City Council approves Harvey trash contract
Jun. 29—METHUEN — The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night to have E.L. Harvey and Sons as the city's new trash provider.
The contract will be in effect for three years with the option for a two-year extension.
However, during the council's prior meeting on June 22, residents raised concerns about illegal dumping and Harvey's proposed fee schedule for bulk items.
Resident Ed Johnson of Lowell Boulevard said the fee schedule in the original contract was "astronomical." Some of those costs included $70 for a mattress, $70 for a box spring, $35 for a bed frame and $25 for a lawn chair.
"That makes no sense to me," he said. "I almost fell out of my chair."
In response, Harvey made some minor adjustments and resubmitted its fee schedule for the June 28 meeting. The company will now charge $20 for a box spring; however, the fee for a bed frame was increased to $50. The fees for mattresses and lawn chairs remained the same.
Johnson also said sofas, mattresses and bags of trash are frequently left on the side of the road.
"In my neck of the woods, illegal dumping is a huge problem," he said.
Resident Michelle Godin of Grandview Road said the streets in her part of town are not wide enough to accommodate garbage trucks.
"I don't see how these trucks are going to get by," she said. "I don't think this is a good idea, I'm not in favor."
Like Johnson, Godin said illegal dumping is also a problem in her neighborhood.
"People dump at the end of Tobey Ave. all the time," she said. "Every single day there is stuff there, it's only going to get worse."
Councilor-at-Large Nicholas DiZoglio said the city has been more than patient with its current trash provider, JRM Hauling & Recycling.
"JRM is not doing what they were supposed to do for us and we gave them a year," he said.
He also said Harvey's original fee schedule was merely "propaganda."
"We're going to create the rates, we run the dump, we run that process," he said.
Mayor Neil Perry said recycling should be mandatory, adding that Harvey's contract "assumes a reduction in tonnage."
"I don't want trash all over Methuen, I want a clean and respectful Methuen," he said. "We need to do better, we really do."
Perry also urged the council to sever ties with JRM.
"I get 25 calls per week from residents who are really pissed off because JRM did such a crap job picking up their trash," he said.
West District Councilor Allison Saffie, chairwoman of the council's Trash Talk Committee, has lived on Brown Court for the past two years.
"When I first moved there, I was literally outraged," she said. "When people move out of apartments, it's not a joke, they put everything that they own on the street."
Saffie said JRM has done nothing to stop this and frequently collects multiple bulk items.
"One bulk item means one bulk item, we've been taken advantage of by our own residents and by a system that's not even working," she said. "We can do better and we seriously need to do better."
West District Councilor Michael Simard said illegal dumping will always be a problem.
"I'm amazed at what people in this city throw away and expect us to pay for," he said.
Simard also suggested working with the Police Department and the Department of Public Works to track those individuals who are doing illegal dumping.
"Start making examples of people, put them in the paper," he said.
Under state law, anyone found guilty of illegal dumping could face a fine of up to $1,000.
