STL County Not The Only Place Having Trash Problems

Controversial trash ordinance tabled by council

HAMMONTON, NJ -- A revised trash collection ordinance, which generated much concern amongst residents and officials here, was tabled Monday night by the Hammonton Town Council, which agreed to send the plan to a committee for review and likely revision.
The plan, which was up for its final approval, called for the town's elimination of curbside collection of bulky waste items and mandated that leaves and grass clippings be placed in biodegradable bags, among other changes.
More at: http://www.thehammontonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/NEWS01/804300310/1002

County sets date for trash decision

Sedgwick County (KS) commissioners will decide the county's garbage future May 28. That day, they will have to decide controversial issues such as trash franchising, curbside recycling and banning grass clippings from regular garbage pickup. They have until June 10 to submit a final waste management plan to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
More at: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/388777.html

Toledo hires private trash collectors in apparent 'sick-out'

The city of Toledo (OH) was forced to hire private trash haulers yesterday to help collect residents' garbage because of an apparent "sick-out" among refuse workers.

Twenty-three out of nearly 100 refuse collectors were out yesterday - one day after the city began distributing to some 10,000 households the 96-gallon containers for an automated trash-pickup pilot program.

When the city begins the pilot program on Monday, the trash pickup day for about 7,000 homes in three pockets of the city will be changed and the number of routes will be cut from 33 to 27.
Julian Highsmith, the city's commissioner of solid waste, said he hired two trucks each yesterday from Allied Waste Services and Waste Management at a cost of $140 an hour per truck.
More at: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/NEWS16/804300448

Grand jury hears evidence in trash deal

LEAGUE CITY, TX — Grand jurors began hearing evidence Tuesday against League City officials accused of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act when four council members voted to switch trash contractors in October. The district attorney’s office spent six months investigating the deal after council members Mike Barber and Tim Paulissen met with District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk about their suspicions that the vote to change companies was the product of a back-door deal.
More at: http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=27f194d9858f9b6c

Trash firm offers Santa Rosa $50 million for extension

Six years after North Bay Corp. broke a company's decades-long hold on Santa Rosa's (CA)garbage-hauling contract, it is offering the city an estimated $50 million to extend the deal through the year 2027. Councilwoman Jane Bender, who along with Councilman Lee Pierce, forms a council subcommittee that will review North Bay's proposal at 3p.m. today at City Hall.North Bay would pay the city 3 percent of its gross receipts if the contract is extended 10 years, and 5 percent for an extra 15 years, Deputy City Manager Greg Scoles said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/EarlyEdition/article_view.cfm?recordID=9215&publishdate=04/30/2008