By: Diane Benjamin
There are a lot of factors involved in determining whether twice a year bulk waste pickup saves money.
We know two knuckleboom trucks were purchased and so far haven’t been used much:
https://blnnews.com/2019/06/21/coliseum-garbage-service/
Total cost: $308,819.96
We know while bulk is being picked up, employees don’t have time for things like patching potholes and brush pickup. They worked overtime trying to catch up after the last round.
Here’s something you didn’t know. The City is now picking up more bulk than they did under the old system:
That means disposal costs are higher.
The change to twice a year began 5/1/2018: https://blnnews.com/2018/02/27/solid-waste-done/
Increasing your garbage bill 3% a year was passed at the same meeting. The chickens on the Council want it increased without a vote. You are paying more for less service.
It appears $53,277.09 of the $101,408.83 paid to Henson Disposal was for Bulk. https://blnnews.com/2019/07/18/bloomington-bills-for-monday-2/
So, does it save money? Depends on who you ask.
Normal doesnt seem to have a problem. They pick it up weekly
The best solution would be to turn over all garbage pickup to the private sector. The private sector provider would result in better prices and better service (without the pensions!)
Not to mention that now, if someone starts a pile some neighbor throw more crap on the pile cause they either don’t know any better or they figure their little bit won’t hurt. Or maybe they just don’t want to pay it themselves. Then that creates bad feelings in the neighborhood. It’s a bad deal for the citizens every which way.
Of course they end up picking up more. Under the old system, curb shoppers and junkers got a lot of it before the city came by. Aren’t these government types supposedly all for reuse and recycle?
Also, they’re not saving a lot in fuel and labor because they are (supposedly) still coming around with the big equipment every two weeks to pick up yard waste.