Staff recommends keeping current system
On Tuesday council will again visit the next garbage contract. DGreport readers already know the options, but now staff has weighed in, recommending the existing program be kept in place for another three years. This is a first reading (workshop) of that motion, and council is expected to vote next week on how to proceed.
The village survey made it crystal clear residents didn’t see anything broken, and didn’t want anything changed. Massaging out the senior citizen responses from the survey did nothing to change that overwhelming response.
How will council vote? Commissioner William Waldack has been clear from the start he will vote to keep the current system, and Commissioner Sean Durkin has been clear from the start he wants to see carts only. While Mayor Sandack has repeatedly mentioned the fixed costs that must be addressed, he and the rest of council know the contract to extend the current system (with price hikes) covers those fixed costs and is profitable for Republic Services, Inc.
This week’s discussion should make the expected vote clearer.
This village is stuck in the past on this issue. Bravo Comm. Durkin on your vision.
Vision? Gee whiz, that must be the 1950′s incarnation of “Doc Brown” speaking because Mr. Durkin has never understood how the refuse system and potential alternatives work — or cost. He simply reflexively pushes every year for the same system that they had in place under his tenure as a Darien alderman. But that system is inherently more expensive to residents because it is subsidized by everyone, regardless of how much refuse they put to the curb. Sure, let’s all pay more and have no incentive to reduce what we toss out. That’s quintessential 1950’s thinking. Please make some repairs to the flux capacitor and try coming back to the future.
LMAO. Punto you are so dead on.
Here’s a novel thought. If the carts make it easier/safer/faster for garbage collection, have the village subsidize selling different color carts (NOT “renting”) to residents who would then still be required to attach stickers when they were put out. (Hey, the village subsidized rain barrels.)
Of course, if it were optional, it wouldn’t satisfy those who want the “aesthetics” of cookie-cutter garbage carts lining the streets, but it would move us in that direction, as well as continuing to encourage recycling.
I don’t know if stickers would still work; part of the benefit of the carts is that the operator may not have to get out of the truck, which wouldn’t allow for ripping off the sticker. But perhaps something could be worked out to bring the two sides together in peace!
I’ve never seen “aesthetics” and “garbage” in the same sentence before, Bob. Congratulations on a first!
They are in the same sentence when your neighbors don’t pick up their stray garbage and it ends up in your yard. (all the time)
Good, i think the current system works fine.
I also thought it was hilarious when I read that… Durkin want the streets to look pretty on garbage day. Hey, as long as trash is collected and isn’t strewn about the street, I don’t care if my neighbor puts out a cart or a black Hefty bag or a green one.
(Ever notice how difficult it is to throw out a garbage can?)
Editor’s note: Just caught this: The neat factor appears to be Durkin’s issue. No other commissioner commented on that aspect and this comment has been edited accordingly.
My problem with the cart system is the situation, when you have more than normal amounts of garbage.
I normally put out one can of garbage, but there are instances, when I put out two, such as after some major house cleaning, or after a remodeling project.
With stickers, I can put out an unlimited amount of garbage, so long as I have a sticker on every can, bag, and large item.
What happens with a cart, if you have more garbage than the cart can hold? Do you have to hold some back until the next week? Do you see if your neighbor has room to spare in his cart?
If I have more garbage they take it, free of charge. They wont take remodeling waste anyway. Unless you hide it, but you wouldnt do that would you? hahahahaaaaa.
Mr Lemay is onto something. With a caveat IMHO.
Some, with only a thin Libertarian, veneer cringed at the Village’s well intentioned rain barrel sale. Great device but did you really need to have the government cover a chunk of the cost so you could avoid buying one at a local, struggling business?
Most would agree, however, that waste removal is a core service that Big Brother should manage. It then seems reasonable that DG, and it’s contracted hauler, should require the use of an approved, standardized container that is purchased from the hauler NOT necessarily subsidized.
The cost savings in man power and occupational hazard is tremendous in using totes. We all know how monstrously heavy something like busted up bathroom tile can be.
Initially I too felt a bit sorry for those that only put out a Jewel bag’s worth once a month and our family also recycles more than we trash. But you too might recalibrate after listening to the Mayor’s cogent point on shared benefit. The trucks have to run and the hauler’s employees have to get paid no matter how often or how much you trot to the curb.
In the same vein the majority of EMS runs, ER visits and inpatient admissions at any hospital consist of our honored seniors. Should these folks pay more at Good Sam because they use the services far more? Should the younger, healthier residents pay less because they only get sick or injured once in a great while?
