Painesville City Council votes to extend garbage, recycling contract for three years
Jan. 29—Painesville City Council has voted to approve an extension of the city's garbage, yard waste and recycling contract with Browning-Ferris/Republic Services until June 30, 2026.
Council authorized the measure in a 6-0 vote at its Jan. 17 meeting, with Councilman Paul Hach excused on leave. The seven-year contract was originally set to expire at the end of June but included an option for both parties to extend it for up to three additional years, as noted in the Jan. 17 city manager legislative report.
Republic Services collects an "unlimited amount" of waste on garbage collection days, said City Manager Doug Lewis, though items such as couches and "anything with fibers on them" should be covered in plastic. Yard waste will not require an additional fee and will be collected every other week from mid-April to mid-December and in the first two weeks of January.
Recycling services are optional but encouraged by the city, he added, noting that recyclable goods will also be picked up every other week. Councilman Jim Fodor added that plastic grocery bags "are not a good thing to use" to store recyclable goods for pickup.
City officials previously met with representatives from Republic Services about plastic bags and other items blowing around, Lewis said, "making sure that if something does not get put — blows out of the container, that their drivers pick them up."
"I can say, in the last two years, it has improved immensely as far as the amount of garbage that I've seen," he added, noting the possible role of "residents also understanding what they can recycle and what they can't recycle as well."
Residents who see garbage blowing around can contact the city, which Lewis said will discuss the issue with Republic Services.
He also noted that residents can provide their phone numbers and email addresses to Republic Services to be notified of changes to the collection schedule, including delays caused by the weather or holidays.
As noted in the legislative report, the price for garbage and yard waste collection will be $18.86 per month in year eight, $19.61 per month in year nine and $20.40 per month in year 10. Monthly costs for recycling collection will be $2.82 in year eight, $2.93 in year nine and $3.05 in year 10. The prices were quoted when the contract was initially signed in 2016.
Lewis explained in December that the year nine price under the current contract is close to the price the city paid under a previous contract with Waste Management. Extending the current contract will help the city avoid doubled container prices and extra charges that contractors have added to address rising gas costs.
