March 29, 2024

Trash talk

City council to receive waste-collection bids June 28, award contract July 2

An end to Osceola's garbage problems might finally be in sight.

Bids for the city's solid-waste collection will be received 2 p.m. Friday, June 28. This isn't a city meeting, but there will be a quorum of Osceola City Council members present.

"We will award the contract on Tuesday, July 2," said City Administrator/Clerk Ty Wheeler.

Previously

During an Oct. 2 Osceola City Council meeting, the council denied entering into a five-year contract with Waste Management, which incorporates single-stream recycling.

The city currently has a contract with Waste Management until September, but is rebidding the waste-collection contract for the fall.

Mayor Fred Diehl asked how many bid inquiries the city has currently gotten.

Wheeler responded there have been several inquiries.

"Waste Management's new public sector rep(resentative) for our territory called me yesterday to familiarize himself with the city, and I assume we will be getting something from them," Wheeler said.

He added, Jim's Trucking of Creston will most likely be making a bid.

"But, we've had several phone calls and several requests for a copy of the specs," Wheeler said.

Collection specifics

Councilman Dr. George Fotiadis asked if the collection specifics would be "ironed out" in the bids. The specifics include single-stream recycling, truck weight and bulk pickup.

Wheeler said part of the bid documents will request providing truck dimensions and rates.

"Single-stream (recycling) actually was a requirement," he said. "I don't presume there will be any bids that will come in without the recycling component in it. But, yes, in short, we should get specifics to each contractor's abilities and truck size and things like that."