McCORDSVILLE – Town officials in McCordsville plan to continue to contract with its current trash pickup provider after the company promised to resolve shortcomings it’s been having in the community.
Customers can expect to see their trash bills rise slightly next year when the new agreement goes into effect.
McCordsville’s current contract with Waste Management ends in December, prompting the town to issue a request for bids for service starting in 2023.
The town received two bids – one from Republic Services and another from Waste Management, which was the lower of the pair.
McCordsville residents currently pay over $10 per month for weekly trash pickup. The town council approved a two-year bid with Waste Management consisting of a base proposal of $12.95 per unit per month in 2023 and $13.47 per unit per month in 2024. Council members also approved a proposal continuing four 8-yard recycling receptacles available to McCordsville residents at Town Hall emptied three times per week for $1,260 per month in 2023 and $1,310 per month in 2024.
Tim Gropp, McCordsville town manager, said residents’ monthly trash pickup rates will be averaged out rather than having a price increase each year. He said it’s difficult to tell yet exactly what price residents should expect, as a small administrative fee needs to be determined and the cost for recycling has to be built in. It will be somewhere in the mid-thirteens for both years, Gropp added.
Problems have persisted with Waste Management’s service to the town, according to officials, including reports of trash not getting picked up, containers not getting completely emptied and hydraulic fluid from trucks leaking onto neighborhood streets. They also cite residents inundating town employees with complaints and questions and communication issues between staff and Waste Management.
Travis Blanks, a district manager for Waste Management who oversees service to McCordsville, said the company is working to resolve those deficiencies.
“We do have processes in place to ensure that we not only improve our service to the town, but that we sustain those improvements,” he told officials at a town council meeting earlier this month.
He noted Waste Management’s current strategy is to blitz McCordsville with several trucks one day a week and hope trucks don’t have issues while also hoping drivers don’t call off work, that they’re familiar enough with the town and get to the right neighborhoods. Blanks added the company plans to change to a four-day approach with a designated employee whose only responsibility is McCordsville.
“So they know every addition, they know every neighborhood, they know the gate codes, they know what the issues may have been,” Blanks said. “We feel like creating that level of familiarity and consistency with one driver in one asset will greatly improve.”
Supply chain issues that continue to plague many parts of the economy are hampering Waste Management’s ability to get new trucks, but Blanks said the company is investing improving its fleet and plans to use better equipment in McCordsville.
Officials for the town and Waste Management also discussed how when a resident calls the company with service issues, they’re asked to provide a customer number they do not have, since the town internally handles billing.
Melinda Antell of Waste Management said the company is working on developments expected to be ready early next year that will allow McCordsville residents to interact directly with Waste Management online and via a mobile app. Some of the abilities will include adjusting service, initiating bulk item pickup, requesting container repair and replacement, viewing pickup schedules, reporting missed container and receiving communication from the company about changes, she continued. Antell added the developments will also allow customers to see a photo indicating whether their container were emptied.
The Waste Management officials also promised to improve communication with town staff by establishing a company representative with whom they can have direct contact.
Waste Management’s bid also offered a four-year option that costs less than the two-year. But officials opted for the latter, reasoning it will provide time for working out the past issues and that hopefully in two years the market will have improved enough to spur more competitive bids.
Town council members voted 3-2 in favor of the two-year proposal, with Greg Brewer, Tom Strayer and Branden Williams voting in favor and Chad Gooding and Larry Longman voting against.
Strayer said what he heard from Waste Management was more positive than he expected.
“My only concern with going with the four (-year option) is we’ve had these problems for years and they haven’t been fixed,” he added.
Brewer felt the shorter option is wiser as well.
“Based on our past history, I’d be more leaning to a two-year contract to see how that works,” he said.
But Longman was skeptical about market conditions improving enough over the next 24 months.
“I don’t think anything’s going to go down in price,” he said. “I think two years from now, we’re not going to like what we see then. I’m a proponent of the four-year option. … Hopefully what we’ve heard will help alleviate some of the issues we’re having, but I don’t know. It’s a leap of faith.”
