Fox River Grove: New waste hauler to bring savings under new contract

The Fox River Grove Village Board recently approved a contract with Prairieland Disposal to serve as the village's residential waste, recycling, and landscape waste collection service for the next five years.

The cost for these services will be reduced from $298.44 per household in 2019 to $252.00 per household in 2020, a savings of $46.44 annually per household. Over the five-year contract, the savings across all residents is $572,879.

Beginning Feb. 3, 2020, Prairieland will replace Waste Management, which provided waste hauling services to Fox River Grove residents for the last 25 years.

Village President Robert J. Nunamaker stated, "Ultimately, this came down to cost. Although we received excellent service from Waste Management, the opportunity to provide our residents with a substantial discount for a nearly identical set of services was one that we couldn't pass up."

Adjustments to services under the new contract include:

• Bills will be sent once every three months instead of once every four months.

• Dry cell batteries will no longer be picked up with curbside recycling. Instead, an unlimited number can be dropped off at Prairieland's facility, 21N988 Pepper Road in Lake Barrington.

• The Senior Program will be switched from a sticker-based program to a discounted subscription program. Seniors will receive a 38% discount from the $21 per month bill; they will pay $13.02 per month or $39.02 per quarterly billing. The cost of the program is equivalent to using one sticker per week under the previous sticker program. There are no stickers required under the new contract. The minimum age for participation is 65. (Residents that are 62 or older by Jan. 31, 2020, will be permitted to use the senior subscription program.) A maximum 3-month vacation hold allowed once per year.

Additional services available to residents under the new contract include:

• Free dropoff for E-Scrap, textile, shoes, food organics, Christmas lights, flower vases & batteries at Prairieland's facility in Lake Barrington;

• Free E-Scrap pickup once per year;

• Free white good pickup if replacing a bulk item;

• Landscape waste subscription program available - no stickers required.

For information, visit www.foxrivergrove.org.