St. Charles Parish Council members discussed ways to improve customer service for parish garbage collection and how to determine which company has the best proposal for parish residents at a committee meeting Wednesday night. The parish's garbage collection contract expires February 28. The council has scheduled a meeting to discuss the matter further on Oct. 19. The council committee...
St. Charles Parish Council members discussed ways to improve customer service for parish garbage collection and how to determine which company has the best proposal for parish residents at a committee meeting Wednesday night.
Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. objected to the council committee's vote to develop a rating system to grade garbage contract applicants.The parish's garbage collection contract expires February 28. The council has scheduled a meeting to discuss the matter further on Oct. 19.
The council committee voted to develop a rating system to grade applicants, over the objection of Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr.
St. Pierre said the current contract provides an adequate framework for the council to make a decision. It sets clear standards and requires the winner to post a bond guaranteeing that the work will be done, he said. A more complex rating system might lead to higher prices for residents, he said.
The contract is a professional service, meaning that the low bidder does not automatically get the contract.
Councilman Billy Raymond Sr. said the system would help the parish choose the best contractor.
The council will have to meet again to develop the rating scale, and decide how much weight various aspects of the deal should be given.
The council members also discussed how to log customer complaints, debating whether to continue to allow the parish contract monitor's office to keep track of the complaints or to turn that function over to the company in the name of efficiency, and discussed whether to retain ownership of the 18,000 cans distributed to the parish's 18,000 homes and small businesses in the parish.
The parish's current contractor, IESI, and SDT Waste and Demolition Services have been openly competing for the contract, although other companies have expressed interest in the past.
IESI representatives have said that the parish's current $11.99 per month collection fee for twice-weekly collection is among the lowest in the region, but SDT is offering a $10.29 fee, less than what IESI was charging when it started the contract with the parish in 2006.
Council member Paul Hogan said many residents complain that too many garbage cans wind up in the ditch, but Contract Monitor Leonce "Tut" Clement said cans for homes on busy streets with narrow shoulders, such as Old Spanish Trail and River Road, often get blown into ditches by passing traffic.
"People complain that the can is in their driveway and they have to stop on a busy street to move it, but they're the ones who left them there in the morning when they went to work," Clement said.
Clement said the department retrieves cans for residents who have handicapped stickers.
The issue of who would own the garbage cans is still up in the air.
The current contract makes the cans the property of the parish, but requires the contractor to maintain them, but SDT wants to own the cans and make them uniform.
IESI representatives have said it has incurred significant expense replacing aging cans left by former contractor Waste Management, which held the parish contract for years.
Councilman Marcus Lambert and other council members said having new cans isn't a high priority for the new contract.
"If you want to look pretty and get uniform carts, then you have to dish out a few cents or whatever it's going to be. But what I'm hearing in my district is cost savings. People are interested in saving money on a monthly basis," he said.
Matt Scallan can be reached at mscallan@timespicayune.com or 985.652.0953.