Update: On Monday night, September 9, 2024, the Warrensburg City Council passed the ordinance allowing the City Manager and Clerk to contract with Constable Sanitation of Lee's Summit to provide residential garbage, recycling, and yard waste pick up for City residents. The service will begin in March of 2025. Residents' reactions on various Facebook groups dedicated to the Warrensburg area have been mixed. 

The hot topic at tonight's Warrensburg City Council meeting will be trash, specifically residential trash collection for City residents who live in a dwelling with fewer than four units.

The following information was taken from a letter to Warrensburg's Mayor and City Council outlining the process the City went through to arrive at tonight's vote and why City Staff recommends the Council adopt the ordinance. You can see that letter here.

Background

For those unfamiliar, when Heartland Disposal Services sold its business to Republic Services, Republic had some growing pains and early trouble picking up residential waste in some parts of Warrensburg. Additionally, some residents have not been happy with the increase in their garbage service bills under Republic.

In response to citizens' frustration with issues related to solid waste collection, in February of 2022, the Warrensburg City Council unanimously passed a resolution setting forth the City's intention to potentially contract for solid waste services in compliance with state regulations requiring a two-year notice period.

Throughout 2023, the City and consultants from Burns and McDonnell developed a comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan to guide the City's future materials management system. Additionally, they contacted residents through an online survey with over 1,000 responses, held public workshops, talked to different refuse companies, and had City Council presentations.

The Warrensburg City Council adopted the Solid Waste Management Plan last August. That plan included selecting a company for solid waste collection, recycling, and yard waste services.

The City issued a formal Request for Proposals for Solid Waste and Recycling Services in late February this year. Four companies bid on the job and submitted proposals to the City, and the City's top choice is Constable Sanatation, Inc. out of Lee's Summit, Missouri.

The Details Of The Trash Ordinance

Tonight, September 9, 2024, the Warrensburg City Council will vote on an ordinance authorizing Warrensburg's City Manager and Clerk to execute an agreement with Constable Sanitation for solid waste and recycling services for residential collection in town.

If passed, Constable Sanitation will provide services for residential service addresses with four units or less, City facilities and events, and the downtown sidewalk receptacles. Each residential service address will receive all of the following services:

• Weekly trash service: one 96-gallon cart.
• Weekly curbside recycling service: one 96-gallon cart.
• Weekly curbside yard waste services: 10 bags or bundles per week.
• Monthly, curbside bulky waste service: 1 item per month.

The City of Warrensburg will handle residential trash billing with existing sewer bills if the agreement passes. The estimated monthly rate for residents, including a $4  administrative fee added to what Constable is charging the City, works out to about $31 a month, or $93 a quarter if you're looking to compare it to your quarterly trash bill from another service.

The City says a city-wide contract is a private market solution that takes advantage of economies of scale and the City's collective purchasing power to increase service levels and, in some cases, lower residents' costs. The City also believes a City-wide contract for service will lead to cleaner neighborhoods.

The agreement includes provisions for annual cost adjustments. Its initial term is five years, with three optional renewal terms for a total of not more than eight years. If the ordinance passes, the service will commence on March 1, 2025, with the first garbage pick-ups on March 3, 2025. You can read more on this issue in a letter sent to the Mayor and City Council here.

Rob's Take

As a Warrensburg resident with residential trash pick up, I hope the City Council passes the ordinance. While Republic Services has generally done an excellent job with trash pick up since some early bumps in the road after taking over from Heartland, my trash bill has grown significantly, something I and many others are not a fan of.

Contracting with Constable will save me about $30 a quarter. I also like that the service includes recycling—I paid Heartland extra for that—and bulk waste services once a month. I won't have to leave that old piece of furniture on the back porch for six months waiting for bulk pick-up days.

I sympathize with those who were so frustrated with Republic Services that they contracted with someone else and might be upset if the City's deal goes through and they end up paying more for service. Yet, most of us who didn't bother to change garbage companies and use Republic—that's most of the people in my neighborhood—I think this is a good deal for the City and its residents.