Refuse/Recycling Program CITY OF FITCHBURG Refuse/Recycling Program

FITCHBURG SYSTEM Private Vendor Special Tax Roll Charge - $140 for 2007 Approximately 5000 units Collection of Single Family up to 4 Unit Multi-Family Dwellings No Collection at Units Larger Than 4 Units or Condominiums Yard waste collected twice in the spring and twice in the fall Brush collected bi-monthly, April through November

VOLUME BASED SYSTEM The City of Fitchburg has had a volume based refuse system since the mid 1990’s. 32 Gallon container limit for refuse or 2 small bags Tags used for extra bags – 5 tags provided each household yearly Larger refuse containers available through the vendor, at owners expense 2 to 3 recycling bins – unlimited quantity

THEN

NOW

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS In 2005 proposals were sought for both the old refuse/recycling bin system and the cart system. Bids included cost of carts – refuse and recycling Carts to be owned by the City at the end of the 3 year contract

CURRENT SYSTEM vs. PREVIOUS SYSTEM 2007 BID COMPARISON COST CURRENT SYSTEM vs. PREVIOUS SYSTEM 2007 Costs – Refuse Cart System $ 6.80 p/month per unit vs. Previous System Costs $5.77 p/month per unit 2007 Costs – Recycling Cart System $3.61 p/month per unit Recycling Bin System $4.53 p/month per unit Cart Recycling System Price is for Bi-Weekly Collection

COUNCIL APPROVAL Staff recommendation to the City Council was for approval of purchase of the cart system based on future lower anticipated costs.

CHALLENGES Contract awarded October 5, 2005 Vendor requested both refuse and recycling carts to be ready for start-up by January 1, 2006 Cart Choices – residents to make decision on cart sizes they wished to receive Many residents claimed they never received the cart selection postcards that were mailed

CART OPTIONS 2007 REFUSE – 32 GALLON STANDARD Upgrade – 64 Gallon $24.72 /Year Payable To Vendor Upgrade – 96 Gallon $49.44 /Year Payable To Vendor 2007 RECYCLING – 64 GALLON STANDARD No Additional Costs To Change To Either 32 Gallon Or 96 Gallon Recycling Carts Cart Exchange Fee of $45 Total of 9 different cart options available

POSTCARD NOTIFICATION Residents were notified by postcard on October 17, 2005 Return of postcards request by October 26, 2005 Vendor then had to order and deliver carts by January 1, 2006

Delivery of carts was problematic CART DELIVERY Delivery of carts was problematic Cart Selection Alternatives More residents upgraded refuse carts to 65 gal. than anticipated – 12% vs. 50% Vendor/City didn’t have enough carts to cover the upgrades and had to place an order for more carts Residents were given standard carts until order was received and upgrades could be fulfilled Incompetence of Subcontractor Delivering Carts

CART DELIVERY Flooded by Calls With Cart Delivery Problems

RECEIVED INACCURATE INFORMATION Friday 12/29/05 – Informed by vendor that cart delivery was nearly completed with a few hundred remaining to be delivered on 12/30/05 Tuesday 1/3/06 – Read in newspaper that there were still 800 carts to be delivered

UNIMPROVED CITY LOTS Vendor continued to deliver carts to unimproved city lots

JANUARY 2006 Because of the problems encountered along the way a dual system was used for the first month Anything set out was collected By end of January the cart delivery was essentially complete

COLLECTION OF OLD BINS Residents were given the option to either keep their old recycling bins or to have them collected for recycling Packer trucks were borrowed from both the Town of Madison and the City of Janesville so that collection of the old bins could be performed by City crews

ACCEPTANCE OF NEW SYSTEM After the first month of new system, the call volume dropped dramatically Residents began to show acceptance with the new system Residents who initially opposed the change began calling/e-mailing their approvals

LESSONS LEARNED Award bid earlier to allow time for cart delivery Be sure to have enough carts ordered to cover possible upgrades Allow more response time for return of postcards for cart selection Check references on cart vendor or deliver with City crews

CONTRACT ENDS IN 2008 Rebidding of the contract: Will continue with the cart system when rebidding Will survey residents to see what changes could be made to improve the current system for rebidding of new contract

QUESTONS ??? Contact Information: Paul Q. Woodard, P.E. Director of Public Works City of Fitchburg 5520 Lacy Road Fitchburg, WI 53711 paul.woodard@city.fitchburg.wi.us