Very good points Donkey! Most people dont give a ratz butt about the greater good. It’s all about ME, me and me…so sad what this country has become.
I will in no way feel sorry for a business that provides a core service that is looking for a bigger profit from a municipality. Are they laying off trash haulers if I don’t pay monthly for a cart? Are we in danger of having no trash service if everyone does not accept the utopian trash cart service? I have no problem with purchasing a required can then using stickers on it if it makes it easier for the trash guy, they have a tough job.
If it all comes down to a required cart then what happens when people can’t pay?
Donkey,
While I would agree with you that government should not necessarily be in the business of subsidizing rain barrel sales, I do believe that the subsequent publicity of the benefits may have convinced some people to make the leap and purchase one. I had been considering getting a rain barrel, but many of the ones available were fancy-looking…and expensive.
If I had known that a local conservation group was selling recycled, utilitarian ones, I might have purchased one (unsubsidized) sooner. But I didn’t; it was the publicity surrounding the village’s partnership with that organization that spurred me to buy one.
Hopefully that awareness will lead more to buy them from local businesses in the future.
As for garbage collection, while I don’t argue that the village COULD mandate cart usage, I still believe that some form of “pay-as-you-discard” system that promotes reduction/reuse/recycling is best for all involved. The trash hauler has an idea of how many tons they collect on average from Downers Grove, so they can do the math to determine what price to ask for stickers in the contract, and the contract already has a built-in regular increase, so I don’t feel too bad for them.
But, as mentioned, there must be some compromise that allows the utility of carts and the responsibility of “pay-as-you-go”. Perhaps a little more discussion on this thread can come up with something that the village can consider in the future.
(I know, I know–I should have thought harder about this last spring, when the village announced that they were considering changes…)
What ckfred said. And if you & your neighbor really don’t care for each other,…well, then you have to wait until it’s dark out before you throw stuff into their can!
I think it’s unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky thinking if anyone believes you can remove the human element from trash collection and still have it be effective.
(DGDude – since when won’t they take remodeling waste away? I’ve thrown 2×4′s, drywall chunks, tile, carpet, all that stuff out for years, and if it’s in a cart/stickered and they can lift it they’ll take it away.)
There was no village contribution to the purchase price reduction of the barrels; the pricing was reduced by the DuPage Conservation Foundation to encourage buyers to try them.
The event raised awareness of what they are, how they work, and how easy it is to benefit from using them. To boot, it deploys a proven low-tech, distributed stormwater mitigation solution that did not cost the village a penny.
Did the Mayor make the trash/healthcare association? I hope not…EMS and ER is paid by Medicare which the majority of seniors paid into when working. The majority of EMS and ER subsidized action is from the uninsured who seek care thru the ER and call EMS to get there because they have no car, or care fare. Hospitals are not “full” of seniors – they are full of all ages is all stages of health.
My bad if the comparison isn’t perfect Kelly. Indictment of the seniors was not my intention It would derail the conversation to properly provide the back up data on hospital utilization rates and how Medicare is actually paid out and accordingly why it will soon be bankrupt. Suffice it to say currently there are 3.9 workers paying taxes into Medicare for every older American receiving services
As for the rain barrels I have to wonder if the conservancy didn’t receive a publicly funded grant to initiate the program in the first place? Again, not trying to get everyone so wee weed up. Just discussing.
Garbage pick up is likely not to change and it is too bad that we couldn’t improve the current system for the good of everyone.
I’ve been mulling a cart since the village signed on with ARC a few years back. I would go with the 35-gallon one, but 65 gallons is way more than we need. What this town absolutely NEEDS, IMO, is a better recycling bin. Seems a shame if we renew and can’t get this improvement that everyone seems to be clamoring for. The company’s economics on this seem fuzzy to me. Can someone help?
Recycling is a loss leader. The cost of the recycling material cost more to handle then the return when they sell it on the open market.
I think they should give recycling carts to all the toter users. By doing so the bag and taggers will need to rent a garbage toter to recieve a recycling toter. Plus this eliminates the potential of people putting garbage in their recycling toter.
Makes sense to me.
Larry,
You are preaching to the wrong people here on this blog for the most part. Most people here on this blog don’t understand how a business works. Let me lay it out for everyone else besides Larry. Here is what will happen.
1. Refuse sticker rates will keep rising to cover the cost of the employee’s who pick up the refuse and recycling efforts.
