent neighbors from paying for one subscription and getting yard waste removed from two residences.