Trash trend of single haulers will continue

Communities moving to single-hauler trash service is a national trend and one that is likely to continue to grow throughout the local area, according to the Medina County Solid Waste District. Solid Waste Coordinator Beth Biggins-Ramer said that such moves often come for a variety of reasons including lower costs for municipalities and residents, more efficiency in keeping up with Environmental Protection Agency recycling standards and improved ability to hold haulers responsible in the event of a spill or accident. "When you have multiple haulers in a community and you have some sort of accident that no one witnesses, like a hydraulic line break, it can be nearly impossible to hold anyone accountable," she said. "You have one resident contracted with one hauler and their neighbor will be with another. One collects on Monday. One collects on Tuesday and so on. "It also leads to haulers being up and down the roads Monday through Friday. There's no way to hold waste management responsible with no proof of what happened when you have so many places it could have come from." In November 2017, Montville Township was the first Medina County community to move to single-hauler service, signing a deal with Dover-based Kimble Companies. Montville was joined in past July by Brunswick City, which signed on with Arizona-based Republic Services. In January, Hinckley Township contracted Kimble as its single hauler and soon was joined by York Township, which handed over its services to Rumpke Waste and Recycling, based in Colerain Township just outside of Cincinnati. At the end of this month, Brunswick Hills Township will begin single-hauler pickup with Republic. The change in York sparked a plethora of angry responses from residents mainly due to a 6 percent opt-out limit in the township that will force many who had not previously used trash pickup services to start doing so. For those who already were using one of multiple haulers, the move to Rumpke has largely represented a cost savings, Biggins-Ramer and township Trustee Bill Pavlick said. "In some cases, Republic was charging our people about $128 per quarter," said Pavlick. "The cheapest was Kimble at around $74 a quarter, which isn't to say they weren't a good company. I had them. They did a good job. Now, people are paying $59 per quarter under Rumpke. We did this to help our residents." Some York residents who attended a trustees meeting Feb. 27 said they did not need Rumpke's service because they dispose of trash at their place of work, which is illegal if it involves taking the waste outside of Medina County. "We had a man who was taking his trash to his work in North Royalton, which is against the law," Pavlick said. "Some had other little deals worked out like taking their trash to their parents' house who live in Medina city. That's why they're upset now." Montville Township's and Brunswick city's single-hauler agreements do not offer residents the choice of opting out. Hinckley and Brunswick Hills have set 5 percent opt-out limits. Biggins-Ramer said the changes in Hinckley and Montville also received some pushback from residents as those communities, like York, had previously left it up to residents whether to use trash pickup services under multiple haulers. "Most of these programs, when instituted nationally and across the state of Ohio, don't have an opt-out," she said. "The townships have what's called subscription service, meaning it's left up to the residents. That leads to pricing being all over the board. For example, in Hinckley Township, just before they transferred to their new programming, you had some residents paying around $93 a quarter. Some were paying upwards of $120 per quarter. That was just for garbage service, no recycling." Monthly pickup fees in the five communities now range between $17.98 and $21.75 with all single-hauler agreements offering curbside recycling pickup. Less expensive per-bag service options also have been made available. Some York residents shared concerns over their ability to transport their new trash bins from Rumpke to and from the curb. The company has agreed to pick up bins placed as far as 150 feet away from the curb as long as that home presents medical documentation showing why no one there is able to. For residents who did manage to opt-out in York before the limit was met, they have the option of taking their trash to the Medina County Solid Waste District headquarters in Seville at 8700 Lake Road. Biggins-Ramer said residents who didn't opt-out cannot avoid Rumpke's services by taking their waste to the facility. York trustees have stated that those who do not pay for pickup service will see those charges placed on their township property tax bills. Pavlick said York's current opt-out limit will stay at 6 percent, despite fellow trustee Todd Zieja stating on Feb. 27 that trustees may speak with Rumpke about adjusting it. "It's a binding contract," Pavlick said. "It's signed, and as I stated, we intend to fully live up to the contract that both parties agreed to. I honestly cannot answer that for (Zieja) as far as what was said at the meeting. This entire thing has really tore me up, quite honestly. I think I slept for about one hour that night. All of us only want what's best for and most fair to our residents." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.