2. Amnesty day will continue to cost more.
3. The trash hauler will be forced to charge for picking up recycling because they are not seeing enough profit from garbage hauling alone.
The whole idea behind my statement is business profitability. The toter program is the best option to keep rates low across the board. Our current system is obsolete. Take note of this blog posting, it is just a matter of time.
I can guarantee you that if everyone is forced to rent a cart then we’ll stop sorting and put all paper and plastic in the cart. Only one item to roll out, and we’ll save the aluminum to sell
Editor’s note: It’s not necessary to sort paper and plastic now. You can put everything in the same cart.
No need to sort. Sorting went out years ago. With totes you just put your trash in one and your recycling in another. Easy.
DocBrown – So in your opinion, is the issue of landfills filling up more quickly irrelevant?
We’ve had the larger tote option for over a year now and we love it. No more do I find myself pulling on a pair of sweats at 10p.m. on a Monday night to pick up another sheet of %$#@! garbage stickers at Jewel. If you can shove it into the Tote, they take it.
As for recycling, we use our old garbage can marked ‘recycle’ for all our paper and glass products, so we are actually recycling more since we moved to the tote system. What’s not to like??
I like the sticker program but what bothers me are the ones that never have garbage at their curbs are still going get off scotts free. I only wish the Mayor would have thought of them. Why can not the Village charge a service charge for garbage services collecting from those that fly dump or take their garbage to Jewel, Shell, Mcdonalds, our train stations or your house when you are away from home? If they got charged then our sticker fee will be even less.
Mr. Stickers, I wish would you consider this.
Some of us seniors live alone frugally, and after recycling most of the refuse have only one small bag per week, and only that if we are in town.
Some of us have neighbors with large refuse carts who have invited us to use them. We are not “fly dumping” at the places you suggest.
We are just behaving responsibly. Responsible to our environmental impact. Responsible to our personal budgets.
I am sorry this offends you.
If the Village of Downers Grove decides to include the collection “overhead” in the real estate tax base, so be it.
Maybe the “never put out garbage” crowd are hoarders?
How would you determine the scale of acceptable disposal? Something every week? every month?
As Mr. Schofield has said above, we have a single senior next door and she puts her bag of garbage in our toter every week and we keep our toter in an area next to her garage that was meant for garbage cans. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. In addition there are people who live in DG that actually work for waste management companies and take their garbage to work with them.
John S.
How come when it comes to Garbage, seniors want a “pay as you go” system. But when it comes to health care and other “social services”, everyone should share in that cost? just wondering.
little rude, DocBrown
I was referring to NOT doing ANY recyclable sorting. Paper and Plastic and all the rest would go into the “forced to rent” garbage toter. Just one item to haul to the curb.
I just read on the Downers Grove Reporter website that the Village Council approved the sticker program unanimously.
I’m curious as to why Sean Durkin voted for stickers after being staunchly in favor of the cart program.
Thankfully, someone alerted me this morning to Doc Brown’s rude comment. I had never heard the term before and assumed the reference was to something else. The comment has been deleted and Doc Brown is on notice.
I apologize for the oversight.
If it’s any consolation, Elaine, my mom never understood why would laugh when she said she was “in the kitchen cutting the cheese.”
Good call Meat. We recycle more now with the new toter than before with just bags. If I had a big recycle toter I would recycle even more. My two bins hold half what I could put in a toter. People will never learn. It cost money to “go green” people.
Painted a recycle triangle and the word Recyclables on an old can years ago. Works great.
CKFred, you know Commissioner Durkin votes the way the mayoral wind blows. Pathetic he made such a big deal about it, and how us awful DGers fly dump trash whenever no one’s looking, and are a bunch of slobs.
As John Schofield says “Time for a change!”
Com Durkin changed his position because the PEOPLE Spoke. This shows me his ability to listen and to analyze the public opinion.
Kudos to him. He took a strong stand on an issue but was willing to listen and discuss the issue.
Besides they Village Council has NOT voted. The Mayor took a straw poll. This will be on a future agenda.
As for Time for change yes………District 58 and 99 Board
Hello, it was a little disposal sarcasm
Well,
I sent e-mails to every member of the Village Council who had either expressed an opinion in favor of the cart program or expressed no opinion.
Everyone responded with thoughtful and well reasoned e-mails, except for Commissioner Durkin, who didn’t respond at all.
That’s something I will keep in mind at election time.
Not sticking up for Durkin but he told me that he recieved over a hundred e-mails in support of stickers. If that is the case and he is changing his position then I would say CKFred that he heard you loud and clear.